The more than 1,200 workers, members of several different unions, began receiving the imposed contract in the mail around October 10. Negotiations for a contract had been taking place since July, and after 41 days the company walked out of negotiations as the contract expired October 1.

Kennecott’s imposed contract guts gains workers have made over decades of struggle at the mine, one of the world’s largest such operations. It will force retirees for the first time to begin paying for their own medical insurance--hundreds of dollars a month.

Promotions and transfers will be entirely up to the company, gutting seniority. The grievance and arbitration procedure has been weakened and overtime will be paid after a 40-hour week instead of after eight hours. New hires will work a 720-hour probation, and when they retire they will have no medical benefits. The company also wants to increase the use of contract and temporary workers and to assert the right to set work schedules of 12-hour days.

Haul truck drivers and mechanics who work at the copper mine reported that the company has announced that 12-hour shifts will be implemented starting November 1. "This is not about money, it’s about 12-hour shifts, it’s about seniority, its about the company being able to do anything they want," said Brent Bolton, a member of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 485 and a haul truck driver. He has worked for Kennecott for 29 years.

In response to these conditions, the workers, represented by the USWA, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Office and Professional Employees International Union, and International Association of Machinists, voted September 17 to authorize a strike by a 93 percent margin. The USWA filed unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board. A hearing will be held in Denver October 25  
 
Workers protest in Magna
Copper workers, retirees, and their families have been protesting the company’s attacks. On September 28 in Magna, Utah, hundreds turned out to protest Kennecott’s decision to stop paying retirees’ medical benefits. The union has been organizing informational pickets at the smelter gate at shift change to invite contract workers to support their fight. In January, Kennecott told 120 millwrights and electricians who work at the smelter that they were being let go. Some then became contractors without union representation. They joined the masons, vacuum truck operators, and pipe fitters who have been contract workers for some time. More than half of the smelter workforce is now contracted out.

"Workers in the smelter have been combative," said John Langford, USWA Local 392 member and a furnace operator in the smelter. "The company had all the foremen for every shift report four hours before the strike deadline. Some were asked if they brought their sleeping bags and toothbrushes. A company memo had been circulated earlier in the week stating all salaried personnel would spend the first 14 days on the property."

Kennecott Utah Copper is one of the largest copper mine operations in the world and is part of Rio Tinto PLC, with properties around the globe. Kennecott owns one large nonunion surface coal mine in Colorado and five in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. In the mid-1980s Kennecott employed 7,500 workers. As copper prices plummeted, the company shut down production and then called back a fraction of the workers. The union accepted a six-year concessionary contract.

Copper prices have dropped from $1.10 per pound six years ago to 66 cents per pound in September of 2002. One half of the copper industry in the United States is shut down. The mine is open pit and has a life of about 10 years. A large vein of copper has been discovered.

For the last four months the company has been campaigning for concessions it claims will be used to pay for a billion dollar capital expansion project to go underground.

John Langford contributed to this article. He is a furnace operator at Kennecott Utah Copper’s smelter and a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 392.  
 
 
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