VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — Seven weeks into their strike against Airgas, Teamsters members here who fill and haul gas tanks are determined to win contracts with wage increases and improved health care.
The Teamsters are on strike in Ohio, New Jersey and Hawaii and have extended their picket lines to company locations in 11 states.
“The last raise I got was 35 cents and that was four years ago. With the economy today and inflation, that’s not enough,” striker Fernando Perez Donato told the Militant. He’s one of the 15 workers here, members of Teamsters Local 507, who are on strike for their first contract. “Airgas makes so much money, but they won’t give their workers a raise.”
Donato explained Airgas has some managers working, but is struggling to find replacement workers.
The bosses are “stalling because they’re scared that if we win the same contract as workers did at Oakwood, the rest of the Airgas employees in the city will try to do the same,” he said. “When we heard Oakwood workers won a contract, we started talking with them and they told us what they won. We said, ‘We want that!’”
“This is my first strike. It’s not like I expected,” said driver Angel Paris. “I knew other co-workers, but now we are a lot closer. It’s unfortunate that it had to come to this, but we have to fight for what we want. We need affordable health insurance and family-supporting wages. We’ve gotten a lot of support from other unionists.”
Paris has joined in the extended picketing. “I went with the union to St. Louis, Cincinnati and Syracuse, New York. Many union members honored our picket lines. The Teamsters locals in those cities did everything to help us out.”
In Oahu, Hawaii, some 35 Airgas workers, members of Teamsters Local 996, have been on strike since July 28. “We work long hours for this company every day, and all we are asking for is fair pay and decent benefits so we can take care of our families,” Jonathan Kapua, a technician and Local 996 steward, said on the Teamsters website.
In North Brunswick, New Jersey, Teamsters Local 701 filed a lawsuit against Airgas after the company “deliberately or negligently” released hazardous chemicals on picketing workers in both New Jersey and Illinois. “We have small tank leaks from time to time, but nothing like what occurred in July,” said Travis Cox, a Local 701 member who was on the strike line during the release there.
To support striking Airgas Teamsters, contact Local 701, 2003 Route 130 South, Suite B, North Brunswick, NJ 08902, (732) 297-2701; Local 507, 5425 Warner Road, Suite 7, Valley View, OH 44125, (216) 328-0111; and Local 996, 1817 Hart St., Honolulu, HI 96819, (808) 847-6633.