Union, Rio Tinto reach tentative settlement in California borate mine lockout

Tentative settlement in California mine lockout

LOS ANGELES — A tentative settlement was reached Friday between operators of the world’s second-largest borate mine and a union representing workers who have been locked out of Rio Tinto Borax’s Mojave Desert operation for 3½ months.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Local 30 said its 570 workers will vote Saturday on a six-year agreement that includes annual 2.5 percent wage increases.

The lockout will remain in effect until ratification of the deal, company spokeswoman Susan Keefe said.

Seniority protections rather than wages were the union’s major issues in the dispute that led to the Jan. 31 lockout at the huge open-pit mine in Boron, 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, which is the world’s second-largest producer of borates.

Rio Tinto Borax, part of the British-Australian Rio Tinto Group, contended it needed changes in work assignments and promotions to remain competitive in the global market for borates, which are used in manufacturing processes and numerous products ranging from ceramics to fertilizers.

Few details of the agreement were released, but a union statement claimed victory. It asserted that the company would not be able to convert full-time jobs into part-time temporary positions, and said there were protections against “discrimination and favoritism.”

Keefe would not discuss details of the pact pending the vote but denied that the company sought to convert full-time jobs into part-time positions.

“We did achieve critical improvements that we had been looking for through the entire negotiations that allow us to remain competitive,” she said.