SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After 10 days on strike at the Union Carbide plant here, members of International Association of Machinists Local 598 won an improved contract Oct. 31.
The 77 workers walked off the job Oct. 21 in a fight for higher wages and better benefits. Along with wage increases ranging from 15.91% to 20.28%, they won increased control over overtime, payments towards child care costs and other gains.
The strikers received warm support from the community. One donor brought three racks of wood for their burn barrels. They also received food and cash donations. This Militant worker-correspondent walked the picket line and witnessed several unionists come to support the strike, including miners, teachers and postal workers.
“Honk if you support fair wages for union workers,” read one of the signs strikers carried.
The plant, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, produces more than 500 chemicals and plastics, some of them highly toxic.
“Our members working at Dow Chemical perform dangerous jobs that demand appropriate compensation and respect for their labor. They are simply asking for what is fair,” T. Dean Wright Jr., president of IAM District 54, told the media during the strike.