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Letter to the Editor A Lockout Is Not a "Force Majeure"I read with interest the article in the March 7 issue of Workers' Forum "Workers Demand Legault Government Make Alcoa/Rio Tinto Meet Its Commitments on Energy Contract." I am closely following the lockout at ABI and I also think that it is fraudulent to consider this lockout as a "force majeure," "an unforeseeable, irresistible event beyond the control of a Party," which in this case is Alcoa. As the article says, the lockout is a planned operation to attack the working conditions and the union. "Representatives of the Bécancour Smelter (ABI) management met with USW Local 9700 today, informing them that the plant needs fundamental changes to achieve long-term success. The meeting took place in the presence of Mr. Jean Nolin, the conciliator appointed by the Ministry of Labour. "The constant objectives of ABI management during last year's long negotiations were to ensure the sustainability of the plant and to reach a negotiated agreement. However, the union's pressure tactics during these negotiations have caused a significant deterioration of the operating conditions in the plant, creating hazards for employees, putting the products at risk, threatening the supply of customers and negatively affecting the financial performance. "The union's rejection of a fair and competitive offer left ABI management with no choice but to take steps to protect its employees and the assets of the plant. Consequently, the rejected offer can no longer serve as a basis for a future settlement. "ABI is not as competitive as it should be and this situation needs to be improved to succeed in the long term. "As a result, ABI's operational structure needs to be re-evaluated with the goal of significantly improving productivity and workforce organization to ensure consistency for its customers." If this is not a planned operation to attack the working conditions and the union, then what is it? In this press release, ABI management is trying to kill two birds with one stone. It declares the end of its previous offer, which could have led to a settlement through negotiations, and signals that in fact its aim is a complete restructuring of the ABI operation. At the same time it claims, after the fact, that its lockout was justified because the workers had sabotaged production and machinery and endangered the plant and the lives of the employees when they were at work months before the lockout! And, it should be noted, this "sabotage" was never raised at the time, when the workers were at work. In this press release, Alcoa is therefore trying to present the lockout as a defensive measure on its part against a concocted "force majeure," the so-called sabotage by the workers to justify its decision that its offer is no longer valid and that it must carry out a complete restructuring of the place at the expense of working conditions and the union! This is illogical. It can certainly be said that rationality is not the strong point of ABI management, but it cannot be said that the lockout was not planned. From the beginning, Alcoa has had a hidden agenda that has been revealed more and more clearly ever since. The Quebec government should not try to compete with ABI management over which has the more fraudulent arguments of the two. The Alcoa/Rio Tinto cartel has to pay for the block of energy that is set aside for it. This lockout is not a "force majeure." If the government takes the side of the Quebeckers who it claims to represent, that will put pressure on the Alcoa/Rio Tinto cartel to finally negotiate so that the lockout can end in a manner acceptable to the workers.
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
I think one of the
crucial
moments that showed that the lockout is planned was what happened
on
March 8, 2018. After having liquidated in a few minutes what was
meant
to be
a negotiation session between the two parties in the presence of
the
mediator, ABI's management issued a statement saying: