DES MOINES, Iowa — Negotiations between the Des Moines Amcor factory and about 100 of its employees broke down when union members voted to reject the company's offer Saturday morning.
Since May, members of Teamsters Local 238 and the factory have been working on a new contract. Amcor offered a final contract last week.
The union claims Amcor has "systematically eroded wages and benefits for their Des Moines workers over the past several years," and "has a history of dragging out past negotiations," according to a press release from Local 238.
"Amcor has continually lowered standards for the past decade and members have finally stood up and are demanding respect," Teamster Representative Andre Johnson said in a statement put out by the union after the vote.
Amcor is a plastic manufacturing company that creates packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal care products. They have about 220 sites across 43 countries and employ about 44,000 employees, according to their website.
The Des Moines manufacturing plant makes packaging products for global companies, including ConAgra, Nestle, Kraft and Smithfield, according to the press release.
An Amcor Flexibles North America spokesperson sent a statement to Local 5, News 8's sister station in Des Moines:
"Since early May, we’ve negotiated in good faith for a successor labor agreement with the union representing our Des Moines plant colleagues.
We offer industry-leading wages and benefits. Despite that, as well as our sincere efforts toward satisfactory resolution for all involved – including the need to keep the plant in competitive operational position – we are disappointed that the union anticipates a work stoppage.
We therefore have activated a customer supply plan, which includes contingency staffing to enable uninterrupted plant operation, as well as a dedicated Customer Care Team. We therefore expect no disruption on supermarket shelves.
We will continue to approach future negotiations with a respectful and collaborative mindset. Our goal is an outcome that is of value for all parties."
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