Read our editorial on the significance of strikes here.
At least 420 Sibanye-Stillwater mine and ore processing workers in Montana have been on strike since September 3 after months of failed contract negotiations with the monopoly.
The workers, represented by United Steelworkers (USW) Local 11-0001, have been negotiating a new contract since April. Their previous contract expired mid-April and was temporarily extended several times as negotiations faltered. USW announced an unfair labor practice strike on September 3.
Workers have been picketing outside the USW union hall in Columbus and the metallurgical complex and mine in Nye, which are more than 35 miles apart.
USW rejected three contract proposals from Sibanye-Stillwater, the South Africa-based international mining and ore processing monopoly, alleging the company failed to bargain in good-faith. The proposals would have doubled healthcare deductibles and slashed other benefits, including short- and long-term disability coverage included in previous contracts.
One ore processing worker, Aven Benner, told local media, “When you’re increasing all of the costs of my benefits to where it’s costing me more money to come to work, why would I continue to come to work?”
Workers are also demanding stronger healthcare and disability benefits because of their longstanding occupational health and safety concerns.
In 2021, two workers were struck and killed by an underground mine cart. In 2023, a contract worker was crushed by rotating machinery. In 2025, electrical worker Brian Hanson was electrocuted after a switch was incorrectly labeled due to negligent oversight by Sibanye-Stillwater.
Platinum and palladium are critical components in electronics, automotive manufacturing, capacitors, aerospace production, fuel cells, cancer medicines, and oil refining. The Sibanye-Stillwater operation fully monopolizes domestic production.
US imperialism has been competing and colluding mainly with social-imperialist China for monopoly control of the world’s rare earth minerals because of their central role in key sectors, such as military and electronics production. Palladium prices have fallen worldwide, spurring monopolies such as Sibanye-Stillwater to forcibly depress wages.
As the strike continues at the Nye mine and Columbus metallurgical complex, workers at the East Boulder mine, also represented by USW, face a separate contract vote on September 27 and 28. The proposed contract includes many of the same rejected provisions.
USW President Daniel Beluscak said workers will continue striking until a fair agreement is reached.
Image: Drill cores near the Stillwater Mine, Montana. Credit: James St. John, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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