CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—On July 28, in the early morning hours, 54 members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1024 walked off the job at the Novolex. These workers make the boxes, bags, cartons, and bottles that keep the takeout foods, groceries, and drinks fresh that millions of people consume every day.
They were forced to the picket line, according to UAW Region 4, because the company “refused to come to the table with a sincere proposal sufficiently addressing our members’ demands on wages, retirement or vacation, and adequate compensation for new hires.”
Local 1024 members echoed that message with a post to their Facebook page calling for help. “Standing on a picket line takes guts, endurance, and community support. No one should have to hold the line alone,” they said. Later the same day, during an evening news report from KCRG-TV9, the vice-chair of Local 1024, Dan Derby said the workers seek to bring wages, benefits, and retirement offerings “back to being fair with what the market is.”
In April 2025, Novolex merged with another company, Pactiv Evergreen, in a $6.7 billion, backed by private equity cash from the Apollo Global Management. On its website, Novolex claims to be the “leading manufacturer of food, beverage, and specialty packaging servicing customers across a wide range of industries,” bragging, “We help businesses operate efficiently.”
With the involvement of Apollo, worries are high that there could be a repeat the old story of private equity buying up companies and then caring about their acquisitions as little as possible and squeezing them for as much profit as possible. When the business ultimately fails due to the lack of proper care in these cases, the ones who bare the worst of the fallout are the workers, their families, and the communities where they’re based. Executives often cut themselves a fat-check, emerging unscathed and richer than before while the firm goes bankrupt.
The members of UAW Local 1024 want to take this cliché and turn it into a motivation that inspires workers to stand up for themselves and fight for everything they deserve.
Political support
Of the local politicians that have spoken publicly thus far, most have expressed their support of the striking workers.
State Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, posted online after her visit to the picket line on July 29. “These workers are fighting for fair wages and something as basic as safe working conditions,” she wrote. “No one should have to work through an Iowa summer in a facility where broken air conditioning has gone unrepaired.”
Heat exposure can have long-term consequences for workers. A study done at the University of Arizona in Nov. 2025, found a link between workers exposed to toxins and chemicals during their shift suffering worsened kidney damage when combined with extreme heat.
On Aug. 5, the Linn County Board of Supervisors passed a proclamation supporting the striking workers in a divided 2-1 vote. Board member Sami Scheetz and Kirsten Running-Marquardt voted in favor, while Brad Z. Meisheid was the only opposing vote. In a supporting statement, Scheetz repeated and echoed the demands of the union.
However, in an attempt to maintain “neutrality,” Meisheid prepared a statement claiming her vote “is not a statement for or against the union or the company. It is a statement about the proper role of county government” and claimed that “adopting this resolution in support of one side risks placing the board in the middle of a private negotiation where we have no legal authority, no role in the bargaining process, and no responsibility for the outcome.”
After comments from the county board, Rick Moyle, executive director of the Hawkeye Area Labor Council (AFL-CIO) in Cedar Rapids, signaled support for the resolution pushed back against Meisheid’s bad faith assessment. “It’s not against doing business in Cedar Rapids or Linn County. It simply puts into writing what has been the practice in this community for decades…. It affirms that Linn County stands with them [the strikers] and encourages both parties, quite simply, to continue to negotiate in good faith so that they can reach a fair agreement.”
Democrats in the Iowa State Senate, on Sep. 2, managed to get 17 of their members to sign on a letter of solidarity, voicing their support for the demands of the strike and offering to “help out” however they can.
Scabs can’t stop the strike
On Sep. 1, Local 1024 posted a statement from Region 4 Representative Heather Keag, who reported that the Novolex workers overwhelming rejected the company’s proposed contract since the beginning of the negotiation process.
For years, the workers have been forced to accept concessions at the negotiating table, suffering the consequences of stagnant wages while the cost of living has exploded. A survey of historical data from a few different property listing sites, including Trulia, Zillow, Apartments.com, and Realtor.com, average rents in July 2026 were 27% higher than last year. The first part of 2026 alone saw a 12% hike.
Meanwhile, in a shock to no one who follows labor struggles, Keag revealed that Novolex has announced it will be hiring permanent replacements to take the striking workers’ jobs.
The billion-dollar private equity-backed company has refused to talk to the media or respond to the demands of the union. Hiring scabs shows the company has more than enough resources to pay their current workers and build a better relationship that includes ensuring economic safety and safe working conditions, the union says, but it’s clear this is all an attempt to break unity and smash the strike.
It also exposes how Novelex’s owners truly value and view their workers—like inanimate machines to be used, thrown away, and replaced when they become a nuisance to shareholder value. Local 1024 believe is just proves the importance of a union for workers trying to protect themselves and their communities.
Keag ended her statement with a call to action to the whole of the community, for elected officials, county leaders, and all members of the public to stand with the striking workers. She asked for people to contact Novolex CEO Stan Bikulege and HR Director Teri McNett, asking “them to negotiate a fair contract in good faith” with the union and stop the hiring of replacement workers.
A recipe for solidarity
After seven weeks on the picket, the workers are seeking more help from the community to uplift and share the struggle. On Sept. 9, the union local hosted a rally and picket. A handful of speakers were invited to the rally, including union representatives, elected officials, candidates running for office, and a pastor.
Each one made clear their support for everything the workers are fighting for and clarifying that this is not just a struggle for the individual workers the picket line, but rather a struggle for 54 families and their community. Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), described the union-busting by Novolex as “economic terrorism” against the workers and their families.
Over 100 people showed up to the rally, picked up a “UAW ON STRIKE” sign, and then joined the picket line. The crowd marched down the block from the UAW Local 1024 union hall to the Pactiv Evergreen plant, showing Novolex that their anti-union actions are not welcome in Cedar Rapids.
The evening ended with a sense of unity, enthusiasm, and a cookout, thanks to members of IBEW Local 405, who brought the food and supplies. Acts of solidarity will be the wind in the sails needed for theses workers to continue their struggle.
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