Production workers at the mine, members of United Steelworkers Local 5252, walked out July 1, the day after their contract expired. Unionists from USW locals 915, 886, and 937, as well as locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Operating Engineers are also on strike. They had been working for a year without a contract.

The company is demanding a freeze on wages and pension contributions in a new contract. Under the expired pact most workers were making around $17 to $18 per hour. ASARCO also wants to extend shifts from the present 8 hours to 12 hours, with no overtime pay. They also are demanding changes in the attendance policy and drug testing rules to strengthen the company’s hand. They want to get rid of all benefits for new hires. Instead of a pension plan for them, they want to institute a private 401(k) investment scheme.

The bosses are trying to run the struck mines with supervisory personnel working 12-hour shifts. Greg Ramirez, a union steward for USW Local 915 at the mine, noted that the company has brought in 50 supervisors from the struck facility at Amarillo to work with the mine bosses. “We know it’s just killing them,” he said.

Union representatives are visiting sister unions at other ASARCO-owned operations in Mexico and Peru. “We have to take this fight global,” stated Robert Manriquez, president of USW Local 5252. “The company has a nerve that runs from their wallet up through their neck. We must internationalize the strike.”

The striking unionists have also been winning solidarity throughout the area. Teamster drivers for ABF Freight are refusing to cross the picket lines. A number of truckers passing by honk their horns and raise their fists in solidarity. A food bank has been set up, and a “Care Fair” to aid the strikers is planned for later this month at Central Arizona College.
 
 
Related articles:
Peabody may shut down Arizona mine  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home