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117-740: On March 19, 2007, Freeport-McMoRan completed a $ 25.9 billion acquisition of Phelps Dodge Corporation. in 1821, Anson G. Phelps started a partnership in New York City with Elisha Peck , a merchant who had been in trade in Berlin, Connecticut . Peck moved to Liverpool to run the British end of their business, an import-export company that shipped US-grown cotton from the Deep South to England, importing tin , iron, copper and other metals essential for industrial growth and development in

234-478: A proxy fight for control of the company. In 1929, he then sought help from his former supervisor at Lee, Higginson & Co. , J.T. Claiborne, who then enlisted clerk John Hay Whitney – who had become one of the wealthiest men in America following the 1927 death of his father, Payne Whitney . Williams eventually gained control of the company from founder Swenson, becoming its president in 1931, with Claiborne as

351-527: A 1996 Dames & Moore environmental audit. The report, endorsed by Freeport, also estimated that during the life of the mine 3.2 billion tons of waste rock – large components of which generate acid  – would be dumped into the local river system. Overburden (waste rock) from the mine had already polluted a nearby lake due to acid mine drainage . Citing extensive, long-term and irreversible environmental damage in New Guinea,

468-462: A 2,000-foot (610 m) cliff separates the Ertsberg mine (at 12,000 feet (3,700 m) elevation) from the mill (at 10,000 feet). Moving copper concentrate from that mill to the shipping port required installation of a 109-kilometre (68 mi) slurry pipeline – then the world's longest. Mine construction and startup cost about US$ 200 million. The Ertsberg project was an engineering marvel, but

585-598: A 25% interest in oil and gas assets primarily in the western United States to Britoil for $ 73.5 million. In 1989, the company sold about $ 1.5 billion in assets to finance development of the Grasberg mine and the Main Pass offshore sulfur-oil-gas deposit off Louisiana. In 1994, the company completed the corporate spin-off of its entire interest in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which owned

702-546: A Vice-President, and Whitney as Chairman. Williams also served as Chairman during 1958–1967. Williams led the company's diversification, beginning with the purchase of manganese deposits in Oriente Province , Cuba. In 1932, Freeport Sulphur Company acquired the sulfur rights for Lake Grande Ecaille and vicinity in Plaquemines Parish , Louisiana, and escalated the development of sulfur deposits in

819-433: A further wedge between the two sets of employees. Corporate headquarters staff can be assigned to individual units of the business in order to provide significantly increased surveillance of staff with the goal to reduce unionisation efforts and to find sham reasons to write up and fire organisers . These tactics often increase the cost to run the area in question significantly above what the unions would negotiate for but in

936-700: A group of its own union organizer employees who voted to form a union called the Federation of Agents and International Representatives (FAIR). On 29 August 2012, after being found guilty of unlawfully union busting their own employees' union, the IBT posted a notice that, according to an agreement approved by a regional director of the Obama administration's NLRB, that they would stop union busting. The notice assures Teamster employees that they will no longer be prevented from exercising their rights. In an action involving

1053-400: A landslide killed eight workers. A government study concluded that the incident was the result of negligence. Important warning signs had been detected two days prior. In response to this, management moved some equipment, but did not keep workers out of the area. A month later two workers died from being exposed to sulfur fumes. The government ultimately overturned its conclusion and attributed

1170-501: A long list of practices which he viewed as tangential to union avoidance activities but which his detractors have labeled as support operations for these activities. Among these were the administration of opinion surveys, supervisor training, employee roundtables, incentive pay procedures, wage surveys, employee complaint procedures, personnel records, application procedures, job evaluations, and legal services. As part of his union busting strategies, all of these activities were performed with

1287-429: A long period, and made very easy in its terms. However, these tactics may not be good, and the union spirit may be so strong that a big organization cannot be prevented. In this case our man turns extremely radical. He asks for unreasonable things and keeps the union embroiled in trouble. If a strike comes, he will be the loudest man in the bunch, and will counsel violence and get somebody in trouble. The result will be that

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1404-715: A major recipient of state Medicaid funds, conducted a campaign against the SEIU in Sacramento and Los Angeles at a cost of more than $ 2.6 million. After the Catholic Healthcare West campaign, the California state legislature passed a law prohibiting employers receiving more than $ 10,000 in state funds from engaging in anti-union activities. However, the 2007 US Supreme Court decision in Chamber of Commerce of

1521-560: A mechanism which would insure that the needs of the patient would be met during contingencies arising out of labor disputes. The new law represented a sound and equitable reconciliation of these competing interests." Taxpayer funds provide state treasuries the monies for public employee salaries from which public employees pay union dues. At one time state laws did not allow government contracts to provide public money to labor relations consultancies. One such law, passed in Wisconsin in 1979,

1638-675: A migration of workers from agricultural work to the mining , manufacturing and transportation industries. Conditions were often unsafe, women worked for lower wages than men, and child labor was rampant. Because employers and governments did little to address these issues, labor movements in the industrialized world were formed to seek better wages, hours, and working conditions. The clashes between labor and management were often adversarial and were deeply affected by wars, economic conditions, government policies, and court proceedings. Companies may influence unions through bargaining, labor relations, and by other means, but employer-controlled unions in

1755-549: A minimum of 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) of blister copper over three years. This economically symbiotic relationship lasted until 1922, in which Phelps Dodge provided 90% of the blister copper Nichols Copper Company used to produce 100% pure copper. During the 1920s, Phelps Dodge invested $ 3.5 million in the Nichols Copper Company's plant modernization projects in exchange for stock in Nichols Copper Company. This dramatically increased copper production of

