Posts Categorized: ICWUC

Members of UFCW Local 540 recently traveled to Cincinnati to participate in the Department of Transportation (DOT) training at the ICWUC’s Center for Worker Health and Safety Education. The ICWUC holds health and safety workshops in coordination with the UFCW Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Office to provide our members with the best training and trainers in multiple industries.

One of the training courses we offer is the DOT “train the trainer” class. This training is targeted for workers at facilities where hazardous chemicals are loaded and unloaded and for covered workers, shipping and receiving biological waste. The purpose of this class is to develop and empower trainers that can share their vast knowledge and work experience with their communities, and topics include hazmat basics, chemical properties, and toxicology.

A UFCW Local 540 member who participated in the DOT Train the Trainer class said that being a trainer is “what we do, all for our members to be safe.”

The ICWUC’s Center for Worker Health and Safety Education offers a variety of other classes as well, from first aid to OSHA 30-hour courses and more. You can find more information about training courses offered at the ICWUC’s Center for Worker Health and Safety Education here.

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.”