Tankhaul workers at eight Airgas locations across five states have gone on strike amid contentious contract talks, Teamsters union officials announced Wednesday.
Workers represented by Teamsters Local 507, based in Cleveland, and Local 701, located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, are now on picket lines at locations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Union leaders alleged that Airgas executives have refused to negotiate “bargain agreements that meet industry standards.” They added that the union is prepared to expand the strike to additional locations — noting that the Teamsters represent “hundreds” of Airgas workers across the country.
“The greedy people who run this company are breaking the law and interfering with our members’ rights,” Juan Campos, director of the Teamsters tankhaul division and Teamsters International vice president at-large, said in a statement. “They have disrespected the workers who built this business, and now they are facing the consequences.”
Airgas — the industrial gas distribution giant and the no. 3 company on ID’s latest Big 50 list — has not issued a statement on the work stoppage.