US mine locks out 550 workers over contract

Hundreds of workers remained locked out of California's largest open-pit mine Monday in a contract dispute that involves a corporation trying to keep its share of the global market and a tiny town that lives and dies by residents carving borax from the desert.

The mine in Kern County northeast of Los Angeles locked out about 550 workers on Sunday. The mine's London-based owner, Rio Tinto Borax, bused in employees from the Port of Los Angeles and from out of state while also using contract workers.

There also were more than 100 managers and supervisors working at the plant.

"We're prepared for the long run," company spokeswoman Susan …