‘We put our lives on the line’: US miners' strike drags on over wages and safety
Carlos Moreno, a single father of three, has worked at the Mission Complex mine in Sahuarita, Arizona, for 15 years and he is fed up and struggling to get by despite working hard in a dangerous industry.
The mine is owned and operated by Asarco, a subsidiary of Grupo México, the third-largest copper producer in the world, which reported a profit of $1.3bn in 2018 and have continued to see profitincreases into 2019.
Despite these profits, miners at Asarco have not received a pay increase in 10 years.
“No pay increase, not even a cost of living increase, and everything is on its way up. I made more in 2005 than I did this past year and that’s miserable,” Moreno told the Guardian. “Being a single father, I’m not able to provide for my family any more.”
Moreno is one of about 2,000 copper miners at four mines and smelters in Arizona and one in Amarillo, Texas, who are heading into their third month on strike over low pay, increased healthcare costs, and poor working conditions.
The workers are represented by eight unions, including the United Steelworkers and Teamsters. Seventyseven per cent of affected workers voted to authorize the strike, which began on 13 October, in response to Asarco’s final and best contract offer which would not provide wage increases to two-thirds of workers, double out-of-pocket healthcare costs, and freeze their existing pension plan. The unions have been in negotiations for a new contract since the latest one expired in November 2018.
“I’ve been doing almost twice the work because they haven’t been hiring people for four to five years. I work in the pump shop. We went from having 13 guys doing pump work, and it went down to maybe two to three guys working on pumps,” said Gilbert Angula, who has worked at Asarco for 29 years. “We’re doing twice as much work and we haven’t had a raise for 10 years.”
Asarco miners currently make $23.75 an hour, but workers explain this wage is significantly lower than the average pay for other US miners.
“No one wants to work in the mine industry for $23.75 an hour. Under their contract proposal, in three years, some of us will be making $24.50 an hour. We employees should be making over $30 an hour in this industry,” said Michael Blake, a specialty mechanic at Asarco for 13 years in Sahuarita, Arizona.
Blake explained because of the speciality work he does, he would have to move out of state to receive higher pay with a different company.
“We’re not getting paid what we should to work this kind of job in this kind of environment. Your life’s on the line every time you walk through that gate to the mine. You can be killed or maimed for life,” added Blake. “They don’t care about the employees, they just want their money and they will do everything it takes to ensure production is prioritized over safety.”
Mining is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. In July 2017, a worker at the Asarco mine in Sahuarita, Arizona, died in a vehicle collision. Despite several deaths and injuries at Asarco mines over the past decade, the mining industry has resisted efforts to equip heavy machinery with safety features such as backup cameras and sensors.
“It’s a hard industry to work in. We put our lives on the line every day to give the world what it needs. Copper is in everything and this company makes a good profit off of it and they need to remember it’s the workers who do this,” said Alex Terrazas, president of the United Steelworkers Local 937, who has worked at Asarco in Arizona for 13 years.
“We are out here fighting for our jobs, our families, our future. It’s been 10 years without a wage increase. This company is very reactive instead of proactive. We are tired of it and we’re not going to stop until we get a fair and equitable contract.”
Asarco did not respond to multiple requests for comment.