Since 1996, Crown's two Texas refineries have fielded of a torrent of charges ranging from racism and sexism to union busting and pollution. In October, the National Baptist Convention--with its 8 million members--joined scores of civil rights, religious, labor and environmental groups in a boycott of Crown products. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, is now looking into the allegations against Crown. In addition to its oil business, the Baltimore-based company owns three large gas station/convenience store chains--Crown, Zippy Mart and Fast Fare--located throughout the South.

The AFL-CIO initially called the boycott in November 1996, after the Pasadena plant locked out 252 union workers during a contract negotiation with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW). Now the boycott also addresses a discrimination lawsuit filed by eight employees in Pasadena and its sister plant in Tyler, Texas, and Crown's repeated violations of the Clean Air Act. There are some indications that the boycott is working. Crown's stock has hit a 20-year low. Third-quarter profits are down 72.5 percent from last year, with a 25 percent decline in revenue. And management is scrambling.

The lockout began in February 1996. According to the OCAW, Crown wanted to cut $2.5 million in labor costs by reducing its work force by 40 percent and outsourcing skilled jobs. Crown also demanded that remaining employees give up their seniority. The union refused to accept those terms, but planned to continue with negotiations. "They never came to the table to negotiate; they just wanted concessions and tried to change the whole negotiation process," says Alvin Freeman, a union negotiator who worked at Crown for 30 years. "We believe that Crown wanted to force a strike," says Joe Drexler of the OCAW. "When they were told that there wouldn't be one, they took a 10-minute caucus and came back with a lockout. This is union busting."

A lack of opportunities for promotion had already made discrimination an issue. Before the lockout, about 35 percent of the union employees at the Pasadena plant were black and Latino, with none in upper management. Locked-out employees say that all of the approximately 100 relacement workers are white males. "We're talking about workers rights and human rights here," says Richard Womack, director of the AFL-CIO's civil rights division and chairman of the NAACP's labor committee. "Crown arbitrarily locked them out and most of the workers involved are African-American."

Workers say the lockout exacerbated already existing tensions in a hostile work place. "We knew that racism was going on from the start but you learn to deal with it. You learn to go along to get along," says Danny Ducan, a 20-year employee.

In June 1997, eight African-Americans and women, both salaried and union workers, filed a Title VII class-action lawsuit against Crown. Plaintiffs say Crown supervisors at the Pasadena and Tyler plants routinely call African-Americans derogatory racial names and women are frequently harassed. Provost and Umphrey, the same law firm that represented the Texaco employees in their discrimination suit, has taken on the Crown case.

The plaintiffs' have presented the court with several vulgar cartoons and handbills that allegedly circulated among management, including a "Nigger Application for Employment" and an "Application for a Piece of Ass," which states, "Screwing preferences: How Often__ Pussy__. Ass__. Both__. Other__." Another handbill reads, "Sexual harassment in the area will not be reported. However, it will be graded."

The eight plaintiffs represent four classes of employees fitting a pattern of discrimination they say dates back to June 1995. The prosecution estimates that 200 more employees could qualify for the class action as the trial proceeds. "There is a possibility of a settlement," says Joe Sellers, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. "But we are prepared to go to trial with the evidence. Hopefully Crown will settle as the case was with Texaco." He expects the case could go to trial in the Spring, if no settlement is reached.

The Houston-based environmental group Texans United says that pollution by Crown has increased three-fold since the lockout due to inexperienced replacement workers and the company's refusal to upgrade its facility. In August, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission hit the company with a $1 million fine for excessive hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide emissions, failure to report problems and failure to maintain proper records. The fine is the largest in Texas history.

Boycott organizers say they'll keep the pressure on Crown for as long as necessary. "Now we have about 25 million members from our coalition efforts, Drexler says. This whole thing has been difficult for hundreds of families, but we're going to win this. We'll last one day longer than them."

Based in Washington, Simeon Booker Muhammad is a contributing writer for the National Newspaper Publisher's Association.

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