Over 100 Mauser Teamsters enter 4th week on strike in Chicago
Chicago, IL – On Wednesday July 2, around 100 striking workers joined the picket line outside Mauser Packaging Solutions Steel Drum Reconditioning plant in Chicago. The facility has sat closed, with the operation halted and the gates locked, for almost a month as a result of the strike called by Teamsters Local 705 due to unfair labor practices committed by Mauser during the negotiations for a new contract.
“We are on an Unfair Labor Practice strike against Industrial Container Services (aka Mauser Packaging Solutions) after the company illegally surveilled union members. Members are also fighting for a contract that includes respectable wages, benefits, immigration protection and workplace stability language,” according to a public statement by the union.
Despite facing another day of blistering summer heat, spirits were high on the picket line. The union has kept the heat on Mauser with extended picket lines, ambulatory picketing and a recent rally at Mauser corporate headquarters. The steel reconditioning plant is in the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago where neighbors, community organizations and other workers have consistently expressed their sympathy with the strike.
As the evening shift change approached, the Teamsters rallied together as chants rang out across the neighborhood. “Mauser escucha: ¡Estamos en la lucha!” and “What do we want? More money! If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” The workers held signs including one demanding “Fair contract now!” and another reading “El Diablo” depicting a devil labelled “Mauser” in a business suit holding bags of money.
Mauser is refusing to bargain in good faith, and the striking Teamsters vowed to continue their struggle for a good contract.