Please join with other labor and community activists to protest the lockout of 560 borax miners in Boron, California, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) by Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies (or as a kos commentor noted, one of the worst companies no one has ever heard of).
Friday, April 16th
12:00 noon
British Consulate
900 Fourth Avenue, Seattle
(Fourth Avenue & Marion Street)
The action in Seattle is part of a series of protests. On April 15, Rio Tinto will hold a shareholder's meeting in London. The following day, the ILWU and supporters will be gathering at the British consulates in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. We want to tell the British government to help send a message to the corporate criminals at Rio Tinto, to stop the attacks on the miners in California.
Below is a summary of what Rio Tinto is demanding of the miners.
Rio Tinto's attack on working families in Boron
At 7:00 am on January 31, 2010, the Rio Tinto corporation locked out nearly 600 ILWU members at the company’s Borax mine and plant in Boron, California.
Rio Tinto is a foreign-owned, mega mining conglomerate that’s trying to force a concessionary contract ultimatum onto working families and communities in California’s High Desert. Rio Tinto’s ultimatum includes:
• The power to convert full-time jobs, whenever management wants, into part-time positions with little or no benefits.
• Authority to reduce employee pay, any time the company wants, regardless of the contract wage rates and without any right of workers to file a grievance.
• The ability to outsource all jobs, any time it wants, to contractors and temp agencies that pay low wages and provide little or no benefits, without any right to file a worker grievance.
• If Rio Tinto violates any state or federal labor laws, which it has already done, workers would be required to pay for the company's legal penalties, fines, damages and even attorney fees.
• The unlawful discrimination against military personnel by denying them seniority credit for military service if they've served in the Armed Forces for less than one year or for more than four years, which constitutes a violation of federal law (USERRA). Also among the company’s demands is the elimination of the Veteran’s Day holiday starting in 2011.
• The removal of scores of workers from the union contract and power to declare entire sections of the plant to be "non-union" areas where employees could be fired at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all.
• The ability at any time to change shifts, hours and work assignments, and impose mandatory overtime, with no scheduled days-off or regular shifts, making life impossible for families.
• Require workers to give up their Constitutional and legal right as Americans to go to court if the foreign-owned company discriminates based on race, sex, age, disability, military status or religion, or if it violates any other state or federal laws, including the U.S. Civil Rights Act, FMLA, ADA, ERISA, FLSA.
• Under the Rio Tinto lockout contract, all legal rights would be transferred from American courts to a private arbitrator, which the company gets to pick in at least half the cases.
• Authority to eliminate long term disability coverage for any new employee, which protects workers -- and provides economic security to families -- when an employee is injured and can’t work.
• The drastic reduction of retirement benefits for current employees, and the total elimination of pension benefits for new employees who would only get a small 401(k) contribution.
Rio Tinto has a long and ugly history of disrespecting workers and communities in the US and around the world. Our brothers and sisters in Australia’s Hunter Valley are facing the same kind of outrageous demands that families are facing in Boron.
Rio Tinto is currently being sued in US Federal Court for mistreating the community and environment in Papua, New Guinea.
In 2009, Rio Tinto made almost $5 Billion in profits, despite a world-wide recession. Several years ago, the company paid nearly $40 Billion for Alcan -- a decision that left Rio Tinto heavily in debt. The company is now trying to climb out of debt by driving down the working conditions of their employees.
If you can't join us at the rally, please visit the locked-out worker's website at http://www.boraxminers.com/ - there is a link if you wish to donate to these families. Let them know you heard of them via the dailykos.