1872-443: A public company and the name changed to Phelps Dodge Corporation, a holding company for all of the various properties and operations. Dr. Douglas was its first president. The company became notorious for its anti-union tactics , primarily for the 1917 Bisbee Deportation . The company worked with a local group of private citizens and the county sheriff to deputize about 2,000 members of a posse . Given names of Industrial Workers of

1989-578: A regular basis who can do supervisory training on site. Some companies keep labor relations consultants and attorneys on retainer while others use external labor/employment lawyers and/or consultancies on an hourly per diem basis. Many labor lawyers and consultants find clients by monitoring government offices such as the NLRB regional offices, where US trade unions are required to file RC (Representation Certification) or RD (Representation Decertification) petitions which are public record. These petitions reveal

2106-917: A sale to China Molybdenum of Tenke Fungurume Mine , a cobalt/ copper mine in DRC Congo, were not successful. Instead, the Kisanfu mine was sold to China Molybdenum in a separate transaction in 2020. In December 2019, Freeport Cobalt (a joint venture between Freeport-McMoRan and Lundin Mining ) sold its cobalt refinery in Kokkola , Finland to Umicore . FCX held an effective 56% interest in that enterprise. Arizona Colorado New Mexico Past board members include Henry Kissinger , John Hay Whitney , Robert A. Lovett , Benno C. Schmidt Sr. , Gus Long , Arleigh Burke , J. Stapleton Roy , Godfrey Rockefeller and his cousin-in-law, Jean Mauzé . In 2011, Freeport

2223-636: A single entity, the Tombstone Consolidated Mines Company. They worked to drain mines that had filled with water, laid a rail spur into town, and revived mining. They experienced some success until the pumps failed in 1909. The new company filed for bankruptcy and the Phelps-Dodge Corporation acquired its claims. In 1908, with the Phelps Dodge owners no longer alive, the company was re-organized as

2340-532: A smelter in exchange for a special permit to operate the mine until 2041. In 2018, the company ranked at number 176 on the Fortune 500 list. During this year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also planned to take control of 51% of Freeport Indonesia's equity, effectively handing over Freeport control to the Indonesian government. The Indonesian government planned to settle payments of $ 3.85 billion during

2457-405: A special caveat making it illegal to strike (later enacted into law as 5 U.S.C.   § 7311(3) ). In 1981 the public sector union PATCO ( Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization ) went on strike in violation of Kennedy's executive order. President Reagan exercised his power and fired all the striking members , causing the dissolution of the union. Although the firing was legal, he

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2574-426: A total enterprise value of over $ 20 billion. The transaction added significantly to the company's petroleum assets. The transaction was criticized as a conflict of interest due to the common ownership of the companies. In 2015, the company paid a $ 137.5 million settlement to resolve claims that executives and directors had conflicts of interest that resulted in the company overpaying in that transaction. In 2014,

2691-510: A trade union, while legal, may be referred to as union busting by trade unions. Derecognition must be accomplished according to statutory guidelines. Workers may derecognize a union which either no longer has support from its members, or if union membership falls below 50%. Employers may derecognize a union if they no longer employ 21 or more workers. If the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) accepts an application, and

2808-468: A union may be done lawfully, though these may be referred to as union busting by trade unions, even when it is initiated by members of the union. Workers in the UK may derecognize a union that no longer has support from members or if union membership falls below 50%. Employers may derecognize a union if they no longer employ 21 or more workers. Generally, in the UK, an application for derecognition must be made to

2925-824: Is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or weaken the power of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range anywhere from subtle to violent. Labor laws differ greatly from country to country in both level and type of regulations in respect to their protection of unions, their organizing activities, as well as other aspects. These laws can affect topics such as posting notices, organizing on or off employer property, solicitations, card signing, union dues, picketing , work stoppages, striking and strikebreaking , lockouts , termination of employment , permanent replacements, automatic recognition, derecognition, ballot elections, and employer-controlled trade unions . Article 23 of

3042-526: Is the UK government's independent agency for advice and conciliation. Although the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their member unions oppose the use of consultancies during recognition campaigns, calling it a union busting tactic, ACAS takes a different stance, "Employee communications and consultation are the lifeblood of any business. which "aims to improve organizations and working life through better employment relations". Derecognition of

3159-676: Is the largest primary producer of molybdenum in the world. At the Henderson mine west of Empire, Colorado , Climax Molybdenum has produced more than 160 million tons of ore and 770 million pounds of molybdenum since the mine opened in 1976. Climax Molybdenum also owns the Climax molybdenum mine , north of Leadville, Colorado . In 1906, Phelps-Dodge acquired the Dawson Fuel Company of Dawson, New Mexico to mine coal for its copper smelting operations. Major accidents include

3276-466: Is the process by which management and employees (or their representatives) jointly examine and discuss issues of mutual concern. It involves seeking acceptable solutions to problems through an exchange of views and information. Consultation does not remove the right of managers to manage, but it does impose an obligation that the views of employees be sought and considered before decisions are taken. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service ( ACAS ),

3393-637: The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), which declares that a derecognition/decertification ballot election will be held. However a company may decide to unilaterally derecognize, as long as it has a non-CAC recognition agreement in force. In the US, the process is overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Employees may file a petition seeking a decertification election to determine whether or not

