Local 570 (Tucson) Struggles over Health Care Costs

Web-posted Thursday, July 1, 2004

Workers, Asarco continue talks

Union representatives discuss replacement contract
By KAY LEDBETTER
kay.ledbetter@amarillo.com

Union representatives and Asarco officials remained in negotiations late Wednesday as workers bargained for new contracts.

Company officials remained hopeful a new agreement would be reached to replace the one expiring Wednesday at midnight, according to Larry Castro, Asarco Amarillo Copper Refinery general manager.

Asarco Amarillo Copper Refinery employs 340 people, Castor said, of which about 250 are hourly employees and members of either United Steel Workers of America or International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Castor said the negotiations are taking place in Tucson, Ariz., and in the event an agreement was not reached by midnight and the workers called the strike, the plant would be shut down until the issue was resolved.

Union officials were advising members to wait for official word before taking any action. In the event no contract was signed by midnight, union committee members were to tell members the appropriate action to take.

Members of USWA Local 937, Teamsters Local 104, Operating Engineers Local 428 and IBEW 570 members at Asarco's Arizona and Amarillo properties met Monday.

Union officials said a final tally of strike authorization votes taken at all "Old Asarco" unions Monday was more than 99 percent voting yes, with only one no vote from the combined memberships. More than 73 percent of the combined union membership attended and cast their votes.

The union continues to work for changes to secure a settlement, according to a United Steel Workers Association report out of Arizona.

The company, owned by Grupo, Mexico, continues to demand massive concessions - not because they need them to remain viable, according to union reports.

For the last 20 years or so, there has been relative peace between the unions and "Old Asarco" management, according to the union report. There hasn't been a strike or even a serious threat of strike since 1983.

Castor said the Amarillo plant was closed in the 1980s by strikes.

Since then, union officials said good economic contract years resulted in wage, pension and health-care improvements, he said.

The health-care cost explosion in the United States and the copper industry emerging from several years of sour commodity prices are some of the facts union officials say they were prepared to deal with at the negotiation table.