At a news conference held at the plant in southeast Des Moines in late September, Maurice Taylor, president and CEO of Titan Tire Corp., announced that the company has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court charging the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) with "racketeering." The lawsuit, which is based on the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), seeks "damages" of $240 million, which could be tripled to $720 million.

Taylor distributed a 130-plus page document that names more than 100 individual defendants, including at least 90 members of USWA Local 164 in Des Moines who have been on strike against Titan Tire since May 1, 1998. Others named are USWA international president George Becker, USWA vice-president Leon Lynch, seven USWA district directors, Local 164 president John Peno, Local 303L president Leo Bradley from Natchez, Mississippi, along with several other members of that local who have been on strike against Titan since September 15, 1998.

At the news conference, Taylor charged the USWA with making bomb threats, intimidation, threats of physical harm, trespassing, property damage, interference with commerce, and fraudulent workers compensation claims. Taylor indicated that the Titan Tire company had been working with the FBI for a number of months before filing the lawsuit.

"This is another in a long line of ludicrous assertions," stated a press release issued by the United Steelworkers of America.

According to John Peno, president of Local 164, Taylor would have made these charges long ago if there were any real evidence. Peno added, "I am confident that Local 164 has done nothing illegal in this labor dispute."

Within weeks after the strike began, the company organized to bring in replacement workers in an attempt to break the union. USWA officials and members have documented and reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that on the average one and sometimes two injuries occur a day in the plant, according to Tom Johnson, who is on staff for the USWA. Johnson said that the local keeps a log of all ambulance visits to the plant.

Striker Denny Wicker, who has worked at Titan for 31 years, said the scabs are the losers because they are working for Taylor. Wicker reported that one of the replacement workers who happens to be an immigrant recently got fired because he complained about an injury.  
 
'A dangerous place to work'
"When we were in there with the union," said Wicker, "it was a dangerous place to work, but we had the union to fight Taylor and the company. The scabs have nothing to fight with."

"Taylor has nowhere to hide," stated striker Tom King, a veteran maintenance worker. King said that Taylor filed the lawsuit because "he feels cornered and has refused to sit down and negotiate with the union, almost since day one of the strike."

At the news conference announcing the suit, Taylor said that federal labor laws should be changed to include what he claimed would be a "Workers Bill of Rights." Among the antiunion provisions included in his plan is that every 30 days during a strike employees would be able to vote on whether to continue the strike, accept the company's offer, or return to work while negotiations continue. In addition, strike votes would have to be administered by the National Labor Relations Board. If these rules are followed, Taylor promises, then no permanent replacement workers would be hired unless the strike continued for more than six months.

One member of USWA Local 164, who requested that his name not be used, described these demands as another form of "Taylor terrorism." His "bill of rights" wants to circumvent the democracy of the unions, he added. Taylor wants no unions or company unions.

In an interview with the Militant, Wicker stated, "Taylor can't beat us, because we are not going to lose even if we never go back in that plant." At least 95 percent of the 670 members of Local 164 have other jobs, Wicker pointed out, and only 15 members have crossed the picket line.

Taylor has gone through about 2,000 workers, continued Wicker. He has been able to keep some tire builders for almost two years, but there has been quite a bit of turnover in other production jobs. There are about 350-400 total production workers in the plant, Wicker estimated. "You can't keep a steady workforce when you abuse workers the way Taylor does. That is the central reason we went on strike."

Local 164 will continue to reach out for solidarity for our strike, Wicker explained. "We are going to continue to go to trade shows to talk to working people and farmers and tell them the truth about why we are on strike." By the way, Wicker added, "we just got our picket shanties winterized with heat again for the third winter of the strike."

Simone Berg contributed to this article.  
 
 
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