Members of USW Local 235A and a delegation of union allies from around the world joined striking USW oil workers on picket lines at refineries in the Houston area on Feb. 26th.
The international guests from unions in Australia, Great Britain and South Africa spent the week in Texas for a series of solidarity events, beginning on Feb. 25th at the Local 235A unfair labor practice (ULP) picket line at Sherwin Alumina in Gregory, Texas. Sherwin locked out 450 Local 235A members on Oct. 11.
The group then joined USW Local 227 on the ULP picket lines at the LyondellBasell refinery in Pasadena, Texas, and USW Local 13-1 at the Marathon facility in Texas City. After the oil pickets, the group participated in a Family Day event organized by Local 13-1 in Pasadena.
The global delegation consisted of union leaders from UNITE the Union in the United Kingdom and Ireland, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Australia.
“It’s important that we recognize that we all have the same struggles,” said Charlotte Upton, a member of UNITE and an electrician at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe, England.
