After seven weeks on the picket line, members of the Teamsters Local 773 who work at the Nestlé Purina PetCare plant in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, have ratified a new four-year contract.
The agreement includes a “substantial” wage increase for the workers, as well as an “expedited grievance procedure and improvements on a multitude of other workplace issues”, the union said.
Teamsters Local 773 is a branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest trade unions in the US and Canada.
“This much-needed boost in pay only happened because we stuck together to take on this greedy multinational corporation,” said Dennis Hower, president of Teamsters Local 773.
“The Teamsters will strike any company that tries to short-change us.”
Jesse Case, director of the Teamsters food processing division, added: “Workers need stability for themselves and their families during these uneasy times and Teamsters will fight to get it. If workers don’t have justice, large corporations will not have peace.”
Nestlé Purina PetCare is one of the largest pet food firms in the US and manufactures a range of products, primarily for dogs and cats.
Commenting on the new pay deal, Nestlé Purina PetCare employee and Teamsters Local 773 member Dwayne Switzer said: “I’m proud of my brothers and sisters who held strong in solidarity during this strike. We put Nestle on notice that we won’t accept a lacklustre contract — not now and not in the future.”
A spokesperson for Nestlé Purina PetCare told Food Manufacture that the firm was pleased an agreement had been reached with the Teamsters Local 773, providing unionized employees at the Pennsylvania with a new contract.
“We believe the settlement is in the interest of both our employees and our business,” the spokesperson said.
“The agreement continues our commitment to provide a great workplace and competitive wages and benefits.
“We are proud of Purina’s long history of positive engagement with labour unions across the country, and we will continue our efforts to remain an employer of choice.”
In other news, two people were taken to hospital last week after a fire at a Nestlé factory in Cumbria.
The Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service was called to the site at 7.10am on 14 April after a fire broke out on the fourth floor of a Nestlé building.
