Labor & Employment Law

U.S., Canada Workers Rally for Locked-Out California Borax Miners

By James Parks

Workers in five cities and two nations protested in front of British consulates today to demand justice for nearly 600 members of  International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30, who were locked-out Jan. 31 at Rio Tinto’s Borax mine in Boron, Calif. It is the world’s second largest borax mine.

(You can help the miners and their families by making a tax deductible contribution to Labor Community Services with the notation  for Boron Lockout in the memo field. Send the check to Labor Community Services, 2130 W. James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif., 90006.)

The protests come a day after a locked-out miner addressed shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in London, England, asking the company to end its lockout against families in Boron.

In Seattle, David Freiboth, executive secretary of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, told a crowd of about 200 outside the consulate:

Corporations are destroying good jobs all across America today, but these locked-out families in California deserve special support because they’re fighting for the good jobs that America needs and taking on a corporate bully like Rio Tinto.

In Boston, as 30 unoion memebrs rallied outside, two representatives of the group went inside and met with the deputy consul general and his staff. Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103 member John Brooks delivered a petition signed by the protestors calling on the consulate staff to inform the British government about their concerns and to press Rio Tinto to end its cruel and illegal lockout immediately.

Rich Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council, told the union members:

Rio Tinto is a global mining Goliath that’s using economic terrorism tactics against these brave families who are standing up for good jobs.

Other protests took place in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Rio Tinto is one of the world’s largest mining companies with a history of human rights abuse around the globe. In Boron, the company locked out the workers after they voted down the giveback-packed contract from Rio Tinto. According to the ILWU, Rio Tinto in 2009 made nearly $5 billion in profits, despite a worldwide recession.

The London-based company operates mines on five continents and has a long record of union-busting actions, according to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM).

For more information on the lockout, click here. A tax deductible contribution via credit card can be made here. For more information about the campaign and to become a Face Book friend of the miners, go here.

Tom Morello of Street Sweeper Social Club is supporting the miners by sending out the message to his Twitter feed, check it out here.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on April 16, 2010 (boomark / email).