Tehachapi News

News Briefs: No progress in Borax lockout, Depot trial date reset

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The lockout of 545 members of the International Longshore and WarehouseUnion Local 30 at the Rio Tinto Borax plant in Boron continues with no negotiation sessions planned.

The plant management brought in 135 additional temporary workers the week ofFeb. 8, said Plant Manager Dean Gehring.

“We have extended the offer to negotiate,” Gehring said. “We are talking with a federal negotiator. We have not heard a thing from the union. That surprises us.”

Gehring said Feb. 9 that the company told the union it will not be available “for at least two weeks” while they get the plant running with management and temporary work force from other sites.

“It's going quite well,” Gehring said. “We're starting to catch our stride.

In many areas we are exceeding historical production capacities. We are learning what the plant can do.”

The union says the company is responsible for the break in negotiations.

“The best way to resolve differences is through the negotiation process,”said ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees. “The company ended it on Jan. 31 and they need to take responsibility to get it back on track. If the company wants to get back on track, they know exactly what to do.”

The union has received support from other unions around the world, he said.

Groceries for locked-out union members have arrived from union families across the country, he said.

”The first load of food arrived on Monday the 15th,” he said. “We expect another load on the 24th. There will be a convoy of 200 cars and two 42-foot semi trailers. They will meet in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.”

He said they will caravan around the desert delivering the groceries.

Depot trial scheduled for Feb. 22

The case involving two Tehachapi men suspected of burning down the city's train depot on June 13, 2008 was scheduled to go to a jury trial Monday, Feb. 22, according to the Superior Court of Kern County.

Jason Watson and Brian O'Donnell appeared before Judge Michael B. Lewis Tuesday, Feb. 16 in Bakersfield to confirm their preparedness to begin a jury trial.

Attorneys for Watson and O'Donnell, Jeffrey Brodey and James E. Noriega, respectively, requested that the trial be delayed because more time for discovery was needed regarding possible new evidence.

Judge Lewis granted the request. The Feb. 22 hearing was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., according to court records.