3510-583: The Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded Freeport-McMoRan from its investment portfolio, following a recommendation from the fund's ethical council. In 2013, a tunnel collapse killed twenty eight workers. The Freeport geological team claimed that the collapse at the Big Gossan tunnel was caused by erosion of the ceiling, brought about by the continuous infiltration of the limestone wallrocks by corrosive acidic groundwater. Freeport

3627-514: The Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia . The current company was created in 1981 through the merger of Freeport Minerals , formerly Texas Freeport Sulphur Company and McMoRan Oil & Gas Company , becoming Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Freeport Sulphur Company was founded July 12, 1912, by the eldest son of Svante Magnus "E.M." Swenson , banker Eric Pierson Swenson, with a group of investors, to develop sulfur mining at Bryan Mound salt dome , along

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3744-646: The Jayawijaya Mountains in what was then called the Netherlands New Guinea . In 1967, the company negotiated a contract with the Indonesian government to develop the Ertsberg deposit. In their feasibility study , Freeport geologists estimated that the orebody totaled 33 million tons averaging 2.5% copper, making it the largest above-ground copper deposit ever discovered. Construction of an open pit mine began in May 1970 and in mid-1973

3861-480: The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) over redundancies and changes to overtime pay to try and stem losses when it hired 130 seasonal staff on lower wages than the permanent workers. Seeing this as a threat to their jobs, one shift refused to go back to work. Because this was seen as unofficial strike action , the workers were sacked, reportedly with only three minutes notice. The TUC later reported that

3978-731: The Tyrone , between Lordsburg and Silver City and the El Chino Mine , northeast of Bayard . Several of these locations provide ores rich in molybdenum as well. It had recently begun development of the Safford Mine near Safford, Arizona . In 2006, revenue was $ 11.910 billion USD , operating income was $ 4.226 billion, and net income was $ 3.017 billion. As of 2013, the Political Economy Research Institute identified Phelps Dodge as

4095-639: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that everyone has a right to form or join a trade union. The provision is, however, not legally binding and has, in most jurisdictions, no horizontal effect in the legal relation between employer and employees or unions. There are many labor relations consultancies worldwide. They specialize in industries such as entertainment (radio, television and motion picture), hospitality (culinary and food service), communications, manufacturing, aerospace, utilities, and healthcare. Although many operate only in

4212-478: The eight-hour day with support from 72 percent of Colorado's electorate, the WFM's goal of an eight-hour law was still defeated by employers and politicians. In 1901, angry WFM members passed a convention proclamation that a "complete revolution of social and economic conditions" was "the only salvation of the working classes". Colorado employers and their supporters reacted to growing union restlessness and power in

4329-558: The 1960s began using sophisticated psychological techniques to "screen out potential union supporters, identify hotspots vulnerable to unionization, and structure the workplace to facilitate the maintenance of a non-union environment." These psychologists provided companies with psychological profiles and conducted audits concerning a firm's susceptibility to unionization. Between 1974 and 1984, one firm trained over 27,000 managers and supervisors to "make unions unnecessary" and surveyed almost one million employees in 4,000 organizations. In

4446-519: The 41st-largest corporate producer of Air pollution in the United States , with roughly 4.50 million pounds of toxins released annually into the air. Major pollutants included sulfuric acid , chromium compounds, lead compounds, and chlorine . The Center for Public Integrity has reported that Phelps Dodge is named as a potentially responsible party in at least 13 Superfund toxic waste sites. By June 1998, Reynaldo Delgado had worked for

4563-537: The April 5th annual stockholders' meeting, claiming, according to reports, that "management has refused them adequate information regarding the property. President E.P. Swenson denies that information has been thus withheld and states that the board, which represents the dominant interests, has no vacancies at the present time." In 1928, shareholder and scion of one of the founding investment firms, John Langbourne Williams & Sons, Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr. launched

4680-578: The Canadian mining company Bre-X 's claims of having found the largest gold mine ever discovered, in Borneo. Freeport announced that its prospective partner Bre-X did not have gold reserves at its Indonesian mine, as it had reported. Bre-X subsequently was exposed as a fraud and went bankrupt. In 1998, low commodity prices forced the company to suspend its dividend. In 2003, the company was subpoenaed as part of an investigation by anti-trust authorities in

4797-629: The Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company. The Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee, Arizona Territory , became one of the most productive in the state of the early 20th century. The company focused largely on providing copper wire and cables to industry, products that were in high demand as the Industrial Revolution took hold. As the company diversified, it began investing in new railroads, essential in

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4914-750: The Grand Ecaille dome in 1933, still using the Frasch Process developed by Dr. Herman Frasch , who had, in 1895, enjoined the American Sulphur Company into a partnership, forming the Union Sulphur Company , to initiate the first successful sulfur mining at Grand Ecaille, with which Freeport, like other competitors, would compete upon expiry of the Frasch patents in 1908. From its earliest inception, sulfur mining

5031-512: The Grasberg mine. In 1995, RTZ, a predecessor of Rio Tinto Group , made a $ 450 million investment in the company. In 1997, IMC Global , a large fertilizer producer, acquired Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the former parent company that now owned the sulfur and fertilizer businesses, in a $ 750 million transaction. Shareholders of Freeport-McMoRan received shares of IMC Global. In 1997, the Indonesian government asked Freeport-McMoRan to substantiate

