Labor Dispute Poisons a Bitter Town
TRONA, CA March 20, 1981 – The road to Trona drops like a hair ribbon through the ugly scar of Poison Canyon, gently curving around the vast, lifeless expanse known as Searles Dry Lake. The air is perpetually heavy with the rotten-egg smell of sulfur, an invisible cloud that squats over Searles Valley like a curse.
Nothing grows naturally in Trona. The children play on a football field made of sand. From time to time, a wild animal wanders to the edge of town, takes a drink of the alkali-fouled water, and drops dead. The people who live in Trona, a way station on the road to Death Valley about 180 miles northeast of Los Angeles, are proud of being different. They are independent, they say, and stubborn.
A Legacy of Violence
“It’s the kind of place,” says Dick Kuhlman, a 12 year resident, “where a man can strap on a six- gun, climb into a dune buggy, and spend a couple of days in the Old West. You can do what you want and nobody bothers you.”
A company town, Trona also has a bloody history of labor unrest. Shootings, arson and death threats have been a fixture of strikes. In a 1970 walkout a striker was shot by a security guard and there were as many fires in 10 days as the town normally has in half a year. It is a painful legacy of divisiveness and violence which, overnight, seems to turn friends against their neighbors. The bitterness in Trona is as strong as ever.
Since March 2, the 250 members of Local 398 of the International Chemical Workers Union have been on strike against the Westend plant of the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp., a giant conglomerate that mines soda ash, borax, sulfate and lime from the lake and processes the minerals in three sprawling mills.
Even by Trona standards, though, the strike at Westend is no ordinary labor dispute. In fact, workers freely admit that their pay is high, and their jobs, while dangerous at times, are easy. The dispute centers on a “good-will clause” in a new contract proposed by Kerr-McGee. If adopted in its original form, it would allow the company to seek cash fines against the union if it or its members are found by an arbitrator to have harmed the good will at Kerr-McGee.
The union feels the proposal would curtail freedom of speech, gag its irreverent union newsletter, and ulitimately destroy the union with the burden of penalties.
Disputed Paragraph
The company, on the other hand, feels “21-1”, as the disputed paragraph is known to just about everybody in the valley, is necessary to bring order to the company’s operations and curb disobedience by the union. “They have a right to free speech, as we all do,” said Gordon Fawkes, director of administration or Kerr-McGee’s soda products operations. “We don’t propose to infringe on that right. But we do ask for cooperation from the union leadership in meeting the objectives of our plant operation.”
Not everybody in Trona understands this strike, least of all the old-timers and the workers at Kerr-McGee’s other plants. Since the strike started, there have been firebombings, shootings and a number of convincing death threats. “This place is like an armed camp,” said Eric Poole, the 29-year-old president of Local 398. “It’s a powder keg, and nobody knows what might happen if this strike goes on much longer.” From the start, the strike has been tinged with emotion, a vindictive spirit that transcends the by-play of most labor disputes. When negotiations broke down Feb.28, the union wanted to strike, but spies equipped with binoculars reported the arrival of an armada of campers, presumably to be used by supervisory personnel, and a large outside security force.
The union’s nine-member executive board decided at a secret meeting to go ahead with the strike, but each person who attended the meeting was sworn to tell his wife that they had decided to continue working for two more weeks without a contract. Poole said that within hours, the campers left the Westend plant like a desert caravan, and the guard force was sent back to Los Angeles. At 3 a.m. on March 2, the union placed a picket line around the Westend plant, surprising, in the words of a company official, “not only management, but most of the union membership.” “Kerr-McGee was absolutely mortified,” Poole Said.”They got completely outfoxed. In the long run it may cost us, because they are so mad about it that their pride is hurt something terrible.
Coincidentally, the railroad traffic in Searles Valley had been stopped for more than a week by a fire in a Southern Pacific tunnel. Virtually all of Westend’s production had to move by truck. Nearly all the drivers in this region are non-union, and like most other people here, they carry guns.
It wasn’t long before violence erupted. A number of pickets complained that they had been struck by the massive, 18-wheel vehicles that haul chemicals from the plant. Drivers complained of spiked tires, a blast of pellets through the windshield, and, in one case, a rock in the face. Two pickets were arrested.
