Crown Campaign Day of Solidarity

Four Years is Long Enough -- Break the Lockout
Boycott Crown, Zippy Mart and Fast Fare gasoline stations and convenience stores

OVER FOUR YEARS AGO, CROWN Central Petroleum locked out 252 union workers from its main refinery in Pasadena, Texas, after the company failed to force workers on strike. The lockout is now one of the longest in U.S. history.

Since the lockout, Crown has been charged with civil rights violations for denying promotions to African-Americans and women and allowing the distribution of racist and sexist handbills. One handbill, presented as evidence, masqueraded as an application for "Jesse Jackson Staff Positions" and asked, "length of last jail term" and "number of convenience stores robbed." Female workers were purportedly expected to give Henry Rosenberg, the Crown CEO, a kiss after receiving a service award.

After Crown replaced union workers, jobs for African-Americans, who once comprised 30 percent of the refinery's employees, were virtually eliminated.

One study documents an almost three-fold increase in Crown's pollution, after skilled union workers were replaced. In August 1998, Crown's Pasadena refinery received the largest air pollution fine ($1.1 million) in Texas history, and now bears the reputation of being among the worst polluters in the most polluted state in America.

Many impoverished residents, who live in the shadow of the Pasadena refinery, may be paying a heavy price for Crown's lockout of union workers.

The company operates Crown, Fast Fare and Zippy Mart gasoline stations and convenience stores throughout Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.

Endorsers of the Crown Boycott include: AFL-CIO, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow/Push Coalition, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Jewish Labor Committee, Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, National Baptist Convention USA Inc., Coalition of Labor Union Women, and many other organizations.

Please contact us about your participation. Call:

Joe Drexler (PACE International) 615/831-6716
James Broaddus (Virginia and the Carolinas) 804/355-9153
Ed Rothstein (Maryland and Washington D.C. area) 410/837-7906
Gladys Haley (Georgia and Alabama) 770/994-3415.