Support US miners locked out by Rio Tinto

USA/UK: Miners locked out of Rio Tinto’s site in Boron, California for refusing to give in to demands by the company that could threaten their ability to work and support their families are highlighting their plight as shareholders attend the global mining giant’s AGM in London on April 15, 2010.

Almost 600 workers, all members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30 branch, were refused entry to the Rio Tinto’s Borax mine and processing plant when they showed up for work on January 31, 2010. They were locked out for refusing to accept the imposition of a new contract that threatened to convert good jobs into temporary, part-time or outsourced positions. Rio Tinto has used a firm with a notorious reputation for union busting to bus replacement workers across picket lines.

The action against Rio Tinto is a joint initiative of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Union (ICEM), and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF).

The workers are supported by unions and workers around the world, including the European Works Council of Rio Tinto who expressed their support with the locked-out Rio Tinto workers in a resolution released on April 12, which can be viewed here.

The Boron families are surviving on unemployment insurance and charitable contributions. Trade unionists are urged to show their solidarity and support by:

• Sending a contribution to help the families keep up their fight. Even a small monthly pledge will be extremely helpful to the locked-out families in Boron.

Write checks to "Labor Community Services" with "Boron Lockout" in the memo portion.  Mail to:  Labor Community Services, 2130 W. James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006.  Your contribution is tax deductible.  Or you can make a contribution using your credit card by going to http://www.launionaflcio.org/donation-boron/

• Sending a message of protest to Rio Tinto between April 15-22, when the Rio Tinto AGMs will take place in London and Melbourne.
• Sending letters of solidarity to the miners and their families click here and copy IMF here

Find out more on the dispute by visiting:

• ICEM website here: http://www.icem.org/en/
• ITF solidarity page here: http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/rio-tinto.cfm
• IMF website here: http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=22678
• ILWU’s local website here: http://boraxminers.com/index.html  
• ILWU’s Action Page: http://www.ilwu.org/mobilize/index.cfm