USW to prosecute Hecla for “Unfair Labor Practices”

PITTSBURGH- The United Steelworkers (USW) Union recently announced that Region 19 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a consolidated complaint and set a hearing for Sept. 19, 2017, to prosecute Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) for what they claim to be a series of multiple unfair labor practices before an administrative law judge.

In the complaint, NLRB Region 19 Director Ronald K. Hooks outlines allegations of how USW believes Hecla management broke federal labor laws in the months leading up to an unfair labor practice strike by about 250 members of USW Local 5114 at the company’s Lucky Friday mine in Mullan, Idaho, culminating on March 13, 2017, when the strike commenced and the company unlawfully implemented portions of its “last, best and final” contract proposal.

USW says that the NLRB complaint details how Hecla management began unilaterally changing employment terms and conditions for production and maintenance workers at Lucky Friday beginning with eliminating a repair crew in December 2016, moving sand and batch plants from the mine department to the mill department in January 2017, and forcing hourly workers to take their 2017 vacation as a lump sum payment instead of time off.

USW is also accusing specific managers of threatening adverse consequences for members of the union who participated in activities protected by federal laws.