The same determination was expressed by other workers on a June 10 visit to the picket line. "No union member has crossed the picket line since about 10 months ago," said strike veteran James White, 56, who is on the line often during the week. White worked as a tire builder for 30 years before the walkout. "One man went in for about four hours--and came back out. He said he couldn't work under those conditions."

Titan Tire owner Maurice Taylor has been running the plant with scab labor since the strike started. "There's a big turnover of scabs," White added. "They're still not getting much production out of there."  
 
String of accidents at Mississippi plant
There have been a string of accidents and injuries in the plant since the strike started. One of the most serious occurred last October, when carbon black dust ignited at one of the plant's mixing machines, causing an explosion. Two replacement workers were badly burned in the blast. The June 2 Natchez Democrat reported that a judge has ruled Titan must pay a $2,125 fine, imposed earlier by the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA), following an investigation into the blast. OSHA found that improperly placed electrical equipment was responsible for the explosion.

The strike began after Titan Tire International owner Maurice Taylor bought the plant from Fidelity Tire Manufacturing Co. in August 1998. Fidelity's parent company, Condere Corp., had filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and laid off hundreds of workers. Out of 500 union members who had been at the plant, only 200 were working as of September 4, 1998, the last day of work under Fidelity. Despite a court order to honor the previous labor contract with the Steelworkers, Taylor immediately began to run roughshod over the union.

Anthony Edwards, 30, had worked as a tire builder for 10 years when the strike started. "The strike wasn't about production," he said, noting that the workers had been setting production records before Fidelity went bankrupt. "When Taylor bought the plant, he started putting pressure on the union right from the beginning. He really forced us to strike."

Several union officials were fired in the days before the strike. Taylor demanded to be able to recall laid-off workers by job classification, not plant seniority, and contract out certain jobs in the plant. Titan's push for unlimited overtime was also a big issue. The union was fighting to limit the workweek to six days and no more than 56 hours.

Willie Evans and James White were among the Local 303L members who traveled up to Quincy, Illinois, for a May 18 strike solidarity action at Titan Tire's annual shareholders' meeting. They joined members of USWA Local 164 who have been on strike at Titan Tire's Des Moines, Iowa, plant since May 1, 1998. Also participating were three Uruguayan unionists from the Sindicato de FUNSA and Federacion del Caucho (rubber workers' union). Titan Tire owns a plant in Uruguay, and unionists there have been actively supporting the Natchez and Des Moines Titan strikers.

According to a recent article in Solidarity News, published by the Titan strikers, "The meeting was held in a police-state-like environment, at the request of Titan officials, according to news reports. More than 50 police officers from the City of Quincy, Adams County, and the State of Illinois occupied the grounds of the Quincy Holiday Inn, site of the meeting. The police cordoned off one-half a city block around the hotel and only allowed entry through a 'check point.'" The hotel was also occupied by cops, with more than 20 standing by in full riot gear. Police videotaped union members and took down license numbers of suspected strikers.

Despite this heavy-handed attempt at intimidation, strikers managed to get into the meeting and confront Titan CEO Taylor, hammering him with questions. Meanwhile, the board of directors fled out the back door.

That night, some 25 unionists held a candlelight vigil outside "Titan House," the official residence of Titan Tire. CEO Taylor previously owned the house, but sold it to Titan for $850,000 profit, according to Solidarity News. The vigil, which included a reading of the names of the 1,000 USWA members who have been forced out of work by Titan over the past two years, was well-covered by the local media.

Strikers from Natchez and Des Moines will be in Detroit June 28-29 for solidarity actions. They plan to hook up with unionists there, including members of the unions who struck the Detroit News and Free Press in July 1995.

Susan LaMont is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 2122 in Fairfield, Alabama.  
 
 
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