Jackson: Texaco Pickets To End But Black Leaders Say They Will Keep Boycott, Pressure On Oil Company

Demonstrations against Texaco’s racial policies on Saturday turned into celebrations of a $176 million discrimination settlement, though the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other black leaders said they will keep the pressure on.

Jackson said the settlement “does not indicate that the culture has changed,” and while pickets will be dropped, a boycott against the oil company will continue.

“The settlement is a step in the right direction, but a comprehensive plan including goals, targets and timetables in terms of employment and economic development is still not on the table,” Jackson said.

At a news conference at the Rainbow PUSH Action Network headquarters in Chicago, Jackson said his group would buy $1,000 worth of Texaco stock to get a voice in the company, and also plans to look at the racial policies of other major companies that share directors with Texaco - including Gillette, Johnson & Johnson and Campbell Soup.

A protest planned for a Texaco service station in Stone Mountain, Ga., was called off after Friday’s settlement announcement, but about 20 people showed up anyway.

“We went to the designated location but we really went more in the spirit of celebration,” said Joe Beasley, southern regional director for the National Rainbow Coalition.

Texaco agreed to pay $115 million to about 1,400 current and former employees and to give black employees 10 percent raises. It also will spend $35 million on a task force that is to open opportunities for black workers, monitor discrimination and develop diversity and sensitivity training.

In New York City, the Rev. Al Sharpton led about two dozen sign-waving demonstrators at a Texaco station in Brooklyn. “Justice At Texaco, End Racism at Texaco” read some signs; “We Want Fairness” read another.

“We feel it was a historic agreement,” Sharpton said. “But now we must deal with corporate structure, board makeup, contracting, advertising and franchises.”