Rio Tinto buys US Borax, a company that had started mining borate deposits in California. The Boron mine is today the state’s largest open-pit mine and the world’s largest borax mine. In 2010, Rio Tinto locks out 570 miners from its borates mine in retaliation for the miners’ refusal to agree to a contract that threatened to turn decent, family and community-supporting jobs into part-time, temporary or contracted jobs. This leaves families struggling to make ends meet without a paycheque from Rio Tinto.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mine-lockout-idUSTRE61O0CV20100225