Employees Out On Strike From ASARCO

Thousands of ASARCO employees, including some in Amarillo, are striking this morning against unfair labor practices in Texas and Arizona.

The United Steel Workers says that about 2,000 hourly workers at five ASARCO, LLC locations in Arizona and Texas voted to strike instead of accepting the Grupo México’s “last, best and final” offer.

Last Monday the U.S. Supreme Court denied ASARCO’s petition for an appeal that asked the company to pay more than $10 million to hundreds of employees hired after June 30, 2011.

ASARCO’s four-year contract proposal did not include a wage increase for nearly two-thirds of workers and also froze the existing pension plan.

The proposal also was more than doubling the out-of-pocket contribution individuals workers pay for in healthcare.

On Friday, Oct. 11, the United Steelworkers Union and nine other unions representing ASARCO workers voted to start strikes.