More than 100 Teamsters are on strike at the multinational Mauser Packaging Solutions plant in Chicago, where workers who recondition steel containers used to transport chemicals are demanding higher pay, safer working conditions, and contract language protecting immigrants.
The unfair-labor-practice strike by members of Teamsters Local 705 started June 9 after the union says the company illegally surveilled workers while talking with union representatives. It comes on the heels of Mauser locking out 20 members of Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle in April and eventually closing the plant.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters extended picket lines to Los Angeles and Minnesota in June. Teamsters didn’t report to work, refusing to cross the picket line in support of workers in Chicago.
On August 5, two months into the strike, hundreds of people, from elected officials to striking workers and their families to community organizations and labor federations like the AFL-CIO — with the “It’s Better in a Union” bus tour—rallied at Mauser headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook.
Workers will vote on the company’s last, best, and final offer on August 12. Nicolas Coronado, chief negotiator for Teamsters Local 705, said the union isn’t recommending a yes vote, citing major unresolved issues such as sympathy strike language, watered down language on Immigration and Customs Enforcement having access to company property without a judicial warrant, no health insurance caps, and disciplinary policies that allow the employer to terminate workers for any reason. The company is offering a 9.5% raise over a three year contract.
Workers unanimously rejected the company’s proposal, 120 no votes, 0 yes. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson rallied with workers on the picket line today.
The company, formed in 2018, employs 11,000 people at 170 locations across the world. The Teamsters say they represent hundreds of its workers in California, Minnesota and Illinois. Workers in Chicago are demanding higher wages, safer working conditions and improved health insurance.
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