USW@Work - National College Players Association - United ...

n LoomingControl of ASARCORelations Board (NLRB) filed a formal administrative complaint against the companydeclaring that the strike was an unfair labor practice strike.Grupo Mexico caused ASARCO to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in August2005. Shortly after the bankruptcy filing, Grupo Mexico was pushed aside, and throughthe intervention of independent parties in the bankruptcy case, ASARCO and the USWsettled the strike in November 2005. All members returned to work under a one-yearextension of the prior agreements.The company’s relationship with its employees improved dramatically once GrupoMexico was out of the picture.In January 2007, ASARCO and the USW negotiated a new long-term labor agreementthat provided ASARCO with productivity gains and greater operating flexibilityand gave our members and retirees real economic improvements and enhanced jobsecurity. The agreement was groundbreaking in the copper industry.Labor agreement supportedThe labor agreement was supported by nearly all constituencies in the bankruptcycase, with Grupo Mexico being the sole objector. The bankruptcy court approved theagreement and USW members have been enjoying the benefits ever since.Now that Grupo Mexico is seeking to regain control of ASARCO, the USW hasreleased a report and created a web page to educate the public about Grupo Mexico andthe potential impact on workers and their communities in the United States if GrupoMexico succeeds.Grupo Mexico’s record speaks for itself and it’s a record that workers employed bythe company know all too well. Grupo Mexico led ASARCO to near ruin. After allour members have gained in the past three years, the USW fears that Grupo Mexicowould do the same again if it were to regain control. It’s time the rest of the worldknows as well.For more information visit: www.therecordspeaksforitself.comGrupo Mexico No Better at HomeGrupo Mexico doesn’t treat its employees at home any better than they do thosein the United States. In fact, with far weaker legal protection, employees in Mexicofare even worse.Grupo’s deplorable treatment of workers in Mexico has been widely publicized,including the explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the Coahuila state of Mexico,the use of the Mexican army to try to break a strike in Cananea, and the relentlessefforts to break the independent union, the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Unionof Mexico (SNTMMSRM).Grupo Mexico’s close relationship with the Mexican government gives it wide berthin enforcing its will at home. According to “An Injury to One,” a report prepared bythe International Metalworkers’ Federation, “Grupo Mexico enjoys the full use of thenational army and federal police to break strikes… and arrest union leaders fightingfor safer working conditions in Grupo Mexico owned mines.”USW@Work • summer 2008 35