By Mary Alice Murphy

In a recent interview with two people who were involved in the decertification of the United Steelworkers Local 9424-3, they feel the decertification was beneficial to all the workers at Chino Mine.

"I'd like to say the bigger reason why I began the petition to decertify the union was because I wanted the same thing as the workers who were not part of the union," Shane Shores said. "When the union started, it was needed to get workers better pay, better benefits and to be equal to other miners. That's what I wanted and got without the union."

Edward Hooten agreed. "We had no opportunity. We were stuck as a truck driver, for instance, even if we wanted to train on other equipment."

Shores said, when they were under the union contract, they couldn't go from being a truck drive to being an equipment driver. "On our crew of about 37, four have gone from truck driver to being able to use other equipment."

"We can cross-train now," Hooten said. "Anyone who was non-union didn't want to talk to us while we were trying to get information, because they feared issues with the union."

"We have better morale at the mine now," Shores said. "Once the vote came in and the union decertified, within a month, we had a meeting at the Conference Center. They told us, as of right then, we had a $3-an-hour raise. We have better dental and better medical insurance. They added optical insurance, better life insurance and we were eligible for a 401k."

Hooten said the union was dormant and didn't do anything for the workers. "They had redone the contract after the re-start up, and we never saw anyone from the union for years."

"We get bonuses now," Shores said. "The $3 extra an hour doesn't include bonuses. The 401k has added up fast, because the company matches what we put in."

"We found out we were the last union in Freeport's operations in North America," Hooten said. "They got rid of the rest years ago. People stayed in the union here because the union began here, and many are still deep into it because of family ties and the history of the union and the good it did when it came."

Shores said the union had a year to reinstate. "We heard rumors that some were trying to start a petition to get it back."

"The ones who wanted it back were the ones who were related to those who brought it here," Hooten said.

"Our hats go off to those who brought in the union," Shores said. "What they were trying to do then was what we wanted now—to be equal to everyone else."

He noted that if you took that extra $3 an hour over all the employees that had been union, it was an extra $2 million into the economy in Grant and Luna counties. "It trickles down, and it is certainly a significant amount."

"We felt like we were in dead-end positions," Hooten said. "We were truck drivers and couldn't learn anything else. It wasn't the bosses, it was the union regulations holding us down."

"The union started out with the right idea, but they lost their way," Shores said. "They weren't representing us anymore."

"The union was made to protect us," Hooten said, "but the Mine Safety and Health Administration is what protects us. All the unions had to do was bargain for money and benefits and they weren't doing it."

Shores said it was comical during the decertification. "The union brought in folks from as far away as Washington D.C. to go door-to-door to try to talk us out of it. We had 383 in the union; 236 voted to decertify and 86 voted against the decertification. All we did was file the paperwork and get some signatures. Without the 236 we couldn't have done it."

Hooten noted that when he was hired as a truck driver, he didn't have a choice. Because of the position, he was in the union.

Shores also said that the union contract said the members could not strike.

The topic turned to the recent layoffs at Tyrone. Hooten said about 110 total were coming to work at Chino. "They couldn't have done that with the union in place. We can go mine to mine now, if we want to."

"I can't say anything bad about Freeport," Shores said. "We have our own emergency response team, with an ambulance, a fire truck and rope rescue. They pay us overtime to be on the team and they give us our equipment. We carry a medical bag, and they pull us off the job to take care of anyone who needs the help."

"They treat us good," Hooten said. "We have good bosses. The union told us the bosses were out to fire us. That wasn't true. You fire yourself by not doing a good job."

The haul trucks are equipped with XM radio, air-conditioning and heating. "I feel safer in them than out on the street," Hooten said.

Shores' wife Maggie said she wanted to say thanks to Freeport for their excellent benefits.

Shores said the benefits include scholarships for kids, discounts to Disney World and other amusement parks, as perks.

"The union hadn't done anything to me, but it had never done anything for me," Hooten said.

"Our bosses, all the way up to John Brack, who is the highest officer in New Mexico, have open-door policies," Shores said. "It's no problem to go talk to them."

"I have never felt threatened by the bosses," Hooten said. "We could go to them at any time. With the decertification, we put our trust in the company, and they made it right for us."

"The union was telling us that we would go back to minimum wage," Shores alleged. "The company couldn't and wouldn't tell us anything as soon as we put union and decertification in the same sentence. They couldn't assist us. We put blind faith in the company, although it could not promise anything to us. It made me feel good that 236 put their blind faith in the company."

"We got a lot better deal that we thought we would," Hooten concluded.