—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

Locked-out Texas aluminum workers win support

HOUSTON — Locked-out Sherwin Alumina refinery workers were buoyed by support from oil strikers and a delegation of international unionists in a Feb. 26 protest of some 100 here outside the offices of Glencore, Sherwin Alumina’s parent company. The locked-out workers are members of United Steelworkers Local 235A in Gregory.

Sherwin Alumina locked out the 450 unionists Oct. 11, the day after they rejected its contract offer by 98 percent. The company’s proposal included cuts in overtime pay for unscheduled work, increased health care premiums, elimination of medical coverage for retirees, and no pension, disability or widows’ benefits for new hires.

“We’re hanging on,” said Freddy Arismendez, a locked-out worker. “We’re getting support from the community, but the company hasn’t brought anything to the table.”

Among those joining the picket line were USW oil workers on strike in Texas City, Deer Park, and Houston; and Service Employees International Union members. The international delegation — representatives of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia; the UNITE union in United Kingdom; and the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa — had joined the USW members picketing the refinery in Gregory the day before.

“Workers will only put up with being stood on by the company for so long,” Alan Scott, who works at the Glencore Clermont coal mine in Queensland, Australia, told the Militant.

After the protest at the Glencore offices, many participants caravaned to the oil workers’ picket lines and joined a jambalaya feast and family night at the Steelworkers union hall in Deer Park. Mark Simon and Danielle London

—Mark Simon and Danielle London