ALMA, QC - Daniel Roy, Quebec Director of the Syndicat des Métallos (United Steelworkers/USW), announced on January 12 at a rally in Alma, Quebec, that the USW and unions around the world are drawing a line in the sand against Rio Tinto after the company locked out 780 USW Local 9490 members 24 hours prior to its legal authority to do so under the Quebec labour code.
"Rio Tinto has declared war not only on USW members but on our communities, on Quebec and on Canada," said Roy. "We believe Rio Tinto will use its attacks in Alma to begin a major assault on workers and communities around the globe."
The company is demanding to replace every retiring worker with a contract worker at half the wages currently earned by current unionized employees at its Alma aluminum smelter. Rio Tinto informed workers that it intends to increase the proportion of contract employees from 10.7 to 27 per cent in 2012 alone without consulting the union.
According to Roy, accepting this demand would cause a dramatic downward economic spiral not only for the workers but for members of the community which would see income, local business sales and tax revenues drop precipitously. In less than a decade, as retirements occur, the proportion of unionized workers will be greatly diminished and workers will lose their power to protect not only their economic well being but also their health and safety at the Alma plant where workers are exposed to extreme heat, explosive materials and toxic chemicals.
According to Roy, accepting this demand would cause a dramatic downward economic spiral not only for the workers but for members of the community which would see income, local business sales and tax revenues drop precipitously. In less than a decade, as retirements occur, the proportion of unionized workers will be greatly diminished and workers will lose their power to protect not only their economic well being but also their health and safety at the Alma plant where workers are exposed to extreme heat, explosive materials and toxic chemicals.