Steelworkers Welcome New Oregon Steel Leadership, Praise Appointment of William Swindells as...

Business Editors/Labor Writers

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 2001

Offer to "Begin Negotiations to End Labor Dispute"

United Steelworkers of America District 12 Director Terry Bonds today welcomed the appointment of William Swindells to chairman

of the board of Oregon Steel Mills as "a breath of fresh air." Swindells, who is currently chairman of Willamette Industries and its former CEO, replaces Thomas Boklund who served as Oregon Steel's chairman since 1992. Boklund was also Oregon Steel's CEO in 1997 when 1,100 steelworkers at the company's CF&I (now doing business as Rocky Mountain Steel Mills) division in Pueblo, Colo., went on strike over the company's unfair labor practices.

"Under Boklund's intransigent leadership, Oregon Steel chose to engage in a costly and unlawful labor dispute that is about to enter its 51st month. William Swindells does not carry his predecessor's history and personal stake in this avoidable dispute. We hope this new chapter at Oregon Steel will lead to an end to a four-year long dispute that has cost the Company millions of dollars and devastated the lives of 1,100 steelworker families," added Bonds. "The union is ready to begin negotiations to end the labor dispute. We look forward to the new Swindells era."