forwarded by Michael Hoover > >From the Militant, Oct. 2 (newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party) > > Florida miners strike to defend union {pre-publication version} > > BY RACHELE FRUIT > > PALATKA, Florida--Workers at a surface mineral mine > here are waging a determined fight to defend their union. The members of > International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1098 have been on > strike for two years against Iluka Resources, Inc. > > They are fighting against company practices such as "threatening an > employee with legal action for making a safety complaint to the Mine > Safety and Health Administration," as their fact sheet explains. > > On August 2, a group of workers and one farmer returning to Florida from > an Active Workers Conference in Ohio visited the picket line. We were > from Plant City, Land O'Lakes, St. Petersburg, and Miami. One team > member, Rachele Fruit, was a member of IAM Local 1126 in Miami and had > been part of an effort by unionists there to send a contribution to the > toy fund for children of the strikers last Christmas. > > The picket line is located five miles north of Bostwick, between Palatka > and Jacksonville, with a blue school bus for a strike headquarters > surrounded by hand-stenciled plywood signs. One of the signs says, > "Those who thought we were down for the count will have a rude > awakening. UNION WINS." > > Strikers Dyal Bowman and Greg Looney greeted us warmly and explained > that their strike is about defending the right of workers to a union. > > Workers at the Iluka mine excavate minerals such as zircon or zirconium > silicate and ilmanite and rutile, both sources of titanium oxide. These > minerals are used in making tires and other essential products. > > Bowman explained that "the company started splitting the workers. We > were used to working in both places. If things were slow in one area, > we'd go over and work in the other. We all worked together. Then they > imposed shift work in one mill and not the other, violating seniority." > > The pickets reported the company made one union employee a boss who > reported back what happened at union meetings. Management called this > "monitoring" union meetings. They fired the chief union steward in June > 1997 and then wouldn't let him onto company property to meet with or > represent union members. > > The contract ended Aug. 1, 1997, and the union negotiated more than a > year until the strike was called. Meanwhile, the company organized > "parking lot meetings with all of the workers to explain that they were > losing money and had to cut costs or else shut the gates," Bowman said. > "But this place is a gold mine. They sell trainloads of minerals." > > CSX engineers have honored the picket line. They bring railroad cars to > the edge of the company property, but no further. "For the first year of > the strike, CSX supervisors brought the trains in, but they got tired of > it," said Bowman. "Since then, Iluka has paid $500 three times a week to > get a scab outfit from Jacksonville to bring the trains in." > > There were 78 IAM members who went on strike, but 32 crossed the line > during the fourth week when the company started hiring replacement > workers. > > On Nov. 5, 1999, administrative law judge Howard Grossman ruled that the > replacement workers should be fired. He ruled that union members should > be awarded back pay and benefits with interest, as well as all the > overtime pay the replacement workers received. The company appealed the > ruling, and the case has been before the National Labor Relations Board > since January. > > "We've got a strong case, but it's up there in Washington and you never > know," Looney told us. The strikers expect a ruling in September. "If > all the workers in the country would stick together, we'd have them."