Strikers at Fox Valley Forge want a union contract and a better future.
Community support keeps union hopes alive
“Estamos unidos,” Jose Luis Alcala told a freelance video journalist on the sidewalk outside Fox Valley Forge while his fellow workers picketed behind him. “We are united. And I believe the company will give up, because we are united.”
Alcala is a committeeman for a group of 50 forge employees whose struggle illustrates how important unions are to immigrants, as well as how far some companies will go to keep unions out.
The strikers are all immigrants — or the children of immigrants — from a single town in Mexico. They and their parents have been moving to Aurora, Ill., to work for Fox Valley for more than 40 years. In that time the company has prospered, but workers’ wages have not kept pace. In Sept. 2005, the workers elected, by a vote of 47-2, to be represented by Boilermakers Local 1600.
But since then, the company has stalled their efforts to get a collective bargaining agreement. The main sticking point appears to be wages. Though Fox Valley wages have not kept pace with inflation for the past 20 years and are now far below the industry average, the company continues to resist meaningful increases. Local 1600 President Jerry Hughes described their wages as “not very much more than you could earn at a fast food restaurant.”
In March 2007, after meeting with the company more than 25 times and making very little progress, the workers voted to strike. It is a risky move. A long strike could devastate families already barely getting by on Fox Valley’s substandard wages. But the Fox Valley workers are “solid in their determination,” according to International Rep Howard Cole, who has been assisting them.
They also enjoy tremendous support from the Aurora community. Because they all come from the same town in Mexico, they are especially tight-knit and look out for each other. And many Aurora community groups have come to their aid, including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Fundacion de Defensa Comunitaria, and the West Suburbs Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Other unions have also lent support, including Letter Carriers #219, Laborers #681, the Aurora Police Department, and Chicago District Council #289. And a picket-line rally in April drew aldermen from three Aurora wards — Stephanie Kifowit, Abby Schuller, and Juli Garza.
The company appears equally determined. Though their production has been curtailed, they have been hiring a few workers each day from a temp agency, at a rate of $16.50 an hour — more than the strikers were earning when they walked out.
“The Fox Valley Forge strikers deserve our support,” Says IR Cole. “They want to become Boilermaker members. Theirs is a struggle for a union contract, with union benefits.”
“The longer we are out, the stronger we are,” says one picket sign. But to remain strong, these workers need support. You can help by sending a donation to their strike fund.
Please send donations — payable to the Fox Valley Forge Strike Fund — to the attention of Efrean Ferrer at PO Box 4361, Aurora, IL 60507.
