UAW members protest at Saint-Gobain

USA: To highlight efforts to win a first contract at the Norton Abrasives plant in Worcester, Massachusetts, members of the UAW have demonstrated outside the North American headquarters of Saint-Gobain, the French glass, ceramics and materials conglomerate which owns Norton Abrasives. "Saint-Gobain managers tried very hard to prevent workers at Norton Abrasives from forming their own union," said the UAW's president, Ron Gettelfinger. "They did not succeed, because those workers were determined to exercise their right to organise. Now, Saint-Gobain managers are trying equally hard to frustrate the collective bargaining process," said Gettelfinger. But he said the UAW is determined to get that first contract. Detailing the problems faced by the Norton Abrasives workers, the demonstrators distributed a letter to employees at the Valley Forge headquarters describing safety problems, pay and benefit cuts and repeated labour rights violations which have taken place at the Saint-Gobain-owned plant in Massachusetts. The document also points out that while Saint-Gobain management has stalled on negotiating a fair agreement in Worcester, the company now enjoys over $1 billion in annual profits, and company executives continue to receive substantial salaries and large annual bonuses.