5148-464: The Phelps Dodge smelting plant in Hurley, New Mexico , for two years. The plant had recently incurred a 10-day shut-down, and, on June 30, 1998, the crew Mr. Delgado was assigned to was short-handed. When the crew encountered an emergency situation known as a "runaway," Mr. Delgado's supervisors ordered him to enter – alone – a tunnel to remove a ladle that was overflowing with molten slag . Mr. Delgado

5265-769: The Retail Clerks International Association (RCIA, a part of the AFL-CIO), they lost their case when the NLRB found that the RCIA violated the NLRA by refusing to bargain with the representative of certain of its employees and by threatening employees with loss of their jobs unless they resigned from the union. The Board further found that the RCIA had violated Section 8(a) (1) by engaging in coercive conduct with respect to certain of its own employees. In

5382-620: The Service Employees International Union." Central to the SEIU-CNA dispute were accusations by both organizations of raiding each other's members and campaigns, as well as disagreements about the direction of the labor movement. The SEIU is focused in its mission to organize workers at any cost, provoking criticism for its consolidation of smaller locals into mega unions. Some corporations have sought to learn of union activities by employing informants ,

5499-521: The UK and EU, trade union opposition may occur during automatic recognition campaigns and ballot elections. Workers in the UK may have union memberships that they retain job to job, potentially resulting in workers for the same employer having different union memberships. When a union is seeking to gain control of the collective bargaining at a place of employment without a ballot, workers with either individual and/or different union memberships working for that same employer may oppose that union. Consultation

5616-892: The US Gulf Coast . Freeport, Texas was also established in Nov. 1912 to house workers, and serve as a port for Houston, rivaling Galveston and Corpus Christi. Freeport mined sulfur along the Gulf Coast using the Frasch Process , the patents for which had expired in 1912. Previously, Union Sulphur Company founder and patent-holder Herman Frasch had enjoyed a monopoly on the process. The company became known as Freeport Sulphur , later changing its corporate name to Freeport Minerals . In 1922, Freeport started producing sulfur from Hoskins Mound in Brazoria County, Texas . Enterprise to support Freeport Sulphur's business and

5733-529: The US, unlike the UK and several other countries, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) provides a legally protected right for private sector employees to strike in order to gain better wages, benefits, or working conditions without the threat of termination. However, striking for economic reasons (i.e., protesting workplace conditions or supporting a union's bargaining demands) allows an employer to hire permanent replacements. If hired,

5850-600: The United States businesses receive little pushback from regulator agencies and when violations are found they are often appealed and eventually dismissed or downplayed by judges, or are insignificantly punishing to prevent the illegal tactics being re-used. NGG , the German union for restaurant and food workers in 1999 used the notion of union busting to characterize the practices of McDonald's in Germany to kick out employees' representative bodies ( Betriebsräte ) and to prevent

5967-566: The United States have been outlawed since the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. The act prohibits supervisors from joining unions as well as prohibiting employers from assisting (as in the event of unions competing in the organization of a company), or dominating any labor organization. Additionally, the two laws, passed in 1947 and 1959, respectively, were the Taft–Hartley Act and the Landrum–Griffin Act . These statutes guarantee

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6084-458: The United States of America et al. vs. Brown, Attorney General of California et al. , the court ruled 7–2 that federal labor law pre-empted a California law that limited many employers from speaking to their employees about union-related issues. Justice John Paul Stevens stated that Federal labor law had embraced "wide-open debate" about labor issues, as long as the employer did not try to coerce employees into accepting its point of view. Consequently,

6201-562: The United States shortly after 1900, there were few effective employers' organizations that opposed the union movement. By 1903, these organizations started to coalesce, and a national employers' movement began to exert a powerful influence on industrial relations and public affairs. For nearly a decade prior to 1903, an industrial union called the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) had been increasing in power, militancy, and radicalism in response to dangerous working conditions,

6318-481: The United States, Canada, and Europe into price fixing in the copper industry. On March 19, 2007, the company acquired Phelps Dodge (for $ 25.9 Billion) and became the largest copper producer of any public company in the world. The corporate headquarters was moved from New Orleans , Louisiana to Phoenix, Arizona . In 2012, the company announced agreements to acquire affiliated companies McMoRan Exploration Company and Plains Exploration & Production Company for

6435-690: The United States, the US Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the National Labor Relations Board that employer espionage or an employer's use of spies or agents within labor unions is an unfair labor practice under the Wagner Act. Labor consultants, union organizers, and attorneys use rules and regulations to gain control of organizing drives. Most employers oppose union plans for card check elections and employ tactics to insure secret ballot elections instead. If

6552-595: The United States, trade union organizing takes place multi-nationally. According to the AFL-CIO , "one of the largest U.S. firms, Labor Relations Institute (LRI), offers a "Guaranteed Winner Package": if the corporation does not "win", it does not pay. In both the US and Europe, organizing campaigns increasingly involve immigrant non-English speaking workers. Internationally, compliance with labor laws within developed countries can be vastly different from emerging countries. Both trade union organizers and management must know

6669-511: The United States. In 1834, Peck left the business and was replaced in Liverpool by Daniel James, who remained there until his death in 1876. It was at this time that the concern of Phelps Dodge and Company was begun. Between 1917 and 1919, Phelps Dodge was involved in a union busting Bisbee Deportation of 1300 miners working in the mines around Bisbee, Arizona . Using World War I as the premise to take action, Phelps Dodge, in collusion with

