Why hundreds of AdvanSix workers are on strike in Hopewell
Virginia AdvanSix chemical workers go on strike in response to a disputed corporation salary offer.
Transcript:
(00:00) the AdvanSix workers are on strike and hope well tonight they walked off their jobs at the chemical plant on Friday protesting their contracts eight news reporter Alexis Bellamy joining us now live from Hopewell with more about their demands Alexis good evening yeah Eric good evening as you as you see behind me there’s about a dozen or so Advanced six workers here on the side of Randolph Road in Hopewell they are on strike protesting unfair contracts handed down to them by the company and then six workers are on strike over
(00:36) wage negotiations in their contracts that expired on April 6. in anticipation of the contracts expiring the group had been negotiating with the company since March 27th to come to an agreement according to Tommy Humphreys with the international chemical Workers Union Advanced six negotiated a wage adjustment for about half of the workers the other half would receive a zero percent wage increase in their first year we feel like it’s a it’s a partnership between the two if the company’s successful then the people
(01:05) should be successful Advan 6 released a statement that reads in part the company’s goal is to provide all of our employees with an equitable contract that is fair and competitive in the market we believe the unions want this as well Humphrey says it’s about more than the contracts it’s about respect we’re looking for some respect and the appreciation from what our people do on a regular basis and what they have done through the last three years this is not something we we Champion we don’t
(01:34) promote strikes it doesn’t help anybody but it is our alternative if we can’t get a fair what we consider a fair uh contract the strike which officially started at 4 a.m Monday Morning has the of the more than 340 union members behind it the longer we’re out the more the company suffers and the more we suffer so it’s not like there’s not a winner you know by having a strike it’s just it’s just an unfortunate thing that has to happen thank you Humphreys tells me the chemical Workers
(02:07) Union does have a meeting with company leaders tomorrow morning now they have both both parties have agreed to come to the table with a mediator to help with those negotiations in Hopewell Alexis Bellamy 8 News
Over 340 workers at the AdvanSix chemical facility in Hopewell, Virginia, went on strike on April 6 after the firm offered a salary increase that benefited slightly more than half of the workforce. “Even after all of the record profits,” said Region 5 representative for the International Chemical Workers Union Council and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, “the company arrived on the first day of negotiations with a wage adjustment for 51% of the bargaining unit in the first year and a zero wage increase for the other 49% of the bargaining unit in the first year.”
According to the union, management only proposed “nominal wage increases” for the entire membership in years 2 through 5 of the rejected proposal. AdvanSix refused to renew the contract and has now terminated the employees’ health insurance coverage. Workers are further hampered by the requirement to complete successive 18-hour shifts.
Workers were well aware of management’s ruse as a divide-and-conquer technique. However, there is a further schism. The present strikers work in the company’s south-side Hopewell site. The north-side facility runs under a separate arrangement with the United Steelworkers and will continue to do so in the future. AdvanSix has two other plants in Virginia, as well as locations in Alabama and Pennsylvania.
The strike could have serious consequences for the chemical industry, as AdvanSix is a major supplier of nylon resins and ammonium sulfate in the United States.
It is a complex story
Follow-up report
Workers at the AdvanSix plant made several demands during the strike, including wage increases, paid sick leave and the elimination of mandatory overtime, to improve their working conditions and quality of life. However, the company rejected these demands and tried to break down the unity of the workers, weakening the fighting spirit of the workers through various means, and finally forced the workers to accept a sacrificial contract. In the process, the union bureaucracy deliberately sabotages the workers’ struggle, weakens their initiative, and makes it harder for workers to fight.
Therefore, workers need to take control of negotiations by establishing independent grassroots committees to achieve more meaningful improvements in their lives. These committees need to be owned by the workers themselves to ensure that the wishes of the workers are fully respected and implemented. This will help workers free themselves from the shackles imposed on them by nationalist, pro-capitalist trade union establishments, and misdirected by various “movements” or grassroots constituencies so that workers can actually get better living and working conditions.
