Thursday, March 7, 2013

Rousselout Plant Strike and Lockout

In Dubuque we have a gelatin factory downtown on Kerper, the Rousselot company (http://www.rousselot.com/ or 2350 Kerper Blvd, Dubuque, Iowa, USA). The workers went on strike starting Monday and the company decided to lock them out. What does this mean?

The four year contract was up for renewal and it contained a number of typos, specifically incorrect and low pay rates. The union voted unanimously to reject the contract.

The union notified the management they were willing to work without a contract at present rates. The company said no to working without a contract while in negotiations so the union said they would be going on strike. The company responded they would lock out the union. That means the company brought in scab workers and would not allow the union on the property. It also means that employees on lockout will be able to collect unemployment.

I know about this because an acquaintance of mine works there. It is interesting in a day and age where one rarely hears about strikes to hear about a friend that is on strike and locked out. This has not really been covered in the mainstream media, and I thought you should know that in Dubuque, Iowa there is a strike going on now, and will be for at least another week and a half.

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