Workers at a Pennsylvania Nestle Purina pet food plant have ratified a new four-year contract to bring a seven-week strike to an end, union officials announced Monday.
Teamsters Local 773 leaders said the deal includes “substantial” wage increases, an expedited grievance process and a range of additional workplace improvements for more than 450 union workers at the Nestle Purina PetCare plant in South Whitehall Township.
Union officials told The Morning Call that the new contract increases wages by 5% and puts additional funds toward workers’ pensions. The paper noted that 459 of the plant’s 568 employees belong to the union.
The strike — reportedly the first in the plant’s history, which dates back to the late 1950s— began March 2 after more than a month of talks failed to produce an agreement.
“Workers need stability for themselves and their families during these uneasy times and Teamsters will fight to get it,” Jesse Case, director of the Teamsters union’s food processing division, said in a statement. “If workers don’t have justice, large corporations will not have peace.”
Nestle officials told The Morning Call that the settlement was “in the interest of both our employees and our business.”
“The agreement continues our commitment to provide a great workplace and competitive wages and benefits,” company spokesman Bill Etling told the paper.