ASARCO negotiations off to a rocky start

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Through rain, wind and snow, ASARCO’s Amarillo copper refinery employees have been picketing non-stop for a full month.

With negotiations set to begin in Phoenix this morning, strikers were hopeful for a chance to return to work until they received word headquarters had pushed back the start of negotiations to tomorrow afternoon but then began this afternoon.

Disappointed but not surprised, strikers say these sorts of actions were almost expected since they say the company has handled things similarly in the past, and they're prepared for anything.

“We were talking and planning way ahead of this. Just like a company would plan for something, we’ve planned for it too. Plan for a crisis. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, and it will be alright,” said Greg Gerzon, ASARCO employee.

We were then told this afternoon through a text from one of the union workers currently in Phoenix for the negotiation. The ASARCO company decided to meet today, after all, getting negotiations underway. Some topics United Steelworkers are proposing according to an article posted by the World Socialist Web Site, at the negotiations can be found here.

“Most of us saved money while we were working. They told us years ago to be able to save our money for the strike. We’ve done that. We’re ready. I mean, we’re waiting. We’ll wait as long as it takes to get good contact. That’s our goal to get a good contact,” said Gerzon.

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