Lockout at the ABI Smelter in
Bécancour, Quebec
Support for Locked-Out
Workers Keeps Coming In
Workers from the Raglan mine in northern Quebec visit the locked
out
ABI workers in Bécancour, February 5, 2019
The 1,300 workers at the ABI smelter in
Bécancour
have now been locked out for almost 13 months. United
Steelworkers
Local 9700 reports that discussions have been taking place since
January 30 between the union and company representatives. ABI
workers
demand that the Alcoa/Rio Tinto cartel, the owner of ABI, stop
its
provocations and negotiate a collective agreement that workers
can
accept. Issues that were in dispute in December 2017, pension
plan
funding, seniority in job posting and labour mobility, are still
on the
table. As well, the owners have added new demands for
concessions,
including the removal of 20 per cent of unionized jobs at the
smelter.
This would weaken the union in its organized struggle for
workers'
rights. The ABI workers are firmly opposed.
Support for ABI workers keeps coming in. On
February 5, a delegation representing the 820 unionized
workers of the Raglan mine in Nunavik, the most northern region
of
Quebec, came to support them on their picket lines. These members
of
USW Local 9449 who are employed by the Glencore mining and
metallurgical
monopoly have decided to double their monthly contribution to
support
the ABI workers. "They face a multinational, just as our employer
is.
We know that negotiations with these big companies are more and
more
difficult. Their battle is also ours. It is important that they
feel
that we are with them," said Éric Savard, the President of
the
Local. Other union locals also provided financial support to
Bécancour workers.
ABI workers
also continue their tour of unions across Quebec to explain their
struggle and mobilize support. In recent weeks, representatives
of
locked out workers have been meeting with Unifor workers in
Baie-Comeau, in the Saguenay region, as well as the Suncor
workers in
Montreal, who themselves faced a 14-month lockout
in 2007.
On February 12, while the workers of ABI are
participating in a general meeting of the union to take stock of
the
situation, the workers of the Rio Tinto aluminum smelter in Alma
in
Lac-Saint-Jean will travel about five hours by bus to replace
them on
their picket lines.
Support for ABI workers keeps coming in,
strengthening
the conviction that their struggle is the struggle of all for
their
rights and dignity.
This article was published in
Number 4 - February 7, 2019
Article Link:
Lockout at the ABI Smelter in
Bécancour, Quebec: Support for Locked-Out
Workers Keeps Coming In
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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