A week after the strike began, a driver from Lancaster drew a gun while leaving the plant and fired into the air, scattering pickets in the drifts of alkali dust that resemble fresh snow. The driver was arrested.
Molotov cocktails were hurled into a work-yard owned by Ron Matheny, a private contractor who supplies laborers to the Westend plant and refused to honor the picket line. The next night, rifle fire came through the wall over Matheny’s head. Now he keeps a loaded pistol beside him. As a trailer truck drove past the struck plant, a half-ton case of ball bearings shattered on the ground, scattering lethal, three-quarter inch missiles. “it was like pennies from heaven,” said a striker. “We fell on our knees in thanks.”
Death Threats
About the same time, the mustachioed Poole began to receive death threats. He likes to compare himself to Karen Silkwood, a Kerr-McGee employee who died in a car crash in 1974 while on her way to a meeting with her union to complain about nuclear contamination at her Oklahoma plant. Her death was ruled an accident. Poole wears a Karen Silkwood T-shirt to the contract negotiations.
Officially, both the company and the union have condemned the violence. But Poole says there is “no way we can babysit 250 union members, and Kerr-McGee says it cannot force truck drivers to stop carrying guns. The mood of the strikers, which had been jovial to start, began to turn angry when Kerr-McGee obtained a temporary restraining order limiting union activity near company property. Being more or less a company town, the order also means that the strikers cannot legally attend the company-owned movie theater, visit Kerr-McGee’s water company, or use the town’s recreation center or swimming pool.
“This is an awfully ticklish situation,” said Tom Garrison, president of the Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, which represents workers at Kerr-McGee’s Trona mill. “We’ve all got brothers, aunts and uncles down at the Westend plant, and this strike is turning us against each other.”
Different Philosophy
He said his union would do what it could to help the strikers, but noted ruefully, “We have a different philosophy from the Chemical Workers. That’s why we’re not the ones on strike.” It’s a sentiment not lost on some of the men walking the picket line. “Most of us don’t want to be here and we’re hoping it’s not a long strike,” said Ed Ballinger, a filter operator at Westend. “Right or wrong, we went on strike and you can’t turn back. We’re willing to fight for what we believe in.”
Frank Schmidt, whose face is as lined as aged mahogany after 15 years at the plant, adds: “We’re on strike because the company thinks you ain’t nothing but scum. They think you’re trash, and you can’t find out a damn thing from them.” Sgt. Vernon Smith, who runs the sheriff’s substation in Trona, notes the town is now “not what you’d call an ideal place to live in.” Smith is hopeful that the intimacy of the town – he says he knows most people by their first names – will help contain the violence. “It’s our home and these people are going to try to take care of it,” Smith said. “This strike is going to be over someday, and we’re all still going to be here. What will they do if they have hurt their neighbors?”
Roots in Muckraking
The roots of the strike probably date back a year or more, when Poole started publishing a muckraking broadsheet known as the “Westend Barb.” Fired off on a copy machine, “whenever I get inpired,” he says, the Barb has repeatedly tweaked the giant Kerr-McGee’s hierarchy publishing not only what Poole sees as the shortcomings of company policy, but exposes of management personal peccadilloes.
“Once again I feel duty-bound to inform you that something is drastically wrong with the current management team in the production department and in industrial relations,” Poole began in a recent issue, and went on to give an individual critique. In another, Poole savaged Robert Bouse, the plant’s manager, for taking supervisory staff to a dinner to celebrate increased productivity. “You, the employees who made it all possible,” Poole wrote, “didn’t even get a simple posting stuck on a board somewhere saying ‘Thanks.'”
Poole sign each copy of the newsletter, inviting the company to sue him for libel or fire him. “They won’t do it because they know it will go to court,” he says. “After Karen Silkwood they just hate
publicity.”
Poole’s broadsides have clearly not pleased Kerr-McGee – they say his reporting is inaccurate – nor has his refusal to cooperate over such thins as plant safety, which Poole considers a farce. “Kerr-McGee can make you or break you in this valley,” said a worker at one of the two plants not involved in the strike. “The company is a little god, and if you live here, you had better not forget it.”
The old contract between the company and Local 398 contained a clause pledging union members to cooperate to prevent absenteeism, waste and accidents, as well as strengthening “good will between the company and its employees.” The new contract, presented at the start of the negotiations with the union in January, added a two-sentence amendment.