6786-609: The World (IWW) members and other miners, they arrested nearly 1,300 striking miners at gunpoint in an early morning raid at Bisbee , Lowell and Warren . Portraying those affiliated with the IWW as bent on war-related sabotage, the company ordered them expelled from the jurisdiction, deporting them to Hermanas, New Mexico . Company officials and Sheriff Harry C. Wheeler seized telegraph and telephone lines to keep news of this from getting out. The Phelps Dodge copper mine at Morenci, Arizona

6903-475: The author of Confessions of a Union Buster , Martin J. Levitt , reported that he conducted a counter-organizing drive at a nursing home in Sebring, Ohio . He assigned confederates to scratch up cars, then blamed it on the union. Similar activities have not been reported by others, yet Levitt said that creating and exploiting a prolonged climate of fear was key for him destroying the union's credibility. In

7020-401: The authors published a much expanded and updated version in form of a book with the title Die Fertigmacher. Arbeitsunrecht und die professionelle Bekämpfung der Gewerkschaften (Union Busting, Labor Injustice and The Professional Fight Against Trade Unions). After this, the notion union busting is used routinely in the media and by all German unions. Rügemer and Wigand defined union busting in

7137-800: The book Labor Organizations as Employers: Unions Within Unions , the author explored three different unions and the struggle of their workforces to organize. Prompted largely by the same concerns which motivate employees of private and public employers to seek union protection, employees within several unions, the United Transportation Union (UTU), the Garment Workers (ILGWU), and the Textile Workers (TWUA) were thwarted in their attempts to organize. Another recent example of union busting tactics used by one union against

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7254-587: The company changed its name to Freeport Minerals Company, (not to be confused with Freeport Minerals Corporation, founded in 1834). In 1981, Freeport Minerals Company merged with the McMoRan Oil and Gas Company. In 1981, the company formed a 70/30 joint venture with an affiliate of FMC Corporation to operate the Jerritt Canyon gold mine near Elko, Nevada . In 1985, the company headquarters moved to New Orleans , Louisiana . The company also sold

7371-594: The company for annual fees of $ 1.5 million. In May 2016, the company sold a 13% interest in its Morenci Mine to Sumitomo Group for $ 1 billion in cash. In 2016, Freeport sold its deepwater assets, including the Marlin TLP, and the Holstein and Horn Mountain spars, to Anadarko Petroleum . In August 2017, the company agreed to give a 51% interest in the Grasberg mine to the Government of Indonesia and build

7488-488: The company sold its assets in the Eagle Ford shale to Encana for $ 3.1 billion. In 2015, the company announced job cuts at its Sierrita Mine in Arizona due to low copper and molybdenum prices. On December 28, 2015, the company announced that James R. Moffett would resign as chairman of the company and be replaced by Gerald J. Ford . Moffett received $ 16.1 million in severance pay and cash retirement plans totaling more than $ 63 million. Moffett continued to consult for

7605-406: The company's efforts to keep costs as low as possible, especially in Arizona Territory . It used its own lines to transport products to and from major railroads for its markets on the eastern/northeastern shores. In 1895, the first contract was signed by Phelps Dodge and Company and the Nichols Copper Company (which was renamed from G. H. Nichols and Company in 1891) to have Phelps Dodge deliver

7722-403: The company. In 1956, the company formed the Freeport Oil Company. In 1958, the company sold an oil discovery near Lake Washington in Louisiana for approximately $ 100 million to Magnolia Petroleum Company . In 1959, Freeport geologists confirmed the 1936 Dutch discovery of the rich Ertsberg copper and gold deposits, now known as the Grasberg mine , in extremely rugged, remote country in

7839-442: The dispute had been engineered by the company to allow it to replace staff with workers on worse contracts. This mass dismissal was viewed by some as a union busting tactic, and caused a great deal of media scrutiny. The terminations prompted a walkout by British Airways ground staff that paralysed flights and stranded thousands of travellers in the UK. The BBC reported that Andy Cook, Gate Gourmet's director of human resources at

7956-408: The dissolution of that union. Although legal, it is viewed by labor organizations as union busting. Another common tactic is flooding the would be bargaining unit with new workers that are threatened and/or incentivised to avoid discussing the unionisation drive to refuse to sign cards or vote for the union, which can include importing workers with language skills uncommon to the workplace to drive

8073-424: The employees wish to retain the union. Like an election petition, a petition for decertification can only be filed during certain timeframes, specifically when a contract has expired or is about to expire. In Canada all provinces have laws setting out provisions for employees to decertify unions. In most cases the governments have made it mandatory that employers post information for its employees on how to decertify

8190-457: The explosion at the Dawson Stag Canyon No. 2 mine which resulted in 264 deaths, and is one of the deadliest coal mining accidents in U.S. history. The company employed more than 13,500 people worldwide. On Sunday, November 19, 2006, Freeport-McMoRan announced that it planned to acquire Phelps Dodge for $ 25.9 billion in cash and stock to create the world's largest publicly traded copper mining company. Stockholders for both companies voted on

8307-410: The following sentences: "Union Busting is the purposeful application and modular combination of practices to prevent employer-independent organization and advocacy in a company. Another point is to prevent (sabotage) the industry. Union Busting is operated both to attack the achieved status quo of collectivity, participation and labor protection. As well as to end organizing efforts of employees already in

