Locked out in Illinois: "How can you do that to a community?".

• Author: Boozell, Greg

Nestled on the bank of the Illinois River, the small community of Meredosia, Illinois, sits sixty-five miles west of the state capital. In 1955, National Starch and Chemical built a plant here. The company has been a key employer for this community of about 1,000 people. A producer of adhesives, National Starch up until a year ago was generally considered a good corporate citizen.

Although labor relations between the union--the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 484--and National Starch could be contentious, the union was always able to achieve fair contracts for the 150 to 200 employees it represented. In the fifty-year history of the plant, the union had gone on strike only once. With harmonious labor relations, National Starch proved also to be a profitable company. In 2003, it posted operating profits of $18 million.

But when National Starch agreed to sell the Meredosia plant to the Celanese Corporation in late 2004, life changed for the workers--and for this small town.

The Celanese Corporation is a chemical company that operates in North America, Europe, and Asia. Based in Dallas and owned by the Blackstone Group, it markets itself as a "low-cost producer." Its board of directors features powerful figures including former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill. Celanese sales exceeded $5 billion in 2004. It announced that its second quarter "operating profit rose significantly to $152 million versus $25 million last year."

A new company brochure on its website says, "We strive to exceed the expectations of our customers, shareholders, and employees."

But Celanese has done anything but exceed the expectations of its employees in Meredosia.

Upon acquiring the plant, Celanese immediately took up contract negotiations with the Boilermakers union. From the outset, Celanese demanded health care cuts and changes in the workers' pension. On June 3, union negotiators pushed for additional information on these concessions, although they believed they were near an agreement with the company.

Two days later, 150 union members were stunned to learn they had been locked out.

"We negotiated with the company for weeks prior to the lockout, believing we were close to a tentative agreement," says Boilermakers Local 484 President Kelly Street. "Celanese imposed the lockout to inflict hardship on our members."

The company demanded that its offer be put directly to the union members, who soundly rejected it 145 to 2 on June 15. On July...