A group of about 50 people gathered outside the gates of the Ardagh Group plant on Facet Road Wednesday afternoon to show support for plant workers who are awaiting the result of contract negotiations underway between union and company officials.
Audrey Williams, recording secretary for Local 222M of the United Steel Workers (USW), spoke with WIZS News Wednesday afternoon and said the Henderson facility is 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.
“We are standing in solidarity,” Williams said. “If we don’t get a fair contract, we will stand in solidarity and strike.” The deadline is Friday evening, she added.
Alexander White, Jr. is vice president of the local 222M. He spoke with WIZS Wednesday and said details of specific demands are not being made public at this time, but union representatives are 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.
Contract negotiations stalled recently and both parties agreed on a contract extension. That extension comes to an end on Friday, so both sides are attempting to renegotiate.
“It is a negotiation,” White said. “It’s not just demand, demand, demand. We are there to negotiate. And we hope they are there to negotiate, too.”
The rally of support was held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. so shift workers could participate if they chose to do so. The plant is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Williams said.
She estimated that of the 50 or so adults at the rally, only a small handful were not employees of the plant.
White said that the turnout should show company officials that “we are serious on our end, so they need to be serious on their end.”
Ardagh Group’s website describes the company as a global supplier of sustainable, value added, infinitely recyclable, metal and glass packaging for brand owners around the world. It operates 58 metal and glass production facilities in 12 countries and employs more than 17,000 people.
Among other items, it makes beverage cans, and containers for food, beers, wine and spirits.