Brenntag Pacific Teamsters Demand Employer End Lockout

[Omaha Steve]

https://teamster.org/2024/05/brenntag-pacific-teamsters-demand-employer-end-lockout/

2024.05.25

Locking Out Trained Chemical Handlers Poses Major Safety Risk to Community

Press Contact: Catie Arbona Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

(RICHMOND, Calif.) – Teamsters Local 315 members, allies, and political leaders rallied today outside of Brenntag Pacific chemical plant, denouncing Brenntag’s disregard for worker safety as the lockout of Teamsters workers continues into a fourth day.

Brenntag, one of the largest chemical distributors in the world with profits of more than $4.3 billion in 2023, began their lockout of 18 Teamsters drivers and warehouse workers on Tuesday morning, in clear violation of their contractual agreement with workers. The 18 workers represented by Local 315 have been in negotiations with Brenntag for months since the expiration of their previous agreement on January 31.

“As drivers, we’re often dealing with dangerous chemicals like sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide. We deliver to places with multiple chemical tanks, like high schools, where an inexperienced driver can make a mistake with a tank and expose students to chemical gases, which has happened before,” said Rene Martínez, a driver with Brenntag Pacific. “That’s why we have three full months of training before we make a delivery without a senior driver, which these new drivers don’t have. They’re not familiar with our equipment or our delivery spots, and that’s dangerous for them and our customers.”

The ongoing lockout of trained and qualified Teamsters is a clear threat to the safety of plant operations and the workers who remain on-site. Teamsters drivers and warehouse workers undergo months of training in safe handling of dangerous chemicals, but Brenntag has made no guarantees that nonunion replacement workers will be similarly trained.

FULL story at link above.