“If the union or its members violates any part of this provision, the company shall present its complaint to the union which shall be adjudicated by an arbitrator,” the proposal said. “The arbitrator shall have jurisdiction to assess monetary penalty against the union for violation of this section.”
Other Disputes
Although there were a number of language disputes over such things as the provisions of a new training program, both the union and the company admit those differences could have been settled quickly before the strike. “The only hangup was that line,” Poole said. “It will keep us out forever. We can’t ever go to work with this proposal. No matter how mad we get, or how lean and mean, we’re not going to work with that contract.”
In retrospect, Poole acknowledges that he may have become the primary issue in the strike. “If I were to pack up, quit my job and leave the valley,” he said, “You can bet 21-1 would be off the table in a minute. I’ve thought about it, but I’m not going to do it.”
Los Angeles Times – March 20, 1981 — By Charles P. Wallace
Hey, my grandfather worked there too. When in Trona, he had saved some plates from the machines. I’m assuming broken ones. I don’t know why but I just recently had his Ker-Mcgee thumbprint ID badge about the size of a corner of half of a dollar bill. Anyways I just haven’t been understanding what’s going on in my life anymore. Like why is my entire family act like they never were my family anymore and why did they steal all my grandfathers and grandmothers stuff from me and including everything about my grandfather recently as of last year and or last 3 years from this date including the navy memories that I had left of him.
Anyone ever heard of the Magnetometer separator? My grandfather had the plate and it looked like it was ripped apart. His name is Carroll H Rice or just Carroll Rice birhday was September 20, 1937. My grandfather passed away in 2017 but I still don’t feel like it was ever that long ago regardless of how much time goes by.
My brother-in-law, Matthew Smith, died inside one of the mines in 1986. My husband and I were young and newly married and I will never forget this horrible tragedy or how the family was treated by the company.
Just wondering, you said inside the mine, that was the copper mines that Kerr McGee owned right?..that was in Arizona?… The Searles Valley is in California, near Death Valley..been awhile since I have been there, but I know that Kerr McGee was a very harsh company to deal with…I had many friends die from exposure to chemicals there…it is not a very healthy place to work, but it was good at the time…glad I got out when I did..
Matt Smith worked in Argus Plant Utilities and was killed working under a tail pulley off of the conveyor belt that carried coal to the boilers. His father in law was John Giacommo a Carpenter at Westend. Terrible accident
I knew John out at Westend. I know John knows me too. I worked out there from 1978 until 1987. Very sorry for your loss. Kerr McGee was not a company that worked well with its employees. I remember the time they tried to give everyone in the valley an education. Demanded that we study all these books and take tests. If we failed any tests more than three times they were going to fire us. I stepped in a wrote the company a letter telling them that they would lose valuable employees and it would cost them millions of dollars. I also told them that having employees educated was a good idea, but to try to do that with the people who have been in the valley twenty or thirty years was wrong, especially when all you required them to do when they were first hired was to load a wheelbarrow and use a shovel. Employees who can walk thru their job site and hear a noise that would alert them to a problem that they could fix immediately that would save many hours of downtime is worth having on site. I also explained to them that some employees working for them may have never finished school, and to now ask them to do classes in chemistry, physics and advanced math would be more than difficult for employees to do and pass. They also wanted us to study this material on our own time. The company used about half of my letter that I sent them to tell everyone in the valley that they were scrapping the idea. I was never so glad to hear that, probably save about 100 jobs at least at that time. Please tell John that I have thought of him often over the years and I hope that he is doing okay, thanks. Zane Libert
Mr. Libert, I very much enjoyed your post. My family had good friends in Trona from about the mid-1970’s until their deaths, when the husband was transferred to the facility there. The place has always been sort of magical for me, since I was a kid at the time and we used to visit often from the San Fernando Valley. I have especially fond memories because they were wonderful people and I can still vividly picture the town, and remember swimming at the pool, etc.
I know there were separate facilities in Trona and Argus back in those days. Do you recall how many people worked in those facilities when you were there? I’ve read that Trona had about 6,000 residents at its peak, but of course, that counts spouses and kids, and I have no idea when that population peak was. The gentleman I knew who worked there retired in 1989, and died about 10 years later.
