Many BMWE members are particularly well poised to help spread the word of the boycott--and to directly participate in it themselves--since one of Crown's main market areas is Norfolk, Va. Other market strongholds are in Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Crown's list of offenses is enough to make anyone fill their tanks elsewhere--cheap gas or not. This is a company that locked out PACE (Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers) members at its Pasadena, Texas, oil refinery in 1996 after asking them to accept a 40 percent job cut, subcontracting at management's whim and the virtual elimination of seniority protections. Why were cuts needed? Because of colossally bad management. That's not the union's line--it's what industry analysts say about Crown: "The company is pathetic," commented one in a trade paper.

But expecting workers to pay the price for management blunders and lavish corporate spending practices is nothing new. So let's move on to more of Crown's egregious behavior. The company also is facing a class-action lawsuit charging racial and gender discrimination.

Crown supervisors are accused of creating and distributing racist and sexist handbills. One handbill, a pseudo employment application for "Jesse Jackson Staff Positions" asked for "length of last jail term" and "number of convenience stores robbed." In addition, female employees were expected to give Crown CEO Henry Rosenberg Jr. a kiss after receiving a service award.

As if this isn't enough of a reason to boycott Crown products, the company brought charges of sabotage against the locked-out workers--charges later ruled totally without merit by the National Labor Relations Board. With the skilled union workers out of the plant, Crown rushed to bring in low-cost, inexperienced temporary workers. All 252 union members were replaced in 24 hours. It's telling that there were very few female or African-American in this new group.

With lower wages and a substantially reduced workforce, Crown profits started to rise. But the community near the refinery now joined those paying the price for Crown's incompetence. One study shows a three-fold increase in pollution in the mostly Latino neighborhoods. Health effects suspected to be linked to Crown's pollution include cancer, breathing difficulties, skin and eye irritations and increased illnesses in children and the elderly. Two lawsuits have been filed against Crown relating to its environmental destruction.

It is almost unbelievable that a single company could be accused of so much wrongdoing! But it certainly makes the decision to support and join PACE's boycott as clear cut as crystal.

Please refuse to buy Crown gas, or shop at Zippy Mart or Fast Fare convenience stores. Please tell your friends and neighbors not to shop at Crown either. A complete list of store locations and other information related to the boycott can be found at www.crownboycott.org.

BMWE members are all too familiar with this type of corporate irresponsibility with the mergers, potential mergers. We fight when it affects us, and we must fight when it affects others.