The year 1968 began with an announcement in a magazine that probably few in the Copper Country read. It carried huge implications, though, for the now tottering mining district.
On Jan. 1, 1968, Chemical & Engineering News published an article titled: Universal Oil Products, Calumet & Hecla plan merger, which detailed the proposed merger. C&H would become part of Universal Oil Products, if an agreement to merge was culminated by the two firms, the article announced. “The agreement called for Calumet & Hecla to continue as an autonomous unit following the merger, which is currently valued at about $120 million.”
The merger was finalized in April.
UOP had no misconceptions regarding the Calumet copper mines or their values; they were exhausted. C&H knew it, UOP knew it, investors knew it. C&H’s total production could not supply its Wolverine Tube Division with its copper demands. But, it wasn’t Michigan coper UOP cared about. A closer look at the C&EN article provides a hint of why UOP wanted to purchase C&H.
“Calumet & Hecla, headquartered in Evanston, Illinois., produces copper, copper alloy, aluminum, zirconium, and titanium specialty tubing,” the article states. “Backed by its experience with zirconium tubing for nuclear generators, the company has supplied the fuel cladding for a substantial share of existing light-water nuclear reactors. Calumet & Hecla also mines and refines copper in Upper Michigan and operates forest and timber holdings in Wisconsin and Northern Michigan for producing hardwood veneers. Through its Alamet division, the company is the only U.S. producer of magnesium metal other than Dow Chemical.”
By July, it would become publicly known just how little UOP valued Calumet copper.
While the United Steelworkers AFL-CIO members of the Calumet Local were negotiating with C&H officials over their contract, set to expire in August, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a July 2 release stating that UOP had filed a registration statement on June 28 seeking registration of 168,000 outstanding shares of common stock. The shares were to be offered for sale by California Cold Storage & Distributing Company at prices prevailing at the time of sale. California Cold Storage acquired the stock in April 1968 upon the merger of C&H with and into Universal Oil, the release says. California Cold Storage owned 140,000 Calumet & Hecla common shares, in exchange for which it received 84,000 Universal Oil shares. The once world renowned C&H Mining Company, subsequently demoted to “Calumet and Hecla, Inc., Calumet Division,” was, by the summer of 1968, demoted again to not worth owning. Unfortunately, the local union had given the mines a reputation for combativeness at a time when companies were willing to continue operating them solely for the benefit of their surrounding communities.
The Minerals Yearbook for 1967 reported that “production of copper in terms of recoverable metal was 20 percent less than in 1966, due chiefly to a 4-month-long labor strike at the White Pine Copper Co. Property in Ontonagon County, and a strike, lasting nearly 3 weeks at the Calumet Division of Calumet & Hecla, Inc.”
While C&H continued developing its new Kingston mine in 1967, it shut down its Centennial No. 2 shaft. On May 6, Quincy had permanently closed its reclamation plant and shut down its dredge, on Torch Lake. Just four months later, Copper Range closed its last operation shaft at the Champion mine, in Painesdale. By the beginning of 1968, there were just six mines still operating on the Keweenaw Peninsula, all owned by C&H. By April, they were owned by UOP, and by July, ownership was split between UOP and California Cold Storage and Distributing. By the end of August, striking United Steel Worker union local had struck a steel wall.
On August 21, 1968, a thousand members of the Calumet union local struck the C&H copper mines. Many residents throughout the Copper Country regarded this latest C&H strike as “business as usual.” And, as usual, it was the local, led by Gene Saari, that refused reason, according to official records.
The Annual Report of the U.S. Federal Mediation Conciliation Service for 1968 stated that contract negotiations had started 60 days before the contract expiration. A tentative agreement was reached between the top officials of the United Steel Workers of Union and the top UOP officials. The union committee submitted the proposal to the membership and asked for a strike vote. The vote carried and the strike commenced on Aug. 22, 1968. The sticking point, as far as the union local was concerned, was the demand for wages equal to those paid at White Pine.
The report states the proposal offered to the union included increment increases between general wage increase, incentive structure, vacations, insurance and pension.
“The estimate of the total package proposed by the company was somewhat greater than the cost of the White Pine Mining settlement with the same union,” the report states, “which was valued at nearly 96 cents per over three years. However, the Calumet pay scale would have continued to be lower than that at nearby White Pine.”
By November, UOP was losing its patience with the local and its demands.
“After three months of mediation efforts in Michigan came to naught,” the mediation service reported, “the parties were formally invited to meet in the national office. These conferences were also unsuccessful and the company withdrew the proposal it had reached with the union officials. Several meetings were conducted following this action but no progress has been made. The mediators then made settlement recommendations to the parties which were submitted to the membership and rejected.”
UOP had had enough. Unable to reach a contract agreement, officials announced the closure of its Michigan operations in April, 1969. In 1970, the company stopped the pumps on it’s Centennial and Kingston shafts. After 124 years, copper mining on the Keweenaw Peninsula was dead.
Blame for the closure fell squarely on the union.
“This was a sad case of a complete failure of collective bargaining,” the Mediation Conciliation Service report stated. “The union’s membership simply would not accept the maximum amount the company felt it could afford and remain in business. The result was that the operation closed down completely, and about 2,000 jobs were lost. Every effort was made to achieve settlement, without avail. The panel of local mediators was joined for much of the settlement efforts by a national representative. In addition, priests in the area and a citizen’s committee lent their best efforts for a solution.”