There were about 300 employees at Westend, 6,000 sounds about right for the pop. John was a carpenter at Westend. They had him cleaning a pit one day along with some of the other carpenter’s at Westend. The oil they were cleaning was full of PCB’s. This stuff was very bad. It came from a transformer that was leaking at the time. There was a warning sign on the transformer that told anyone in contact with the oil to wear protective equipment. John and others worked cleaning the oil out of the pit, washing it with a water hose…etc. I told the guys there that they were exposing themselves to some very dangerous chemicals, PCB’s. They were told by their supervisor that it was motor oil. That she would put it on her cereal and eat it, not bad at all. When they finished the clean up, the company offered to buy their shoes. I told them that the level of PCB’s will be in your shoes and do not sell your shoes to the company. Best to them and keep them safe so you can test your shoes and find out just how bad the PCB’s were that your were exposed to. (it would attach to the leather). The Company knew that they put the workers in a dangerous situation. PCB’s can stay with you forever, they cause cancer and attach to fat cells in your body. When I told those guys about the dangers they faced, they ignored me. I really felt bad they they were in there working like they were, getting oil all over themselves. Later I call an inspector to the plant to test the chemicals in the pit. When they tested it, they asked a supervisor to take a sample for them. I was again upset with that. I call the office that sent the inspector and actually talked to the inspector that came out. It was a lady. She told me “I’m a woman of childbearing age and I don’t want to expose myself to any dangerous chemicals so I asked the supervisor to gather the sample for me”. I was really mad when I heard that so I called the Federal office to report this supervisor. I told the Federal office that the State Office should have never sent a woman to the site to test the chemical if they were concerned about what they were testing. It was a real mess, believe me. The state office did get in trouble for their poor choice of testing. The test did come back not bad, but the supervisor collected in an area that was just WATER. I know all the guys cleaning were in contact with bad stuff that would eventually harm them. In fact, they were taking it home being on the shoes and clothing. (they did have paper coveralls on, but didn’t help much). John was a bit upset with me when I tried to tell him he was taking PCB’s home with him. I know he had a lot of kids at home and I was afraid that everyone at his home was going to be exposed to PCB’s too. Im really very sorry I could not get John to understand the serious situation that he was in. I asked him later and he told me the company (Kerr McGee) put in his files that he was exposed to PCB’s but just low exposure. I do have a ton of stories to tell about that company. I really liked John, I thought he was a real great guy and great family man as well.
There were around 300 employees at Westend. There were three plants when I was first hired in 1978. The town grew because of the construction at the Argus plant. They spent a lot of time trying to get it running too. It was real struggle for KerrMcGee to get it online. Soon after the Trona plant shut down and they had a large layoff. I believe around 300-400 people lost their jobs. They did offer some to go to other plants in New Mexico…etc. Many I knew working there just went elsewhere. At that time Westend was doing well. The Soda Ash we made was really good. Had a contract with Gallo wine’s to sell it so it was used in the bottle making process. The wells out on the lake had different levels of chemicals. We had a great well pumping into our plant and that produce a lot of soda ash. Once Argus plant went on line, they took our well and sent it to Argus plant. We ended up with some very poor wells. It became a real battle to keep our plant running with such poor quality wells. The end product suffered too and it wasn’t long until we lost our contract with Gallo due to poor quality, high salt content caused problems. The company tried all kinds of experiments on our Soda Ash plant to try to make it produce, but due to the low quality wells that were were getting really made it impossible. We ended up losing equipment because we could not produce the product we once made. It was around 1987 when I left. About ten years later I returned to visit and found that the most of Westend was shut down, the Soda Ash plant was totally gone, torn down. Too bad this happened. Management ran the plant into the ground just to try to get Argus plant up and running. It was very sad to see how they created a mess, ruined a great running plant just to get another plant up and running.
Mr. Stevens—thank you. I actually saw that there’s a 20 Mule Team road in Boron, CA, on a map a few days ago. I do recall commercials for the Borax product years ago, But haven’t seen one in years! I assumed the product was gone!