8424-475: The goal of maintaining complete control of the work force by top management. Shefferman's book not only provided the concepts that animated all future union busting techniques, he also provided language that pro-labor supporters believe mask the intent of the policies. In 1962 US President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988 , which established the right for public sector employees to form unions with certain limitations regarding collective bargaining and

8541-519: The government to amend the NLRA. In 1974, under President Richard Nixon , the NLRA was amended to extend coverage and protection to employees of non-profit hospitals. According to the Obama administration NLRB, "When the new legislation was considered by the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, it was recognized that labor relations in the health care industry required special considerations. The Senate Labor Committee sought to fashion

8658-416: The imposition of long hours of work, and what members perceived as an imperious attitude on the part of employers. In particular, members of the WFM had been outraged by employers' use of labor spies in organizing efforts such as Coeur d'Alene . The miners' frustrations had occasionally exploded in anger and violence, although they had also tried peaceful change. For example, after winning a referendum vote for

8775-544: The incident to natural causes. In 2005, The New York Times reported that the company paid local military and police generals, colonels, majors and captains, and military units, a total of nearly US$ 20 million between 1998 and 2004. One individual received up to US$ 150,000. The payments were meant to secure the reserve. The company responded that the payments did not go to individuals, but went into infrastructure, food, housing, fuel, travel, vehicle repairs, and allowances to cover incidental and administrative costs. According to

8892-635: The initial stage." Later, Rügemer and Wigand founded the non-profit association Action Against Labour Injustice. The organization works for dependent employees and in particular works-councils. The target group are the people affected by union busting and other forms of work inequalities. The association helps the victims with public actions and by legal. Prominent examples for union busting in Germany are Amazon.com, Birkenstock, Legoland, Haticon, Nora Systems, United Parcel Systems, Charité/Vivantes, Neupack, Edeka, DURA Automotive Systems, Median, Maredo, H&M and OBI. Derecognition (UK) or decertification (US) of

9009-625: The law and avoid unfair labor practice (ULP) charges. Application and adherence to labor laws may differ worldwide, but labor laws continue to expand into new countries such as the Labour Law of the People's Republic of China and the Indian labour law . Trade union organizing often starts with workers who are untrained or unaware of labour law . Due to the changing global and multinational employment environment and labor relations/employment laws,

9126-531: The local sheriff, illegally kidnapped and deported striking mine workers. When Anson G. Phelps died, his sons-in-law purchased his portion of the company, but retained the name, and the import-export business. In 1880, the company invested in the Detroit Copper Company of Clifton, Arizona , at the time a very small copper camp in the eastern Arizona Territory . Phelps-Dodge interested Dr. James Douglas of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania to inspect

9243-406: The long term are viewed as acceptable in order to smash unions and prevent them taking a foothold. In worse case scenarios, entire stores may be closed under the auspices of "safety issues" or " redevelopment " and workers fired or diluted between multiple stores while also serving as a warning to other stores & workers that the company would rather fire them then have to negotiate with a union. In

9360-491: The mine was declared fully operational. Officials at Bechtel , the primary project contractor, called mine development at Ertsberg "the most difficult engineering project they had ever undertaken." The challenges included building a 101-kilometre (63 mi) long access road (a project that required boring kilometer long tunnels through two mountains) and constructing the world's longest single span aerial tramway . The tramways were needed to move people, supplies and ore because

9477-532: The mine's early financial performance was disappointing. Depressed copper prices and high operating costs kept profits marginal during the 1970s. In 1967 The McMoRan Oil and Gas Company was founded by three partners, William Kennon McWilliams Jr. ("Mc"), James Robert (Jim Bob) Moffett ("Mo"), who were both petroleum geologists , and Mack Rankin ("Ran"), a specialist in land-leasing and sales operations. In 1981, McMoRab would merge with Freeport Minerals, formerly Freeport Sulphur, to form Freeport-McMoRan. In 1971,

9594-431: The modern labor movement turns more and more to professional guidance. Internationally, laws differ in how a bargaining unit is defined for workers with job descriptions involving supervision or management. Because the operative word is "law", trade unions and workplaces may retain legal counsel to navigate the complexities of local and/or international labor laws in order to avoid unfair labor practice charges. Following

9711-416: The names of organizations undergoing concerted activity and the name of the union seeking recognition or an election. These petitions are also used by organizations to conduct demographic studies of concerted activity regionally in order to prepare supervisory training in anticipation of organizing. Some companies maintain libraries and offer petition logs online as a courtesy for companies which cannot conduct

9828-498: The new town's infrastructure led to the incorporation of a holding company on September 30, 1913, to join the newer assets with Freeport Sulphur. Officers of the new holding company, Freeport Texas Company , were: The new corporation's principal assets were listed as: In 1919, minority stockholders John R. Williams & Sons , First National Bank of Richmond, Virginia vice-president, W. M. Addison, Benjamin P Alsopp , E. L. Norton , and Samuel W. Travers solicited proxies to use at

9945-554: The original Wagner Act of 1935, they were excluded in 1947 with the Taft–Hartley amendments. However, during the 1960s, hospital workers at nonprofit hospitals wanted to form unions in order to demand better pay and working conditions. Major American cities were also experiencing hospital strikes which raised awareness of both labor leaders and the government regarding how to continue life-sustaining patient care delivery during work stoppages. Hospital workers and labor leaders petitioned

10062-556: The other is the SEIU vs CNA conflict, where each union was battling for the others' members. In a press release dated March 10, 2008 Andy Stern of the SEIU accused the CNA of union busting: "The California Nurses Association has launched an anti-union campaign against nurses and other healthcare employees in Ohio, seeking to derail a three-year effort by the workers to unite in District 1199 of

