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Explosion at Honeywell Nuclear Plant Staffed by Strikebreakers
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This past weekend, just one day after the federal government allowed Honeywell to start up core production at its uranium enrichment facility in Metropolis, Ill., with replacement workers, an explosion rocked the plant. No one was reported injured, but local union officials say the plant has not been in production since the blast.
For the past two months, union workers, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669, have been locked out of the plant after contract negotiations broke down over Honeywell’s demand that workers give up their retiree health care coverage and pension plans. Other issues include management demands to eliminate seniority, contract out about 20 percent of the work at the plant and make changes in overtime pay.
Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie says negotiations will not resume until Oct. 11. In the meantime, the workers are running a 24/7 picket line. Last month, 3,000 people from four states rallied in support of the locked-out Metropolis workers.
Safety is important at any worksite, but especially at the Metropolis plant. This facility is the only one in the United States that can convert uranium into the extremely deadly UF6, which is used in nuclear reactors. Since it is the only conversion plant of its kind in the country, it is critical that workers in the plant be familiar with that plant.
Lillie says it takes many years to learn the skills needed at the plant and the conversion process is hard to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.
Honeywell CEO David Cote, a member of President Obama’s deficit commission, locked out the 230 workers on June 28, even though they offered to continue working under the terms of their expired contract. Honeywell had proposed eliminating retiree health care and increasing workers’ out-of-pocket health care maximums to $8,500 a year.
In a letter to President Obama, the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) asked the president to remove Cote from the commission.
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5 Comments
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I’m so sick of these major companies using this “planned” economic depression to further their agenda agsinst the working class in general and union workers in specific.
Loads of businesses of all sizes are making record profits, but are doing nothing to help the recession get turned around. It is their duty to come to the aid of their country and it would probably prove to be quite profitable in the long run. But they don’t want Obama to even appear to be succeeding and they want the workers to beg and settle of less, all the while they are living fatter than ever. It’s disgusting.
And putting replacement workers in charge of a nuclear reactor, with a resulting explosion, shows the height of their stupidity, arrogance and total disreguard for anyone, all in the name of power and greed.
I second that,ObiaMan,Obama must ask Cote for his resignation!To me it’s criminal to aid and abett the worship of greed by putting these assholes in positions of government!!!
I don’t know about “planned depression” but I do see marine transportation companies doing very well with renewed contracts from the major oil companies and using the present state of the economy to keep wages down.
People like Cote talk a good game but their actions say otherwise, yet people adore anyone with money in this country, no matter whose backs they made it from.
Empower the Middle Class with excellent wage & benefit packages. You will see our economy boom! The Middle Class or the Working Class spend their money on TV’s, cars, refrigerators, and all other consumables in the U.S. They don’t invest their money in foreign countries to pay foreign workers like corporations do.
The working class work here and spend here. If they don’t have the money to spend then forget about selling your goods here.
A perfect example what corporate greed can do, thank God no one was hurt.
How many Honeywell scabs does it take to change a light bulb? None. They just hold it in their hands & they glow.