ELDRIDGE, Iowa — United Steelworkers Local 105 members working at White Cap in Eldridge are on week two of a strike while negotiating higher wages in their first contract.
Employees at the construction supply location in Eldridge voted to unionize in March. The group that works at that location is small, with only nine people making up the newly formed union.
"It all started around last October, when the new district manager came in and started talking about how good we're doing as a site," said worker Jonathon Danner. "Then he told us that we made $12.4 million profit here. So everybody just kind of looked at each other, you could just see the wheels turn. We started kind of doing the math, like, 'wow, we only make this much and they made $12.4 million.'"
This is the first group to unionize under White Cap, according to Danner. He said there are other union shops, but they were already formed before the company bought it.
"The vast majority of White Cap employees have never opted for union representation," White Cap said in a statement to News 8. "Where our employees have chosen union representation, we respect our employees’ choice and work with those representatives in good faith."
USW and White Cap have been negotiating their first union contract since May, according to the company. The proposed contract is three years. The nine workers went on strike Aug. 28. The disagreement right now is over wages.
"A lot that we've agreed upon so far is the language, you know, vacation time, sick time, health care benefits," said USW Local 105 President Patrick Stock. "We know White Cap's a multimillion dollar company. We're aware of what they pay in other areas of the state."
"As far as like what we produce versus others, we do twice as much as their union shop in Des Moines," Danner said. "As far as pay, they make roughly $7 an hour more than we do for only producing, you know, 40 to 60% of what we do ... We also made up 13% of the entire district's revenue out of this one shop off of six people, so it definitely feels like we're being taken advantage of when other shops are doing less and making more."
There has been no contact between USW Local 105 and White Cap since the workers went on strike, Stock said. He's waiting for a call back to the negotiating table.
"And hopefully the company offers some good wage increases," Stock said.
White Cap provided the following statement to News 8:
Since May, White Cap has bargained with the United Steelworkers Union (USW) with the goal of putting a three-year contract in place that benefits the Union, our employees and our customers. We have bargained in good faith with our employees and their representatives, and together we have agreed to several pieces of the contract. We remain willing and prepared to bargain in good faith toward a resolution that provides fair and competitive pay, while also balancing the needs of our business and customers. While the strike is in place, our focus will remain on ensuring continued service to our local customers with minimal disruptions.
White Cap operates approximately 470 branches across North America, employing more than 9,500 people.