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ASARCO mine strike continues, Mexican workers to go on strike August 15 in solidarity
by jessica lee
Saturday, Aug. 13, 2005 at 5:20 PM
Mine workers have been on an unfair labor practices strike since July 2 saying that ASARCO has not negotiated a new contract in good faith. Last week, ASARCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which is now owned by Grupo Mexico, says the strike was only a small contribution to bankruptcy, citing large costs of environmental liabilities as the main reason. While copper prices are reaching a 15-year high, at approximately $1.70 a pound, some of the workers say they could run the company better than the bosses.
TUCSON – For twenty-four hours a day, everyday since July 2, employees of the ASARCO mines have staffed a large tent on the side of Pima Mine Road south of Tucson. The unions voted to go on strike due to unfair labor practices after they say the company refused to negotiate a new contract in good faith. Some of the Arizona employees, who work at the Silver Bell, Mission, and Ray Mines, and the Hayden Mill and Smelter, have been working without a contract for a year. Workers at a ASARCO Texas mine are also on strike.
Approximately 1,500 workers have been involved in the strike. Since Arizona is a Right-to-Work state, approximately 100 employees have been seen crossing the picket line. Four unions have been involved in the strike in Arizona, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Union of Operating Engineers, the United Steel Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
ASARCO was purchased by Grupo Mexico, the third largest copper mining company, in 1999. Employees say labor conditions have deteriorated since then. Union representatives involved in the contract negotiations say that despite higher copper prices, ASARCO is demanding a wage freeze, a reduction in pension benefits for current employees, no pension benefits for new hires, reduced health insurance benefits and other concessions. Grupo Mexico is also facing labor problems in Mexico where union members claim the company is interfering in union affairs and trying to promote “company” unions.
ASARCO employee James Rowland said that Grupo Mexico always wanted the U.S. employees to work for less, since they are used to paying lower wages in Mexico. Rowland, who works at the Mission Mine, says that the miners lost their health care for July although it was deducted from their paycheck.
Several other miners, who didn’t feel comfortable giving their names, agreed with Rowland. “The old ASARCO would not ever have cut our medical benefits because they cared more abut their families,” one employee said.
Reuters reported Friday that Grupo Mexico metal workers in the Mexican Mining and Metallurgical Workers Union say they will begin a Mexico-wide protest in solidarity with the ASARCO strikers on August 15. The union reports that approximately 250,000 workers in 22 Mexican states will stop work for one hour on Monday in support of the Asarco and Sicartsa strikers. The workers plan to extend the stoppages by an hour every day, culminating in a full day walk out if no progress is made with strike negotiations by the following week.
The protests could affect production at Penoles, the world’s top silver company.
Grupo Mexico is one of the world's biggest copper producers. It has mines in Mexico, United States and Peru.
In the last few months, mining and metalworking unions in each country have united to demand that the company respects workers’ rights and improves benefits.
The United Steelworkers (USW), the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of Mexico (STMMRM) and the Federation Workers of the Mining and Metal Industries of Peru (FETIMAP) had already demonstrated on June 21 against Grupo Mexico mining operations.
Negotiations between ASARCO and the union has been on and off since July when talks collapsed and the strike began.
Reuters reported that during the first half of 2005, ASARCO's revenues were $253 million, with total copper production of 87,000 tones. Both numbers compare favorably with 2004. Before the July, the company estimated 2005 output at 180,000 tones of copper products.
It has been reported that the ASARCO strike could affect up to a fifth of Grupo Mexico’s total copper production.
Four unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, left the AFL-CIO earlier in the month saying that the organization devoted too many resources to political campaigns and lobbying and not enough to grassroots organizing. The New York Times reported split as “the biggest rift in labor since the 1930s.”
Mine Takeover
Many of the Mission Mine employees joke that they could run the mine better than themselves.
“Without us, they cannot keep producing,” one worker said who wished not to give his name. “We know how to fix all the old trucks and equipment,” he said. He has worked in Arizona mines for more than 30 years and said that Grupo Mexico didn’t want to invest in new equipment, thus the machines and trucks break down all the time.
Another worker, said that since Grupo took over, the incidents of safety accidents has increased.
“If the bosses would only listen to our ideas, things would work better and be more efficient,” another said. One worker said that one man who didn’t have much experience with the tractor that dumps rock onto the conveyor belt accidentally took out the belt costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Factory workers throughout Argentina have been taking over production, from textiles to metal works, since 2001 when the economy collapsed. Fearing the companies would ship out all the equipment out of the country, the workers united to take over the factories. They defend the factories with marbles and slingshots when the police try to come evict them. For more information, see the independent film, “The Take.” http://www.nfb.ca/webextension/thetake/
For more information on the ASARCO strike:
International Association of Mechanics and Aerospace Workers:
http://www.iamaw.org/content.cfm?cID=4986
International Metalworkers’ Federation:
http://www.imfmetal.org/main/index.cfm?n=47&l=2&c=11956
Mineweb News: http://www.mineweb.net/sections/base_metals/458190.htm
Reuters Article on Mexico Protest: http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/business/article.adp?id=20050812192709990005&cid=1222
ASARCO Timeline from the Arizona Daily Star: http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/allheadlines/88214.php
More on ASARCO bankruptcy from the Arizona Daily Star: http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/metro/88210