The union’s three-year contract expired June 30. The union is demanding a raise of about $5 an hour to bring the pay of the Twin Mountain workers up to the national average. Workers at the top of the wage scale—mechanics and heavy equipment operators—currently average about $11.75 an hour. The rock mined at the pits is used in a variety of construction materials and other products.

The 17 workers—from equipment operators in the rock pits, to plant workers handling the crushing and bagging of the rock, to mechanics—are picketing Monday through Friday at various places near the Twin Mountain site in northeast New Mexico.

“We try to set up most of the pickets on the main highway to be visible,” Tim Shaw, a union steward and a mechanic, told the Militant in a phone interview today. “We have tagged out the railroad line. We posted a sign at the switch-off of the main line, ‘Local 953 On Strike.’ The railroad workers are not crossing.” Truckers, some of whom are members of the Teamsters union, are also honoring the picket lines, he said.

Twin Mountain is owned by Rinker Materials Corporation, which operates in 31 states. It is one of the largest producers of concrete block in the United States.  
 
 
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