Year-long Honeywell lock-out endangers community

UNITED STATES: One year ago on June 28 Honeywell locked out American steelworkers at a uranium conversion plant in Metropolis, Illinois. In Metropolis Honeywell mills yellowcake uranium into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) that is frozen and then sold to companies for nuclear power applications. The  last nine months Honeywell has been using scabs provided by a contractor to do this dangerous work.

Steelworkers held a rally on Saturday, June 25, during which workers and community members once again warned of  the dangers connected to an outside workforce in their city: on 22 June, the US Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) noted 17 serious workplace safety violations against the company and its scab workers.

The OHSA cited failure to address human factors in operating valves on hydrogen fluoride tanks, failure to establish written procedures to maintain the integrity of process equipment, failure to establish and implement written procedures to manage changes to process chemicals, equipment and procedures, and a deficient incident report that did not include factors contributing to a vapor release on December 22, 2010. The 17 violations will lead to a US$119,000 fine if Honeywell is unable to negotiate that amount downward.

The issue of overtime pay after eight and twelve hours worked is central for the workers. Other issues to be resolved, but not considered deal threatening, are company insistence that workers who take Family and Medical Leave under the US federal statute, must concurrently take vacation leave; a different pension plan for future new hires; and company-paid meal allowances for staff who work overtime hours.

For more details visit http://www.icem.org/en/27-North-America/4527-Steelworkers-Mark-Year-long-Honeywell-Lockout-in-US.