On July 5, the United Steelworkers ratified an agreement ending the six-month-plus lockout of about 780 union workers at Rio Tinto’s Alma smelter in Quebec, a struggle that gained widespread international solidarity and became emblematic of labor struggles in the modern metals industry. Though details of the settlement have still not been made public, on its website the union called it “a great victory for the workers and their supporters around the world.”
USW President Leo Gerard was quoted saying:
We were forced to take on the third-largest mining company in the world and we won… Many thought this was impossible, given the power imbalance, but we sent a message to the resource industry throughout the world that workers and their unions can take on huge multinational corporations to stop unjust demands.
The stand-off started last fall around issues including the company’s intention to replace retiring union workers with non-union contractors. According to the USW website, this was addressed in the settlement, which applies through 2015: “The new contract rejects Rio Tinto’s demand. Contracting out will be strictly managed and limited for the collective agreement’s duration.”
Since the lockout, the plant has been operating at about two-thirds capacity, but that reportedly has not been a major blow to Rio Tinto — which acquired the smelter as part of its acquisition of Alcan in 2007 — since the economic crisis has driven down demand for metals. The agreement apparently comes just in time for the company, as demand may now be picking up again, despite the Eurozone crisis.
The smelter lockout had been a centerpiece of an “Off the Podium” campaign, which argues that by supplying metal for 4,700 medals from its Utah and Mongolia mines, Rio Tinto is sullying the ideals of the Olympic Games beginning soon in London. Reportedly more than 13,000 people signed a petition demanding Rio Tinto not be part of the Games.
USW Quebec director Guy Farrell was previously quoted as saying:
Locking out its workers in Quebec is a violation of Rio Tinto’s obligations to fair play under the Olympic Charter. The effort by this company to drive down living wages at one of the most profitable aluminum smelters in the world is a dangerous precedent for workers and families everywhere. Rio Tinto is not Olympic calibre in its behaviour towards its own workers and their families. The company demands unrealistic concessions from employees, and locks them out when they don’t concede. It pollutes the air and water in communities around the world. It has no place alongside the world’s greatest athletes – it’s time to get Rio Tinto off the Olympic podium.
Activists have also opposed the Games’ sponsorship by BP and Dow Chemicals, part of the Greenwash Gold campaign launched by a former sustainability director for the Games, Meredith Alexander. The group’s website quotes Alexander saying:
The Olympics are meant to be about so much more than how fast Usain Bolt can run or how many medals Britain’s finest athletes score. The modern Olympics was founded here in the UK to promote peace and understanding between the peoples of the world. The Olympic values are all about celebrating our common humanity.
Even with the settlement, the union expects more acrimonious disputes with the company. On the USW website, USW Canadian national director Ken Neumann says:
The USW will continue working with unions around the world to demand that Rio Tinto respect workers’ and human rights and the environment…We know there will be new attacks by Rio Tinto on trade unions and communities. The Steelworkers will be there to help them resist Rio Tinto’s assaults.
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Kari Lydersen is a Chicago-based journalist, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University, where she leads the investigative specialization at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Her books include Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago’s 99%.