Mr. Libert, thanks for sharing all that good information. For such a small town, in such a remote place, Trona is certainly full of interesting history. I didn’t know much about the labor disputes until quite recently. I do vaguely recall that the fellow I knew who worked there survived a round of layoffs some time in the 1980’s. So he probably ended up at Argus. I think he was with the firms that eventually rolled into Kerr-McGee for 40 years before he retired. Perhaps you knew him. His name was John Petritz. He’s actually interred there in Trona. I think he was an engineer, but without a college education. But I could be wrong. I was a teenager when he retired.
My father was telling me recently that our friend gave him a tour of the plant back in the day. I was fascinated to learn that something like 98 of the elements on the periodic table are found in that valley. My father also mentioned the origins of the 20-mule teams and the Borox product they made famous. I even saw a box of that stuff in a grocery store recently, after forgetting about it for years. Heck of a story for those folks that transported that product before decent roads and trains and automobiles.
I visited a couple months ago. It’s like going back in time since very little has changed cosmetically. Even the little burger shack in Pioneer Point was the same. I believe I sat in the same booth I sat in 27 years ago. I was thrilled to find some old photos on this site showing the old Valley Wells pool I once swam in. I’d like to play golf there one day when it’s not too scorching hot.
Although mule teams were first used in Searles Valley the ones that became famous were from the borax plant in Death Valley. The 20 mule brand name was actually owned by a competing company and if I remember correctly the borax used in that product came from Boron, California. 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster – 65 oz.
I don’t remember John Petritz. I may have ran into him at the plant. I remember the company sending in a number of engineers who tried to find ways to improve production at Westend. Most of the time they spent I felt was just a waste of time due to low quality wells. It was like trying to squeeze a dried up orange for another gallon of juice, just wasn’t going to work. Valley Wells was a nice place to swim. I was out there a lot until the company shut it down. It was probably not the best water to swim in, brackish water. Kerr McGee use to have a company wide picnic for all employees at Valley Wells. It was a lot of fun. They gave out great prizes to employees too. I remember they gave train rides, had a run/walk from Trona to Valley Wells, tennis match, darts and other competitive sport games for employees. The whole town came to Valley wells to celebrate and it was so much fun. This all stopped after the 1981 Strike. I have a lot of fond memories of being in Troan. A lot of good people worked very hard. The rotating shifts were very hard on the body. Work seven days swing shift, off for a day, work seven days day shift, off two days, then seven days graveyard, off four days and then start over again, really took a toll on employees. The worst part about it, if the guy who is suppose to come in to take your spot didn’t show, then you had to stay another four hours or even eight hours. I had a friend who ended up working 32 hours straight, not good for a guy who was about 62 years old at the time and poor health.
Mr. Libert, thanks again. Ironically, I’m writing from a restaurant in nearby Ridgecrest, and wouldn’t you know—there’s a sign that says “Kerr McGee Community Center” across the street.
I’ve often thought of those shift changes in the way you describe—very bad on health. I think the USPS did studies years ago and found that was making some of their employees “postal.” I know my friend John did those, too, even well into his 50’s.
I can still feel that water in Valley Wells. Funny what sticks with you in terms of memories. You can still see the empty pool and tennis courts on the latest Google Maps satellite images. I would drive over and golf right now if it weren’t 107 degrees.
So where did you go after Trona? Did you stay in the same industry?
My wife and I moved to Northern California. She went to Chico State, I went and learned how to become a Welder. Later I attended Chico State and became an Agriculture Teacher. I taught at a few high schools in the area around Chico. I also was a welder/fabricator before I became a teacher. I eventually worked for Oroville Adult School where I taught for seven years in Welding, Carpentry and Small Engines. I am now retired, living near Oroville, Ca. My dear wife passed away a few months ago. I ended up with four children, two are now off in the world. My oldest son, 29 is disabled so I take care of him at home and I have a daughter who is just finishing up with high school. It has been good since I left the desert, still I miss the freedom being in the desert. When I was at Westend, I worked hard at that plant to keep it running. There were a lot of guy guys I worked with and even after the strike, we all still got along ok, even some of the guys who crossed the picket lines. I always told them that they did what they thought was right, it was their life they were living. I always respected my supervisors and never wanted to go home after a day of work thinking that I didn’t leave that plant without making sure I did my job every day doing the best work possible no matter what happened. I remember working on a huge pile of product in the ski hut. No one had seen the floors where I was working in a very long time. I started working on the pile of product. It was about 15 feet tall and about 50 feet long. I kept at it for about a week with a shovle and broom and got to where you could see the diamond plate metal for the flooring. My supervisor came to my area and he was shocked to see the floor. He told he he had never seen the floor in years. I always tried my best to do a good job. It was hard, HOT work to say the least. I liked everyone I worked with and even the supervisors were good people too. Everyone had a job to do and they did it well at Westend.
