Communist
3rd March 2010, 23:25
.
(http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/24/18638645.php)Workers Locked Out From California's
Largest Open-Pit Mine (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/24/18638645.php)
by Geoffrey Taylor
ILWU Local 30 workers from the high desert town of Boron are being locked out from working at the US Borax mine, owned and operated by the international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, Inc.
Unionizing labor forces has long been a way for employees to guarentee their rights as workers and level the playing field between corporation and community. That playing field is the middle ground where strikes and lockouts can occur, where companies and laborers can negotiate and hopefully crack a deal that fits both sides’ demands.
Unfortunately, nearly 600 International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers in Kern County have been locked out from their jobs at US Borax in Boron, a division of Rio Tinto Corporation, a foreign mining conglomerate. The workers at the largest open-pit mine in California belong to ILWU Local 30 and are fighting hard to defend their rights as workers against corporate attack.
Much like how the state is destroying our educational opportunities with budget cuts and furloughs, these workers are being subjected to unfair business practices via Rio Tinto‘s appetite for destruction. As the workers continue their struggle against unfair labor practices by this conglomerate, we must stand in solidarity with these workers and support their fight against corporate oppression.
In this time of economic instability, corporations like Rio Tinto are using their power to de-unionize jobs and create lower-paying, at-will jobs with little or no benefits, create varying schedules for dangerous work and force overtime. If you speak out, you can be fired. If you can’t work overtime, wave bye-bye to your only source of income.
If Rio Tinto gets their way, shifts will be cut, non-union workers will be hired and nearly 600 more Kern County families could face the realities associated with unemployment, foreclosures and total economic devastation at the hands of another greedy corporation.
With a great deal of support from other unions worldwide, including the AFL-CIO, UFCW and various foreign mining and maritime worker‘s unions, the workers of Boron have a long road ahead of them towards fairness in their contracts.
Rio Tinto is using this lock-out as a way of starving these workers and their families into signing an agreement which does not meet their demands. By devastating the community and forcing workers into unfair conditions, Rio Tinto aims to continue their record of abuses against workers, communities and the environment.
Because this labor dispute is considered to be a lock-out and not a strike, the workers do not qualify for their union’s strike fund and are not eligible to receive funds to support them during the dispute. However, other unions such as the UFCW, who donated 500 bags of groceries to the families of the locked-out workers, and AFL-CIO are donating to the cause for Local 30’s fight against tyranny by donating groceries, funds and time to aid these workers.
Union leaders told company officials "we're here to work; we have families and communities that depend on us, so open the gate and let us go to work”
Despite countless union meetings, the workers from Local 30 have denied Rio Tinto’s demands and have chosen to take the long, hard road towards what is right.
Write letters to your elected officials and Rio Tinto’s company leaders in support of the workers at Boron’s ILWU Local 30 and their struggle against this evil conglomerate. Help organize canned food drives and donation collections for the families of these workers who have been pushed away from their jobs for demanding dignity, fairness and respect in their jobs.
For more information about the struggle these workers are facing, or to lend your love, support or help to them, visit http://www.boraxminers.com (http://www.boraxminers.com/) for all the latest information on the struggle of Kern County workers.
© 2000–2010 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF Bay Area IM
(http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/24/18638645.php)Workers Locked Out From California's
Largest Open-Pit Mine (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/24/18638645.php)
by Geoffrey Taylor
ILWU Local 30 workers from the high desert town of Boron are being locked out from working at the US Borax mine, owned and operated by the international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, Inc.
Unionizing labor forces has long been a way for employees to guarentee their rights as workers and level the playing field between corporation and community. That playing field is the middle ground where strikes and lockouts can occur, where companies and laborers can negotiate and hopefully crack a deal that fits both sides’ demands.
Unfortunately, nearly 600 International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers in Kern County have been locked out from their jobs at US Borax in Boron, a division of Rio Tinto Corporation, a foreign mining conglomerate. The workers at the largest open-pit mine in California belong to ILWU Local 30 and are fighting hard to defend their rights as workers against corporate attack.
Much like how the state is destroying our educational opportunities with budget cuts and furloughs, these workers are being subjected to unfair business practices via Rio Tinto‘s appetite for destruction. As the workers continue their struggle against unfair labor practices by this conglomerate, we must stand in solidarity with these workers and support their fight against corporate oppression.
In this time of economic instability, corporations like Rio Tinto are using their power to de-unionize jobs and create lower-paying, at-will jobs with little or no benefits, create varying schedules for dangerous work and force overtime. If you speak out, you can be fired. If you can’t work overtime, wave bye-bye to your only source of income.
If Rio Tinto gets their way, shifts will be cut, non-union workers will be hired and nearly 600 more Kern County families could face the realities associated with unemployment, foreclosures and total economic devastation at the hands of another greedy corporation.
With a great deal of support from other unions worldwide, including the AFL-CIO, UFCW and various foreign mining and maritime worker‘s unions, the workers of Boron have a long road ahead of them towards fairness in their contracts.
Rio Tinto is using this lock-out as a way of starving these workers and their families into signing an agreement which does not meet their demands. By devastating the community and forcing workers into unfair conditions, Rio Tinto aims to continue their record of abuses against workers, communities and the environment.
Because this labor dispute is considered to be a lock-out and not a strike, the workers do not qualify for their union’s strike fund and are not eligible to receive funds to support them during the dispute. However, other unions such as the UFCW, who donated 500 bags of groceries to the families of the locked-out workers, and AFL-CIO are donating to the cause for Local 30’s fight against tyranny by donating groceries, funds and time to aid these workers.
Union leaders told company officials "we're here to work; we have families and communities that depend on us, so open the gate and let us go to work”
Despite countless union meetings, the workers from Local 30 have denied Rio Tinto’s demands and have chosen to take the long, hard road towards what is right.
Write letters to your elected officials and Rio Tinto’s company leaders in support of the workers at Boron’s ILWU Local 30 and their struggle against this evil conglomerate. Help organize canned food drives and donation collections for the families of these workers who have been pushed away from their jobs for demanding dignity, fairness and respect in their jobs.
For more information about the struggle these workers are facing, or to lend your love, support or help to them, visit http://www.boraxminers.com (http://www.boraxminers.com/) for all the latest information on the struggle of Kern County workers.
© 2000–2010 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF Bay Area IM