Strike Starts at Only U.S. Platinum Mine

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About 900 employees of the nation's only platinum mining operation went on strike Wednesday after two months of negotiations failed to produce a new labor contract.

The strike began just after midnight at Stillwater Mining Co.'s platinum and palladium mine at Nye and its smelter and refinery complex in Columbus. Work continued at the company's smaller East Boulder mine, where a separate labor contract has another year to run, Stillwater spokesman John Beaudry said.

Talks between the two sides were scheduled to resume Thursday, company representatives said.

Picketing the company's Billings headquarters, workers from United Steelworkers International Local 11-0001 said they rejected the company's contract renewal offer because it did not grant enough sick leave, contained inadequate raises and failed to address complaints over shift scheduling.

They said platinum prices have tripled over the last several years, so the company can afford better pay and benefits for its workers.

"Nobody likes a strike," said Tim Bartholomew, who has worked for Stillwater for seven years. "This could be a good place to work but they need to meet us halfway."

The union last struck three years ago, for 10 days, over a disagreement on sick leave. That cost the company $2.5 million in administrative and settlement expenses, according to a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also cost an estimated 25,000 ounces in lost platinum metals production, worth about $12 million at the time.

The two parties later agreed to a 3 percent annual salary increase for workers and contract renewal bonuses, the SEC report said.

Beaudry declined to go into details of the company's latest offer, but said it reflects an effort "to sustain the company into the future."

With a total of 1,719 employees, the publicly traded company brought in $8 million in profit last year on $613 million in revenue, according to Stillwater's annual report. In May, it reported a first-quarter loss of $1.1 million, or a penny a share, versus earnings of $600,000 for the same period last year.

Negotiations to renew the rejected contract began in May. Union leaders and company negotiators twice tentatively had settlements that later were rejected by union members.

"We will analyze why (the company's most recent offer ) didn't pass and see what we can do to improve it so it will," Jim Williams, president of the Steel Workers local, told the Billings Gazette in a story published Wednesday.

The Billings-based Stillwater Mining produced 601,000 ounces of platinum and palladium from its two mines last year, with about 70 percent of that figure coming from the mine in Nye. The company recycled another 349,000 ounces of platinum metals from discarded automobile catalytic converters and industrial petroleum converters, Beaudry said.

Stillwater shares slipped 6 cents to $11.65.

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