ANTONITO, CO--Some 30 Teamster miners who were locked out October 8 from the French-owned perlite mine here returned to work January 18, two days before an administrative law judge was scheduled to hear a case brought by the union, alleging that the company had engaged in unfair labor practices.

Despite the workers’ return to work, the union is proceeding with its case against the company, Harbolite Corporation, and is hopeful that the administrative law judge will render a decision sometime in March.

The dispute stems from Harborlite’s decision to lock out the miners after the company unilaterally broke off negotiations with Teamsters Local 455 after about four months of negotiations.  The union had been seeking an extension of the previous contract, while the company was demanding that miners work more hours for less pay.

The hearing was scheduled after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against Harborlite alleging that the company engaged in unfair labor practices against the miners.  The NLRB charged that the company violated the law by first threatening to lock workers out and permanently replace them, and then notifying them by mail that they would be locked out, and finally by actually locking them out.

As a remedy for the violations of the law, the NLRB is seeking an order requiring the company to “cease and desist from locking out its employees and to pay backpay, with interest, to the locked out employees from the date the lockout commenced through the date that the( company )terminates the lockout and reinstates the employees.”

Shortly after the lockout began, Jim Adams, who was negotiating with the company on behalf of the Harborlite Teamsters, prevailed up on the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union to present the Teamsters’ case for participants in an international minerals conference in Izmir, Turkey.  Conference attendees, including many international mining companies passed a resolution critical of Harborlite. 

 John Lewis and Frank Cyphers of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union helped to arrange that presentation.

“Given the high respect with which most unions are held in foreign countries, with think the presentation on our behalf in Izmir was very important to our case,” Adams said.

Adams, who is the business agent for the Harborlite miners, praised the NLRB’s decision to issue the complaint.  “To me it was an open-and-shut case, and it looks as if the board felt the same way,” he said.

Adams thanked U.S. Rep. John Salazar, who represents the district in which Harborlite is located.  Salazar wrote a letter to the company and the union to resolve the dispute for the good of the district.  Adams said the union was also grateful for the efforts of Senator Gail Schwartz, who represent Antonito in the State Senate and Rep. Edward Vigil, both of whom worked hard to end the dispute.