The main issue in this strike is for a five-day workweek, Monday through Friday. Gary Tiboni, president of the local, told the Militant, "For the last five years the workers have lived with the flexible workweek schedule. It doesn’t work for our guys, especially with the families. The schedules are changed without much notice, they don’t know if they will work a weekend and can’t make any plans."

Cargill, Inc., a major international conglomerate, bought the mine in 1997, and demanded a $3-an-hour pay cut from all the workers. Because Cargill bought only the mine’s assets, they were not required to honor the previous labor agreement. One year into the contract the flexible workweek was negotiated in exchange for returning the wages to the previous level.

Other issues in the strike are the use of subcontractors, who are doing work previously done by union workers, including working underground. Union members say Cargill is not respecting seniority pertaining to job openings or shift preference.

The union is also involved in a struggle around safety. Six miners recently refused to work on a job due to unsafe conditions. The company ordered them to do the work. The miners again refused and the company suspended them for three days. The union filed a grievance and was forced to take the issue to arbitration. The arbitrator ruled that the company must give the union members back pay for time lost and remove any mention of the disciplinary action from its files. He also issued a statement that said that when miners believes their safety is in jeopardy, they have the right to refuse to do the work.

The Whiskey Island mine began operating in 1961. Two workers have died on the job, including John Kotchman, a miner who was struck in the head in 1990 by a roof slab. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer at the time, Joe Zelek, deputy state mining inspector, told the Ohio State Mine Examining Board that "10 bolts in the mine roof would have been enough to prevent the accident."

The Cleveland mine is the largest producing salt mine in the United States. It is 1,800 feet underground and stretches 2.5 miles under Lake Erie. The salt is mined by building rooms with 105 square foot pillars, which are necessary to keep the 26 billion tons of rock and water from collapsing on the heads of the miners. The salt is blasted, leaving piles picked up by front-end loaders with 22-ton scoops, then dumped on a conveyor belt and sent to the surface to be crushed. The salt is used primarily for melting ice on roads.  
 
 
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