Dive Brief:
- Teamsters members began striking Monday at a Smurfit Westrock corrugated converting plant in Wakefield, Massachusetts, the day they say their contract expired. Teamsters say Smurfit Westrock should “return to the bargaining table” and “get serious about negotiating,” according to a news release.
- Smurfit Westrock was notified on Feb. 21 that Teamsters would terminate the two parties’ labor agreement as of March 23, a company spokesperson told Packaging Dive on Tuesday evening. “Smurfit Westrock negotiated in good faith, and continues to be open to negotiating in good faith,” the spokesperson said. Teamsters did not respond to a request for comment.
- Smurfit Westrock filed a notice with the state, dated March 18, disclosing that it would close the Wakefield facility and lay off a total of 91 employees during a two-week period starting May 18. Smurfit Westrock is closing this facility as part of its ongoing optimization plan, the spokesperson said.
Dive Insight:
The 60 members of the Teamsters Local 3 that are on strike in Wakefield are “demanding fair wages, affordable health care, and no cuts to retirement contributions,” according to the Teamsters news release.
Some of the employees at the Wakefield facility are covered by a different union, the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers 32BJ SEIU Local 3, according to the worker adjustment and retraining notification Smurfit Westrock filed with the state of Massachusetts. Members of this union are not on strike with the Teamsters, the Smurfit Westrock spoksperson confirmed.
Teamsters has announced at least one new contract with a packaging company, in addition to labor action against packaging companies, in recent months. This year it agreed to a contract with Metal Container Corp., a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev that manufactures cans…