AFL-CIO and PACE International Union Announce Expanded Campaign Against Crown Central Petroleum

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 30 -- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Boyd Young, president of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), today announced an intensification of the boycott and comprehensive campaign against Crown Central Petroleum due to the almost five-year lockout of Crown employees.

"The 13 million working men and women across this nation who make up the AFL-CIO stand firmly behind the Crown workers in their continued struggle during the company's completely unjust lockout of its workers," said Sweeney.

"We will continue our boycott of Crown gas until Crown honors their workers' basic rights and comes to an acceptable agreement," Sweeney added.

The announcement was prompted by the overwhelming rejection by workers in Pasadena, Texas, of a contract proposal presented to them on October 17. In February 1996, the company locked over 250 PACE members and Crown employees out of its main refinery, minutes after the negotiating committee informed Crown management that the workers had no intention of striking.

"We welcome the increased involvement of the broader labor movement in our campaign" said Boyd Young. "Unfortunately, an expansion of the campaign would not be necessary if Crown would end the lockout and allow contract negotiations to continue."

Crown is currently embroiled in lawsuits with its own shareholders over financial mismanagement. Eight employees have sued Crown for race and gender discrimination. Crown has also been fined $1.1 million by a Texas state agency for failing to comply with air pollution regulations, and a new fine has already been proposed. With such controversy surrounding the company, the list of organizations endorsing the campaign against it has swelled to include all the unions of the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow/Push Coalition, the National Baptist Convention USA, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The AFL-CIO boycott of Crown, Fast Fare, and Zippy Mart gasoline stations and convenience stores is in effect in Maryland, Virginia, parts of Eastern Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.