Teamsters picket Monosol over work environment
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Comparing the work environment at the Monosol plant in La Porte to “slave labor,” Teamsters Local 135 is picketing the specialty plastics manufacturer after the company locked-out workers Wednesday in anticipation of a strike. Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report union workers overwhelmingly rejected the company’s last contract offer.
The publication says the Teamsters are holding out for a new contract that would put a stop to compulsory overtime and 60-hour workweeks and also boost workers’ pay after they got no bonuses while working long hours through the coronavirus pandemic.
The company offered 17.6% wage increases over four years, a $5,000 signing bonus and more compensation for good attendance.
MonoSol, a subsidiary of Japan-based chemical manufacturing company Kuraray, manufactures biodegradable films used in products such as dissolvable laundry detergent and dishwasher soap pods.
“These guys don’t mind working. They’re hard workers,” said Teamsters Local 135 President-elect Dustin Roach. “But this is damn near slave labor. Every member out here works 60 hours a week.”
The publication says Monosol employs 192 workers at the La Porte plant. It also has two facilities in Portage and one in Lebanon.
“Our goal continues to be agreeing to a competitive, equitable and sustainable union contract that recognizes economic realities and works for our employees, our customers and the company,” said Vice President of Corporate Affairs Matthew Vander Laan. “We are willing to continue bargaining in good faith to reach a new agreement.”
The plant runs 24 hours. The union says workers work 12-hour shifts five days in a row, often alternating between day shifts one week and night shifts the next.
The union says the grueling schedule of such long workweeks takes a toll.
“When they opened 14 years ago, they told them just help us get through it until we get more workers hired and trained. It’s 14 years later. We’re done. We’re going to stay out here until this gets resolved,” said Tyler Darnell, who has worked for the company for 11 years.
Click here to access the full story from Joseph Pete at The Times of Northwest Indiana.