The Ardagh Group’s Henderson plant will not face a strike of its workers, thanks to an 11th hour deal made during contract negotiations late last week. WIZS received word that the agreement had been reached late Friday, which had been the deadline to approve the new contract.
About 50 people had gathered outside the gates of the Facet Road facility last Wednesday afternoon to show support for plant workers who were awaiting the result of contract negotiations underway between union and company officials.
Prior to the deal being set and a contract signed, workers had been using a contract extension that was a month old. Contracts are negotiated every three years.
Details of the contract were not made available to WIZS News.
During the rally last week, two union members and employees of the plant, which manufactures glass containers, spoke with WIZS’s John C. Rose and said a strike could be a next step if negotiators could not agree on a contract.
Audrey Williams, recording secretary for Local 222M of the United Steel Workers (USW), said the Henderson facility was among more than a dozen glass plants affected by the negotiations taking place in Pennsylvania.
Williams said there are 242 union members at the Henderson plant, and only six employees who are not union members.
Alexander White, Jr. is vice president of the local 222M. He said details of specific demands were not being made public at the time, but indicated union representatives were asking for a wage increase – “a fair contract,” White said. “We’re fighting for fair wages, we’re fighting for fair benefits…our holidays, our insurance,” White said.