The 560 locked-out workers of Rio Tinto’s borax mine in Boron, California return to work tomorrow. This straggly-assed, doggedly determined, overwhelmed little union battled back against one of the most powerful and ruthless companies in the world, Rio Tinto Zinc.
And won.
Rio Tinto (as one commenter noted, "the worst corporation in the world that no one has ever heard of") wanted a contract that would allow it to capriciously promote or demote; to outsource union jobs; to convert full-time to part-time positions with little or no benefits; to reorganize shift schedules without warning; to eliminate existing work rules; to cut holidays, sick leave and pension payments; to impose involuntary overtime; and to heavily penalize the union if workers file grievances against the company with the National Labor Relations Board. They wanted to do away with Veteran’s Day as a paid holiday.
The miners scored a win as the company dropped all of their outrageous demands and reverted to the previous contract. ILWU 30 workers won the right to return to their jobs at the company that tried to crush their union and eliminate their family-wage jobs. They won the economic salvation of their dusty 2,000 person-town situated in the high desert adjacent to that vein of borax. The losses - to the families, to the town, from the lack of income for 3 ½ months has not yet been determined. RTZ - what did they win? A labor force sadder and wiser, and as devoid of loyalty to them as the scabs they hired in their place. A group of workers that will give nothing of themselves beyond the minimum 8 hours a day.
RTZ announced the end of the lockout with a full-page ad in the local paper, exuberant that their "most valued resource" would be returning to work, and that they could now be "competitive" in the industry.
Thank you, Kossacks, for your support and interest in this labor war. We recognize that you cared and contributed where you could.
http://www.boraxminers.com/