Brunswick Smelter Workers Enter Seventh
Week of Lockout
Steelworkers and Allies Hold Vigorous Mass Rally in Support of Glencore Workers in Belledune
On Tuesday, June 4, the Brunswick Smelter workers in
Belledune, New Brunswick held a successful community rally in which
over 300 workers and community members participated. The 280 smelter
workers, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7085, have been
locked out of their jobs since April 24 by mining/metallurgical
giant Glencore, which owns the Belledune plant. Glencore management is
trying to extort drastic anti-worker concessions from the workers and
workers are resisting these demands with their stand "It's Our Turn! No
Concessions!"
 The aim of the rally was to
mobilize support for the Belledune workers. Workers report that the
support of the community and of all USW locals in the province and of
other workers has been very strong since the beginning and they also
wanted to thank the community and all the workers for their support.
The rally started outside the Belledune Recreation
Centre at 2:00 pm. From there the participants filled two buses to go
to the picket lines to protest there for about an hour while others
went by car. When they were back at the centre, together with the kids
who had finished school and been taken to the rally by their parents,
there were
about 300 people present for the concluding part of the event. There
was a BBQ and live music and games for the kids while people talked to
the locked out workers, getting more information about the issues and
expressing their support. Besides the smelter workers, participants
included the leadership of USW District 6, which covers Ontario and the
Atlantic provinces, a strong contingent of CUPE workers, as well as
workers belonging to industrial unions from around the province, and
people from the community. Support from the community included
businesses in the community providing food for all and games for the
kids. At the time that had been alotted for speeches, the weather
turned to pouring rain so the President of the Local, Bart Dempsey,
thanked the community for their ongoing support and informed the people
that the District 6 Director will send out letters to all the members
providing his thoughts on the situation.
 Workers report that
Belledune is a closely-knit community of just under 2,000 people where
many Brunswick smelter retirees live. The retirees know what the
workers are going through and had themselves experienced in their
active years. They are keeping the people informed about the issues.
The community is aware that it has always been a struggle at the
smelter, whether it was owned by Glencore, Xstrata or Falconbridge
before Glencore. There is also awareness of the anti-worker
activities of the current management, especially in terms of health and
safety. Those activities have been made public over the years as
workers vigorously fought to defend healthy and safe conditions for
themselves and the community.
Workers also report that they have now made a counter
offer to the company on monetary issues. They have also earmarked some
concessionary demands that they want off the table before going back to
the bargaining table, including keeping the two positions of full-time
President and full-time union safety representative and leaving the
early retirement provisions alone. Workers are also demanding some
increase for those who are on the defined contribution pension plan.[1]
"We are in our seventh week right now. We are still
together and we are still strong. We are still demanding that those
concessions be removed. And then we are willing to go back and finish
out this contract. There has to be negotiation, not dictate," Bart
Dempsey told Workers' Forum.
Note
1. To learn more about the
concessionary demands of Glencore in this dispute and the stand of the
workers, read "Workers
Stand
Up
for Their Rights and Dignity," Workers' Forum, May 2,
2019.
This article was published in
Number 21 - June 6, 2019
Article Link:
Brunswick Smelter Workers Enter Seventh
Week of Lockout: Steelworkers and Allies Hold Vigorous Mass Rally in Support of Glencore Workers in Belledune
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
