A-Infos (en) Crown Gasoline Stations and Convenience Stores Targeted by Labor, Religious, Environmental and Civil Rights Groups

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By Author: PR Newswire Source:  Industrial Workers of the World iww-news@iww.org

The boycott and campaign against  Crown gasoline stations and Zippy Mart
and Fast Fare convenience stores along the Atlantic Coast and throughout
the South continue to expand with  recent endorsements coming from
prominent groups and politicians in Georgia and South Carolina.

Within the last two weeks, the campaign garnered support from the
Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia Association of
Black Elected Officials, Mayor Chuck Burris of Stone Mountain (Ga.),
Atlanta City Councilwoman Mable Thomas, Georgia State Senator Gloria
Butler, Georgia State Representative Tyrone Brooks and South Carolina
State Senator Robert Ford.

A resolution is also pending before the Atlanta City Council.

The AFL-CIO initiated the Crown boycott after Crown Central Petroleum
forcibly removed 252 union workers in February, 1996 from its main oil
refinery in Pasadena, Texas, when workers refused to accept all of
Crown's contract demands. The boycott has escalated steadily throughout
Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas, and
informational leafleting at Crown gasoline stations and convenience
stores has increased dramatically. Last week, Crown reported an $11
million loss for the 2nd Quarter of 1999 and a decline of 7.4% in its
per store gasoline volume.

Crown has been sued under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for
"creating a hostile workplace" and denying promotions to women and
African-Americans. Crown supervisors are charged with distributing
racist leaflets and cartoons. One leaflet, parading as an application
for "Jesse Jackson's Staff Positions," asks "length of last jail term"
and "number of convenience stores robbed." African-American workers, who
once comprised about 30 percent of the work force at Crown's Pasadena
refinery, were virtually eliminated as a result of the lockout.
Replacement workers are almost entirely white males.

Stone Mountain Mayor Chuck Burris issued a proclamation that states:
"The people of good will of the City of Stone Mountain condemn the
policies of Crown Central Petroleum, which continues a brutal lockout
against the members and families of PACE Local 4-227, continues to
pollute the environment and maintains workplaces which are not free of
discrimination."

"The public is recognizing in ever-increasing numbers that the struggle
against Crown is both a civil rights and a labor struggle, and we are
grateful for the support of these key political leaders and
organizations," said PACE Intl. Union Executive Vice President Robert
Wages.

Other organizations endorsing the campaign against Crown include the
National Baptist Convention USA Inc., Baltimore City Council, Greater
Birmingham Ministries, National Black Caucus of State Legislators,
NAACP,
Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice, Baltimore
Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, Sierra Club, Environmental
Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council.

Crown owns and operates gasoline stations and convenience stores in
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
PACE International Union is headquartered in Nashville and has 320,000
members.

For further information, see the Crown Boycott web site at
http://www.crownboycott.org

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