This decision - the first time employees have been locked out in decades - could have been avoided if union leaders would have engaged in meaningful negotiations over the past five months, or agreed to seriously consider a company offer made on Thursday, January 28, which stipulated that employees would be locked out if they did not ratify the company’s offer by Sunday, January 31. Although a union rally was held on Saturday, January 30, the offer was not presented to members for a formal vote.

Company officials say they have run out of options to get leaders of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, Local 30, to take the negotiations seriously despite having offered to negotiate 24 hours a day, seven days a week since September 15, and making numerous concessions on issues related to seniority, overtime and wages. Union leaders have refused to bargain for more than two days a week during those five months, and have refused to make any concessions. These same leaders wrote letters to Borax customers threatening product quality and supply reliability - which resulted in $6 million in lost business - and invited employees from Borax’s leading competitor to the bargaining table, potentially giving them access to sensitive company information.

The offer union leaders refused to consider included a 2% annual wage increase, an annual performance bonus, a $4,000 signing bonus, 80% coverage of health care insurance costs and an early retirement package worth $10,000 to $40,000 to eligible employees. In exchange, the company sought to introduce modern workplace practices that will allow it to base work assignments and promotions on experience, skills and performance rather than solely on years of service. These work practices are needed to keep Boron Operations viable in the face of heightened competition that has resulted in the company losing 20% of its workforce and 25% of its global share of sales in the last decade. Boron Operations pays an average of $26.00 per hour to its represented employees, compared to its primary competitor, Eti Maden, which the company believes pays workers $9.70 per hour.

"We offered fair wages and benefits in exchange for modern work practices that will help us preserve good jobs for decades to come. We also offered to extend our contract twice to protect the company from strike and our employees from lockout. But union leaders will not even come to the bargaining table more than two days a week much less discuss the issues, so we are no closer to an agreement now than we were in September. The last thing we want to do is hurt our employees, but we cannot continue to negotiate without a willing partner and we cannot continue to deliver on our commitments to customers with the very real possibility of a strike hanging over our heads," said Dean Gehring, General Manager of Boron Operations.

Borax will keep its operation running through a workforce comprised of trained salaried workers from its American operations as well as skilled American contractors. Having to run the operation and serve customers with this contingency workforce also means that company representatives will not be able to negotiate any time in the near future.

The company has expressed concern about the serious consequences that this action will have on Boron Operation’s hourly employees and their families. However, after more than five months of fruitless negotiations and two months of operating without a contract, Borax was presented with no alternative that would allow it to continue meeting obligations to customers.

About Borax:
Borax produces nearly half the global demand for borates from its Boron Operations in California. The operation employs 800 people, and annually contributes $4.5 million to the local tax base, more than $150 million to the local economy and $120,000 to programs that sustain local communities.