P.M. BRIEFING : Plywood Workers Strike 5 Plants

About 2,000 plywood workers at five Georgia-Pacific plants in Arkansas and Mississippi went on strike this morning after the breakdown of contract talks about overtime pay.

The walkout forced the temporary shutdown of the mills. A Georgia-Pacific spokesman said the strike involves about 1,000 union workers at mills in Crossett and Fordyce in Arkansas, and a roughly equal number of workers at mills in Louisville, Taylorsville and Gloster, Miss.

Union officials said the company’s latest offer called for a four-year contract, with pay increases of 2% the first, second and fourth years of the pact and 3% the third year. The unions wanted a three-year contract with pay increases of 3% each year.

But the union’s main concern was over the company’s proposal to pay workers regular wages for working on Sunday and dropping time and-a-half wages paid under the old contract. The company offered Sunday workers a one-time bonus of $800 to $1,000.