Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice
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Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us this.
More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co. locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week, Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500 workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos notes, “For evidence of a war on workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout.”
Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times wrote recently that the number of strikes has dropped precipitously in the past two decades, while lockouts now “represent a record percentage of the nation’s work stoppages.” Greenhouse quotes professor Gary Chaison of Clark University, who says:
This is a sign of increased employer militancy. Lockouts were once so rare they were almost unheard of. Now, not only are employers increasingly on the offensive and trying to call the shots in bargaining, but they’re backing that up with action—in the form of lockouts.
Unions and our allies are fighting back against this war on workers. Beginning Feb. 22, locked-out workers from American Crystal Sugar Co. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will start a 1,000-mile journey across America’s heartland. They will visit six states in six days, taking part in rallies, fundraisers and other actions with local union members and allies. Locked-out workers will take their message to supporters—and call out the perpetrators of the war on workers. Read the rest of this entry »
Solidarity Results in Tentative Pact for Rio Tinto Miners
The combination of worker solidarity and the strong support of their neighbors helped workers at Rio Tinto’s borax mine in Borax, Calif., take on one of the world’s largest mining companies. Today, they won a tentative agreement on a new six-year contract that protects their jobs, calls for raises and maintains protections against discrimination and favoritism.
The 570 workers, members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30, will vote on the tentative deal tomorrow, May 15.
ILWU President Robert McEllrath said:
Local 30 President Dave Liebengood, the negotiating committee and all the members deserve credit for standing up and sticking together to make this victory possible.
Big Crowds Back Rio Tinto Miners in L.A., San Francisco
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More than 1,000 union and community activists, joined by about 200 locked-out miners and their families, marched outside the British consulate in Los Angeles on Friday to protest British-owned Rio Tinto’s two and half-month lock out of 600 miners at its Boron, Calif., borax mine.
The march and rally was one of several in the United States and Canada to support the members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30, who have been locked out since Jan. 31. (Click here for information on the Boston and Seattle demonstrations, and a tip of the hat to ILWU’s Craig Merrilees for the updated info.)
In Los Angeles, Kevin Martz, who operated heavy equipment at the Boron mine, says the group chose the consulate target because
Rio Tinto is a British-based global mining giant that’s hurting entire town of American families who want to work.
U.S., Canada Workers Rally for Locked-Out California Borax Miners
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Workers in five cities and two nations protested in front of British consulates today to demand justice for nearly 600 members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30, who were locked-out Jan. 31 at Rio Tinto’s Borax mine in Boron, Calif. It is the world’s second largest borax mine.
(You can help the miners and their families by making a tax deductible contribution to Labor Community Services with the notation for Boron Lockout in the memo field. Send the check to Labor Community Services, 2130 W. James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif., 90006.)
The protests come a day after a locked-out miner addressed shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in London, England, asking the company to end its lockout against families in Boron.
It’s a ‘Hard Land’ for Locked-Out Miners
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Several hundred Los Angeles-area union members recently came together to lend support and solidarity to the nearly 600 members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 locked out at Rio Tinto’s Borax mine in Boron, Calif. Now, you can get a firsthand look at this union solidarity in action with this slide show set to the word and music of Bruce Springsteen’s “This Hard Land.”
A caravan, organized by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, delivered more than $30,000 in food and other supplies to support the miners fighting the international mining conglomerate’s move to outsource jobs, convert full-time jobs to part-time temporary work, slash retirement benefits and gut grievance protections and other workplace rules.
3,000 Steelworkers at Vale Inco Vote to Stay on Strike—and More Bargaining News
Some 3,000 United Steelworkers members at Vale Inco vote to stay on the picket line after eight months on strike, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES & LEGAL ACTION
USW, Vale Inco: Striking United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada overwhelmingly rejected an offer from Brazilian mining company Vale Inco on Friday. The 3,000 members of USW Local 6500 have now been on strike eight months and say the contract offer was “insulting.”
L.A. Unions Send Caravan of Food, Hope to Locked-Out Rio Tinto Miners
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Several hundred Southern California union members rallied at a Dodger Stadium parking lot yesterday before sending off a caravan carrying more than $30,000 worth of food and other supplies for locked-out borax miners at Rio Tinto’s Boron, Calif., mine. The mine is about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
The caravan was organized by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to support the nearly 600 members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 who are fighting the international mining conglomerate’s move to outsource jobs, convert full-time jobs to part-time temporary work, slash retirement benefits and gut grievance protections and other workplace rules.
Last month the workers rejected the contract offer and Rio Tinto locked them out Jan. 31.
Locked-out miner Randy Laursen told the rally:
You know we got big corporations trying to push all the laborers out, make nothing….This is America. We all have a right to make a decent living.
California Borax Miners Locked Out
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Some 540 workers were locked out of the giant Rio Tinto Borax mine in Boron, Calif., Jan. 31 after the workers, members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30, unanimously rejected the company’s latest contract offer. The company shut off further contract talks and brought in replacement workers.
The mine is the largest open-pit mine in the Golden State and the second largest borax mine in the world. Many of the town’s 2,000 residents work at the mine, which has been a key contributor to the town’s economy.
Jim Freeman, a 31-year veteran at the mine, told the Los Angeles Times.
I think the company had the impression we were going to roll over and let them feed us the poison.