Well Mr. Libert, you certainly have had an interesting life in both northern and southern California. I of course know where Chico is thanks to the map, and now everyone knows where Oroville is thanks to the dam’s spillway failure. I was recently in Santa Paula’s California Oil Museum, and to my pleasure, there was a temporary Dam Failures exhibit. I had never heard of St. Francis Dam, but the 12 billion gallons lost got my attention. A few others I was familiar with—Johnstown and the Teton Dam, etc., all very interesting from an environmental aspect, not to mention how they are managed.
I was interested to read that you were an agricultural teacher. It’s a shame that subject gets virtually no time in many public schools. One of the great pleasures I’ve had in recent years was the drive I made through California’s agricultural valley for the first time as an adult a few months ago. I had an interesting conversation with a nice lady in a cemetery about the water issues growers face. I can tell you that having lived in 3 other states, California is an agricultural afterthought. People don’t realize that this state feeds the country in many respects. Or how much water it takes to grow an almond. It was also a pleasure to drive through Gilroy.
As an aside, I heard on the radio this evening that people who feeling sluggish at their jobs, or generally, at mid-day, should get some boron into their diets. I’ve got to tell you, that’s probably the first time I’ve heard that mineral mentioned on the radio, but of course I immediately thought of Trona.
My father was Matthew Smith and my grandfather is John Giamanco. I was 3 when my father passed away. I don’t remember much of my father or trona, but i have lots of stories. My brother and I have visited trona back in 2008 and I’ve been back probably 5 times since the passing of my father. Anyways! I’ll mention you to my grandfather and grandmother, I’m sure they’ll remember you. I love hearing stories of Trona and their friends back then.
I was in the strike of 81. There was a lot going on all the time. Once while on the picket line, a car came out of the plant and the driver stuck a gun in my face. I told him that it sure was a nice gun. He drove off. I went to get help from the security guard. Nothing ever happened. 21-1, was finally removed from the contract and many returned to work. Things began to settle down, however, Eric stepped down from being the President of the Union and I was elected to be President. I felt it was important for someone to try to improve relationships after the strike. Many were hurt over the whole ordeal. Some lost their jobs. Eventually, most hardships and heartaches were healed. Life went on and the work went on. A few years later, the town changed, not because of the strike of 81 but the big layoff at the Trona Plant. Part of the plant shut down and a lot of jobs were lost there. Then the company began a campaign to find a way to rid the entire valley free from the Unions. One plant, then another, finally WestEnd became non-union. I became very afraid of what that would do to the people and the community. A few years later, I quit and left the valley. I still think about Trona, all my friends I made there and how much that day, that month and that year when the strike happened. We were a family then and my close friendships that were built have had a huge impact on my life. Yes, Eric Poole was my friend and I was proud to call him my friend even though he became a person in management and industrial relations. I just want to thank all my friends for their friendship and memories of that time in my life. I am doing well, have a wonderful family with four children now. Trona will always be part of me and even though it is a harsh environment, it has it’s beauty too.
Interesting article. I took over from Eric Poole in late 1987 at Westend. Sometime later, the Teamsters tried to sign the employees there, however, it was rejected by a slim majority. The company stated to management that remaining non-union was a condition of employment. Little did they know at the time that the reason for trying to get the union in was the drug policy…which would not have changed. Kerr McGee left in ’91…along with several of us in management. In retrospect, that was the best thing that could have happened to me!
I had just started my career at Westend when the stike occurred. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long. What I can say is the personnel at Westend at all levels were very good to me me taught me alot about chemical operatons. These guys mentioned in this article were the best. FYI Poole eventually became the head of Human Relations in the plant and a member of mangement. Small world. And guess who was in charge of safety in 1980 ME !
Kerr McGee in 1980 did cover ups when bad things happen there. By the way I worked with Frank Schmidt.