Posts Categorized: ICWUC

More than 140 ICWUC and Teamsters members who work at two INEOS pigments plants in Ashtabula, Ohio, recently called on the company to stop violating U.S. labor law and bargain a first contract. INEOS is a global chemical company, and INEOS Pigments is one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide in North America. 

The workers, who are members of ICWUC / UFCW Local 1033C and Teamsters Local 377, unionized in August of 2021 after the company eliminated workers’ pensions, increased the cost of family health care by over $100 per week, and began utilizing under-trained subcontractors to perform work at the facility.

“INEOS would not be the profitable chemical giant it is without these workers, yet the company has taken away benefits like pensions and health care that allow them to support their families,” said ICWUC / UFCW Local 1033C International Representative Ron Moore. “Our members will not allow INEOS to continue to violate labor law and treat them like they’re disposable. We will continue to raise our voices, and demand they stop the stalling tactics and bargain in good faith to address our concerns.”

“We won our first election at INEOS in November of 2016,” said ICWUC / UFCW President Lance Heasley. “INEOS has used every tactic available to them to prevent the workers from having a voice in their workplace. The ICWUC/UFCW will continue to work with the Teamsters to secure a good union contract for the workers at INEOS.”

ICWUC / UFCW Local 94C and Merck & Co. Inc. recently opened a multi-million dollar training facility for workers at the company’s plant in Elkton, Va. The facility, staffed by a union and management team of instructors, will provide workers with the skills required for jobs at the site.

Elkton is one of Merck`s manufacturing facilities in the North American network that produces medicines and vaccines for the global sales team at Merck, and ICWUC / UFCW Local 94C represents over 470 members at the site. The local also represents members who work at SBM Management Services, which is a subcontractor at the Merck plant in Elkton. 

ICWUC/ UFCW Local 94C has been in the forefront of keeping its members trained to a level of expertise and flexibility to make Elkton a strong site in the Merck manufacturing network. The local has also reestablished a Maintenance Training Program, affording members a chance to move into trades that previously might have been outsourced or hired from outside the unit first. The Maintenance Training Program has received VA DOL Certification and will begin to train the first class of maintenance trainees at the facility shortly.

“I want to commend Local 94C President Matt Dean, ICWUC Vice President Gerry Setley, and the representatives of Merck for their vision in making this training center a reality,” said ICWUC President Lance E. Heasley. “This is not only a win for Merck and the members of 94C, but also for those in the community of Elkton, who may someday be employed there.”