10179-489: The plant. In 1930, Dr. William Henry Nichols died; Phelps Dodge purchased the Laurel Hill plant that same year. During the late 19th century, in concert with its metal interests, Phelps Dodge Corporation became one of the largest producers of lumber and lumber products in the United States. In Tombstone, Arizona during 1900 E. B. Gage, Frank Murphy, and William Staunton consolidated their various mining properties into

10296-759: The property and make recommendations. Dr. Douglas inspected the Detroit Copper Co of Morenci and also ventured south to the Warren District . On his advice, Phelps-Dodge began its own mining operations in the Warren District with the purchase of the Atlanta Copper Mine in 1882, neighboring the Copper Queen Mine . When both mines discovered the same ore body, instead of fighting over it, they merged in 1885, creating

10413-467: The proposal March 14, 2007. On Monday, March 19, 2007, Phelps Dodge Corporation was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), creating the world's largest publicly traded copper company, with 25,000 employees at acquisition. At the time of its acquisition in 2007, Phelps Dodge Corporation had large copper mining operations in Bagdad , Morenci , Sahuarita , Safford and Miami, Arizona . In New Mexico ,

10530-479: The rainforest and two major rivers, on which they depend for their food, water, livelihoods, and traditions. Pressured by cultural and economic deterioration, there were numerous quarrels, between the tribes, Freeport, and the Indonesian military. Some unarmed natives were killed or tortured by the military, or became part of the Free Papua Movement insurgence. Union busting Union busting

10647-669: The repeal of the Combination Laws in 1824, workers were no longer prohibited from forming labor organizations or collective bargaining , although significant restrictions remained. In 1832 the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers was formed in Dorset to challenge declining wages. The members of the organization agreed to only work for wages greater than a certain amount. In 1834 a landlord complained, and key members were charged and convicted under laws prohibiting

10764-428: The replacement worker can continue in the job, while the striking worker must wait for a vacancy. However, if the strike is due to unfair labor practices , the strikers replaced can demand immediate reinstatement at the end of the strike. If a collective bargaining agreement is in effect, and it contains a "no-strike clause", a strike during the life of the contract could result in the firing of all striking employees, and

10881-483: The report, anonymous sources within the company claimed that company chairman James R. Moffet courted Indonesia's dictator Suharto and "his cronies", cutting them in on deals. Another employee is said to have worked on a program to monitor environmentalists' telephone and email conversations, in collaboration with Indonesian military intelligence officers. The Grasberg mine's tailings "severely impacted" more than 11 square miles (28 km ) of rainforest, according to

10998-599: The research themselves. Similarly, UK trade unions are required by the ERA 1999 to adhere to specific procedures regarding trade union recognition, such as filing a "Letter of Intent" to the CAC, which simultaneously notifies not only the CAC but the employer as well. The filing then becomes public record which labor lawyers and consultancies can access in order to market their services. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), as an employer, refused to negotiate in 2011 with

11115-496: The rights of private employees to form and join unions in order to bargain collectively. The vast majority of states have extended union rights to public employees. The Chamber of Commerce has a long history of anti-union lobbying and union-busting in the United States at the local and federal level. Nathan Shefferman published The Man in the Middle , a 292-page account of his union busting activities, in 1961. Shefferman described

11232-485: The same way that unions employ salts to infiltrate a non union organization to gather propaganda and sow discord to gain union support. A plant or salt can be used to disrupt meetings, question the legitimacy and motives of either the union or management, and report the results of the meetings to their superiors. Disruption or reporting on union meetings is illegal, but can be difficult to prove in ULP hearings. In 1980,

11349-537: The scene. He suffered third degree burns over his entire body and later died at an Arizona hospital. Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan Inc. , often called Freeport , is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center , in Phoenix, Arizona . The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum , a major copper producer and operates the world's largest gold mine ,

11466-596: The state law is incompatible with federal labor law. Other efforts to restrict anti-union activities by recipients of state funds have also been struck down. A major recipient of state Medicaid funds, the Center for Cerebral Palsy in Albany, New York , hired a law firm to fight a UNITE organizing drive. In 2002 the State of New York passed a labor neutrality act prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars for union busting. The law

11583-415: The strength of the organisers. Even the jurisdiction of the NLRB to oversee an organizing drive may be challenged. Delays can turn an organizing campaign into a protracted struggle, and according to Martin J. Levitt such battles are almost always won by management. Many of the methods for defeating unions have been practiced for a very long time. Harry Wellington Laidler wrote a book in 1913 which reported

11700-681: The swearing of secret oaths. The sentence of seven years penal transportation to Australia prompted a movement to defend the members, known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs (referring to the village where the organization originated), who were eventually released in 1836 and 1837. Presently, UK labor laws are defined within the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA) and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 , and give workers no right to strike . In

11817-503: The takeover process. The Indonesian government finalized the process on December 21, 2018. Freeport is the world's largest producer of molybdenum , and one of the largest producers of copper. In 2019, 79% of its revenues were from the sale of copper , 11% were from the sale of gold , and 8% were from the sale of molybdenum . In 2019, sales to the company's copper refining joint venture in Gresik Regency accounted for 13% of

