Wells Fargo steps down as lead financier for Oregon Steel Mills

In a move that could bring closer the end of a 19-month long AFL-CIO boycott, Wells Fargo Bank quietly stepped down last month from its role as leader of a consortium of eight banks financing Portland-based Oregon Steel Mills Inc. After a staggering $1.2 billion in customer withdrawals, prompted by the boycott, Wells Fargo has distanced itself from the steel company, the Steelworkers said.

The consortium financing, in the form of a $125 million revolving line of credit, has drawn fire from the labor community, religious groups, small businesses and state and municipal governments around the country, which have pulled funds out of Wells Fargo/Norwest and severed business ties in an act of solidarity with the Steelworkers at Oregon Steel's Rocky Mountain Steel subsidiary in Pueblo, Colo.

In October 1997, 1,100 Steelworkers struck the then CF&I mill. It has since changed names. When the workers unconditionally ended their strike three months later, the company refused to reinstate the vast majority of union Steelworkers to their jobs.

Several unfair labor practice complaints have been filed and, if upheld, could result in back pay to all union workers since the lockout.

Last year Wells Fargo and Norwest Mortgage merged. But it was Wells Fargo that has been leading a consortium of eight banks supplying the capital to fuel Oregon Steel's war on its workers. While the bank's decision to step down as the lead bank falls short of the AFL-CIO's request to leave the consortium altogether, labor leaders are encouraged by its decision and hope it can be a first step toward resolving the Pueblo labor dispute.

National unions and dozens of union locals have severed ties with Wells Fargo and many have pulled employee pension and retirement funds out of the bank during the course of the boycott. Pressure mounted in recent weeks and Wells Fargo officials have been inundated with letters of concern from state senators and state representatives of California, Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon, as well as officials from dozens of cities and counties across the United States, which have pulled government funds out of the bank.

In efforts to avoid similar controversy, three other banks, Union Bank of California, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and Canada's Nova Scotia pulled out of the consortium earlier this year.

"Our ultimate goal in this campaign is to get our members back to work," said George Becker, president of United Steelworkers of America. "The boycott of Wells Fargo is one of a host of actions that we will continue until we achieve justice."