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15 May, 2006
A rare first-contract lockout in the US ended successfully for workers on 2 May when members of ICEM affiliate United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) came to terms with Stepan Chemical in Fieldsboro, New Jersey. Workers ratified an initial contract with the specialty chemicals company with a 33-2 acceptance vote that backed Stepan away from continuing a wage freeze, and making health care cuts.
The lockout began on 26 January 2006 after workers chose UE for representation last year. Typically in the US, a company that loses a union certification vote will merely stall the bargaining process, sometimes for years. But Stepan responded to a spontaneous plant-site protest by the 40 workers by locking out the workforce, and attempting to run the plant with managers and scabs.
Direct action by UE at Stepan’s shareholders’ meeting on 27 April triggered a 180-degree shift by management, and a first contract. UE produced documents that proved the company had spent US$1.8 million on expenses relayed to the lockout, including sums to clean up chemical spills. CEO F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., was shocked at the documentation, believing the figure to be only US$500,000.
Within two days, Stepan called offering a return to bargaining. The company and the UE workers’ representatives, led by Field Organiser Jim Ermi, then hammered together the initial labour agreement.
“You shouldn’t have to endure a 14-week lockout to get a union,” stated UE Director of Organisation Bob Kingsley. “A courageous group of workers triumphed at Stepan based on protest and perseverance, but their struggle points out the deepening workers’ rights crisis facing all of us.”
Stepan manufactures intermediates for use in consumer products, and has operations in the US, UK, France, Germany, Indonesia and Brazil.