Locked-Out New Brunswick Workers Picket Glencore's Quebec Operations
MONTREAL, Nov. 13, 2019 /CNW/ - Dozens of locked-out Brunswick Smelter employees from New Brunswick are picketing Glencore facilities in the Montreal area today with the support of Quebec workers.
The 280 employees of Glencore's smelter in Belledune, N.B., members of United Steelworkers Local 7085, have been locked out of their jobs since April 24. The workers are fighting to preserve health and safety standards, which are under attack by Glencore's demands for concessions in the collective bargaining process.
The New Brunswick workers will be picketing at three Glencore operations in the Montreal area, beginning this morning at the company's Raglan Mine headquarters in Laval. They will then picket at the General Smelting operations before heading to the CCR copper refinery in east Montreal in the afternoon. They will be accompanied by USW activists and members employed at Glencore's Quebec operations.
"This dispute is primarily about maintaining crucial health and safety standards. We work in a hazardous environment with contaminants such as lead and other metals. Workers are exposed to temperatures as high as 1300 degrees Celsius. The health of workers cannot be jeopardized as a cost-saving measure. This is not acceptable," said USW Local 7085 President Bart Dempsey.
USW Quebec Director Alain Croteau will be at Glencore's General Smelting operations at 1 p.m. to support the locked-out workers.
"You are fighting an important battle, for your health and safety, for your rights to be respected, for your union to be respected. It is even your right to refuse to perform dangerous work that is at stake in this dispute. Solidarity!" said Croteau.
Details of today's picketing of Glencore facilities:
- 8:30 a.m., Raglan Mine headquarters, 1950 Maurice-Gauvin Street, Laval
- 1:30 p.m., General Smelting of Canada, 1400 Norman Street, Lachine
- 3 p.m., CCR refinery, 220 Durocher Avenue, Montreal East
The United Steelworkers, affiliated with the FTQ, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers from all economic sectors.
SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)
Bart Dempsey, USW Local 7085 President, 506-655-8881, [email protected]; Carla Thibodeau, USW Staff Representative, New Brunswick, 506-626-4268, [email protected]; Clairandrée Cauchy, USW Communications, Montreal, 514-774-4001, [email protected]; Bob Gallagher, USW Communications, Toronto, 416-544-5966, 416-434-2221, [email protected]
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