Now More Than Ever, We Must Stand Together

Every day, members who follow the Sherwin bankruptcy docket online see a flurry of filings.  Emergency motions filed by Sherwin to hold on to its bauxite supply contract with Noranda. Pleadings referring to a settlement with the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee. Motions and objections dealing with depositions and discovery issues. 

All of these court filings are marching towards the key dates in Sherwin’s bankruptcy – the April 18th auction of our plant and the April 20th hearing to approve a sale. 

Very little has changed since the beginning of the case in this respect. Glencore wants to abuse the bankruptcy process to set up a new affiliate to continue its control of the plant with the objective of wiping out as many obligations as it can get away with. Our objective also remains the same: to preserve good jobs with good benefits for the people of South Texas, for our families, and for generations to come.

Our union will press whatever objections we can in Bankruptcy Court and we’ll take our fight back to the NLRB and elsewhere if we have to. 

But, now more than ever, it is important for all workers and their families to stand together in solidarity to ensure that this plant, a fixture in our community for decades, will continue to provide good, family-supporting jobs for us and our neighbors.

If Glencore is able to resolve its contract dispute with Noranda and negotiate a new power deal with Gregory Power, it is still going to need a work force because the experience of the past 18 months has shown the folly of operating without us. Even if Glencore is able to transfer ownership to another of its affiliates, this basic truth remains: the only future for this plant – our plant – is for Glencore to end its war on its work force.

We will continue to keep you informed of any developments. Stay tuned.

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USW@WORK (USW magazine)
Editor R.J. Hufnagel

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