Calif. mine locks out 550 workers over contract

(AP) — Hundreds of workers remained locked out of California's largest open-pit mine Monday in a contract dispute that involves a corporation trying to keep its share of the global market and a tiny town that lives and dies by residents carving borax from the desert.

The mine in Kern County northeast of Los Angeles locked out about 550 workers on Sunday. The mine's London-based owner, Rio Tinto Borax, bused in employees from the Port of Los Angeles and from out of state while also using contract workers.

There also were more than 100 managers and supervisors working at the plant.

"We're prepared for the long run," company spokeswoman Susan Keefe in Colorado said.

The mine in the Mojave Desert about 75 miles from Los Angeles is the second-largest borate mine in the world. The mine is 750 feet deep and extracts about 2.5 million tons of ore annually.

It produces 42 percent of the world's refined borates — compounds of the element boron such as borax — used in everything from high-definition TVs to plant food to laundry detergent.

Keefe said the company will use its stockpiled supplies while replacement workers ramp up production.

The lockout is a concern because the union local has no strike fund, and workers may have to apply for unemployment, said Jeri Lee, executive director for International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 30, which represents miners.

The company, meanwhile, said it has lost about $6 million in business since contract negotiations began last September. Keefe said customers started backing off because the union sent them letters warning of possible supply disruptions and quality problems caused by the labor dispute.

At issue is a replacement for a contract that expired in November. The company is offering a 2 percent raise for employees while calling for changes in sick leave and seniority practices.

The company said it needs the changes to compete in the global market. The California mine employees earn $18 to $29.30 an hour, Lee said. The company's primary competitor has a mine in Turkey where workers earn an average of about $9.70 an hour, Keefe said.

In the past decade, the company has lost 25 percent of its share of global sales, Keefe said.

Both sides said they want to go back to the bargaining table as soon as possible, although no new talks were scheduled. The company and union also accused each other of bargaining in bad faith.

"We're willing to negotiate 24 hours a day," Lee said. "We didn't want this to happen.... They went in with two barrels and tried to tear the whole thing up."

Keefe denied the company was acting in bad faith.

"Everybody's sincere hope is we can reach a fair agreement," she said.

The mine and the community of Boron have a shared history and economy. The mine has about 800 workers. Boron has about 2,000 residents, and the mine has been its main employer since the pit opened in the 1920s.

"They're either mine workers or ex-mine workers or have family that are mine workers," Lee said of residents.

Kern County sheriff's deputies were at the mine, but there were no reports of violence involving about two dozen protesters, Senior Deputy Mike Whorf said.

"They're demonstrating when the buses come in, the buses come out," he said.

A five-month strike in 1974 was violent, with some mine buildings burned and shots fired at people.