11934-679: The time, said "the company had not been looking to cut the size of the protests, only stop the minority engaged in harassment." Cooke continues to direct labor relations activities from his UK labor relations consultancy. A deal was brokered between Gate Gourmet and the TGWU by the TUC in September 2005. Union busting in the United States dates at least to the 19th century, when a rapid expansion in factories and manufacturing capabilities caused

12051-520: The total revenues of the company. Some of the company's mining operations are as follows: Freeport Cobalt held a 100% interest in Kisanfu, a copper and cobalt exploration project located near Tenke, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This subsidiary also owns a large cobalt refinery in Kokkola , Finland, along with a related sales and marketing business. FCX has an effective 56% of that enterprise. Negotiations in 2016 to include these cobalt projects in

12168-447: The union focuses on one division of the company, employment lawyers may disrupt such plans and dilute the vote by petitioning the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to include other divisions. If the union seeks to include foreman or "junior supervisor" positions in a bargaining unit to increase membership, the definition of what constitutes a supervisor under the NLRA will often be challenged by employment or new staff added to dilute

12285-448: The union in question has either lost support or the membership level falls below 50% of the workers, the CAC can declare that a derecognition ballot be held." One of the most significant cases of mass dismissals in the UK occurred in 2005, involving the termination of over 600 Gate Gourmet workers at Heathrow Airport. Gate Gourmet provides in-flight meals and had been owned by Texas Pacific since 2002. The company had been in talks with

12402-437: The union will be broken up. Employers may put pressure on a union by declaring a lockout , a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working until certain conditions are met. A lockout changes the psychological impact of a work stoppage and, if the company possesses information about an impending strike, can be enacted prior to the strike's implementation. Although nonprofit hospital workers were covered by

12519-467: The union. Organizations retain labor/employment attorneys and consultancies based on experience, track record, language skills, and reputation. Additionally, since labor laws differ from one nation to another, an organization might also consider experience with international labor laws within multinational corporations. When trade union organizing occurs, labor attorneys are generally contacted for advice and often turn to consultants with whom they work on

12636-408: The use of delaying tactics and provocation by an undercover operative of one of the largest known agencies of the time called Corporations Auxiliary Company . They would tell prospective employers, Once the union is in the field its members can keep it from growing if they know how, and our man knows how. Meetings can be set far apart. A contract can at once be entered into with the employer, covering

12753-682: The voting of such representative bodies. However, only the study Union Busting in Deutschland (Union Busting in Germany) by Werner Rügemer and Elmar Wigand introduced the notion and presented an analysis of union busting. The study was commissioned by the largest German union, the metal workers union IG Metall and has been published in 2014. Rügemer and Wigand also referred in their study to US authors such as John Logan, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Martin Jay Levitt, and Joseph McCain. Subsequently,

12870-793: Was accused of negligence by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission. The company is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights . However, the company has been accused of funding the Indonesian government to secure its reserve through militaristic oppression of the native West Papuan people. Freeport has had a troubled relationship with the Amungme and Kamoro peoples since it arrived in Indonesia in 1967. Freeport allegedly damaged 30.000 hectares of

12987-642: Was criticized by labor organizations for union busting. PATCO reformed to become the National Air Traffic Controllers Association . Anti-union policies varies from state in the US with generally more worker protections in Democratic states when compared to Republican states. Donald Trump Republican former president has publicly stated that he is against worker protections and stated his support for union-busting while doing an interview with Elon Musk . In

13104-414: Was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration over the death of a miner. The 67-year-old man had fallen into a hole created by the removal of two steel gratings. It was concluded that Freeport had not done enough to indicate that the hole was there. The company operates the world's largest and most profitable gold mine, the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia . In 2003,

13221-407: Was not qualified to perform this task and had never done so under runaway conditions, facts which he repeatedly told his supervisors. Following several instances of protesting and requesting help, which were refused by his supervisors, Mr. Delgado was sent to perform this task. There was an explosion inside the tunnel, and he subsequently emerged from the tunnel fully engulfed in flames and collapsed at

13338-476: Was passed as a direct result of the campaign against UNITE. In May 2005, a district court judge struck down the labor neutrality law in a ruling that the legal representatives of the Center for Cerebral Palsy described as "an enormous victory for employers". Nathan Shefferman introduced some basic psychological techniques into the union avoidance industry and the complementary service of union prevention. Building upon his work, professionally trained psychologists in

13455-553: Was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in the decision Wisconsin Dept. of Industry v. Gould . In effect, the 1986 Supreme Court decision meant that federal punishments are the maximum allowed, regardless of their limitations. Critics charged that, in effect, "federal labor law forces states to hire unionbusters." In 1998, Catholic Healthcare West , the largest private hospital chain in California and

13572-439: Was the catalyst that developed Port Sulphur, Louisiana . The company produced nickel during World War II and potash in the 1950s. In 1955, Freeport Nickel invested $ 119 million, of which $ 100 million came from the U.S. government, into construction of a nickel- cobalt mine at Moa Bay, Cuba , and a refinery at Port Nickel, Louisiana . On March 11, 1957, the U.S. government announced a contract to buy nickel and cobalt from

13689-715: Was the site of a violent strike from 1983 to 1986, culminating in one of the largest union decertifications in American labor history. In South America, the company had several very large copper mining operations in Peru . In the Congo of Africa, Phelps Dodge Corporation was the majority owner and operator of the Tenke Fungurume project, generally considered to be the world's largest undeveloped copper/cobalt project. A subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Corporation, Climax Molybdenum,

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