Members of Operating Engineers Local 701 who run the Radius Recycling scrap metal yard along the Portland waterfront approved a new contract Aug. 25 after coming close to striking.
The company — a metal recycler and steel manufacturer — was historically known as Schnitzer Steel until it rebranded as Radius Recycling in 2023. Radius then came under new ownership when Toyota Tsusho America Inc. purchased it for approximately $1.34 billion in March 2025. Toyota Tsusho is a subsidiary of the Toyota Group.
The new owners brought a brash style to bargaining and demanded that the union accept sweeping concessions, including withdrawal from the union-sponsored health and pension plans and an end to double time pay after 10 hours and pension. Members voted down the company’s proposal and followed with a 79-2 vote to authorize a strike.
“I knew there was going to be a problem with Toyota,” said Local 701 business manager Jim Anderson. Schnitzer had been a family-oriented employer with workers who stayed for decades, and he had a hunch the new owners would be different. “Any company you’re dealing with that’s owned by a big business or an equity management company, they’re always trying to go after your pension and your health insurance.”
Anderson joined negotiations once it was clear that getting a fair agreement was going to be a challenge. Workers’ readiness to strike appears to have made the difference.
“They stayed strong,” Anderson said.
In the end the company dropped demands for concessions and struck a deal, which workers ratified 63-19.
The new contract covers 110 workers at Radius. It maintains health benefits, increases company contributions to the pension, and raises wages by $2.50 over three years: $0.75, $0.75, and $1.00.
