Teamsters who move hazardous materials and keep the country’s medical and industrial gas supply flowing are on strike now against Airgas, a subsidiary of the French company Air Liquide. These workers play an essential role in several economic sectors, including construction, manufacturing, health care, food and beverage, and energy.
Meanwhile, Teamsters who are also essential workers are on strike at Republic Services, a waste giant that removes garbage in municipalities around the country.
At both companies, workers are striking for fair contracts, better wages, and stronger protections on their jobs, which are often hazardous. Unfair labor practices, union busting, and low-ball offers at bargaining are the main issues sparking these strikes. As a result of corporate refusal to negotiate in good faith, disruptions in service operations are now being felt across multiple states.
At Airgas, the union accuses management of illegal union-busting tactics and outright refusal to negotiate industry-standard contracts. The strike, kicked off by Teamsters Local 507 in Cleveland and Local 701 in New Jersey last month, has now spread to over 15 facilities across 11 states, from California to Rhode Island.
In addition to expanded picket lines, Teamsters Local 996 in Honolulu is preparing to strike in response to Airgas’s ongoing unfair labor practices.
Juan Campos, Director of the Teamsters Tankhaul Division and Teamsters International Vice President At-Large, said: “This could have been avoided if the company had simply bargained in good faith. Instead, Airgas chose to stall, provoke, and disrespect its workers. Now they are facing a full-court press.”
The company has no shortage of funds to reinvest in its workers and their families. For instance, Airgas reported a staggering $3.8 billion in profits last year alone. Yet the company continues to stonewall its workers in bargaining, leading to more picket lines being set up across the country.
Last week, the situation turned even darker when unidentified chemical agents were released on striking workers in Peoria, Illinois, and Oakland, New Jersey. The union alleged the incidents were deliberate acts of intimidation.
“One incident might be an accident, but two, in different states, is hard to believe,” said Campos. “Airgas knew exactly what it was doing. This looks like a targeted attack on workers standing up for their rights, and we’re going to make damn sure they’re held accountable.”
Echoed the outrage
Teamsters Local 701 President Ron Lake echoed the outrage, stating, “This company endangered the lives of our members, and it looks deliberate.
“We must uncover the truth about what occurred and hold those responsible accountable for their reckless actions,” he said.
Travis Cox, who works as a fill worker at Airgas and is a member of Local 701, was on the picket line during the incident. He noted that while they do have occasional small tank leaks, last week’s event was beyond anything they had experienced before.
“It is almost impossible that two seals popped at different locations like this,” he said. “The only other way this could have happened is if the vents on the tanks were manually vented deliberately.”
Meanwhile, Republic Services, the second-largest waste management corporation in North America, faces a continuing multi-state strike from its workers. As of last week, over 2,000 Teamsters were on strike or honoring picket lines, with service disruptions hitting Los Angeles and a massive Ohio landfill that processes 12 million pounds of trash daily from the East Coast.
The Massachusetts strike, led by Local 25, left garbage piling up for hundreds of thousands of residents, prompting several municipalities to sue Republic Services. A federal judge also denied Republic’s request for an injunction against the strikers. The garbage would be cleaned up and services returned to normal, the workers say, if Republic Services would come to the bargaining table with a fair offer.
“If your trash isn’t getting picked up, remember who’s responsible: the overpaid executives who’d rather let garbage pile up than pay workers fairly,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. “The American public needs to understand that Republic Services and its overpaid, corrupt executives own this strike. Their greed is forcing trash collectors and waste haulers across the country out into the street. We don’t want this garbage piling up. We want to return to work. But we refuse to be exploited.”
Republic Services raked in $16 billion in revenue last year, a six percent increase, yet it still refuses to match the wages and benefits offered by its competitors, the union said. Also angering the workers, Republic Services returned $1.18 billion to shareholders and close to $13 million to its CEO, Jon Vander Ark.
Republic‘s refusal to agree to pay the same wages and benefits that were negotiated by Local 25 at Capitol Waste and Star Waste Systems, the trash behemoth’s major competitors in Eastern Massachusetts, is a major sticking point.
“This strike is about fairness,” explained Thomas Mari, President of Local 25. “Republic can afford to pay what others do—they just choose not to.”
These two strikes reflect a broader uptick in labor militancy as workers refuse to accept the status quo any longer. Teamsters at both companies remain united and steady on the picket lines. They vow to stay out as long as it takes to win fair, industry-standard contracts.
No matter the job or industry, workers are tired of low-ball contracts, union-busting tactics, and falling behind in terms of real wages and free time. They are increasingly ready and willing to flex their muscles in the only way the capitalist class understands: their ability to withhold their labor and strike.
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