The British billionaire owner eliminated workers’ pensions and affordable health care after the takeover
Press contact: Kara Deniz Email: [email protected]
(ASHTABULA, Ohio) – More than 140 workers gathered outside INEOS Pigments’ titanium dioxide manufacturing facility in Ashtabula, Ohio, on Thursday to demand that the company and its owner and founder, British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, stop violating US labor and bargaining laws. a first contract.
The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 377 and Local 1033C of the UFCW International Council of Chemical Workers Union. INEOS Pigments, a subsidiary of INEOS, is one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide in North America and a leading manufacturer of titanium chemicals.
In September 2021, INEOS Pigments workers at Plant 2 in Ashtabula voted to form a union after the company eliminated workers’ pensions, raised the cost of family health care by more than $100 a week and began using untrained subcontractors to perform work in the object.
“James Ratcliffe and the other bullies who run this company are trying to line their own pockets by taking away workers’ pensions and destroying their health care,” said Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters General President. “They can’t get away with it. If this company will not bargain for a contract that honors the contributions of its workers in the United States, we must hold them accountable.”
“Rather than bargain for a first contract in good faith, this notoriously anti-union company has decided to use stalling tactics, including refusing to respond to proposals and requests for information for months, to avoid negotiating a first contract,” Sam Cook said. , Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 377.
In 2008 and again in 2013, Unite the Union was embroiled in major disputes with INEOS in the UK, when the company attacked pensions and threatened to close the Grangemouth refinery if the union refused to accept new terms.
“INEOS wouldn’t be the profitable chemical giant it is without these workers, yet the company has stripped away benefits like pensions and health care that allow them to support their families,” said Ron Moore, International Representative, International Council of Chemical Workers Unions . UFCW, Local 1033C. “Our members will not allow INEOS to continue to flout labor law and treat them as if they are disposable. We will continue to raise our voices and demand that they stop stalling tactics and bargain in good faith to address our concerns.”
As of December 31, 2021, Ratcliffe controlled almost 62 percent of INEOS shares. INEOS’ operating profit rose to 2.78 billion euros ($2.72 billion) in 2021, a 334 percent increase from 2020.
In addition to managing chemicals and oil and gas interests worldwide, INEOS also owns and sponsors several professional sports teams and the British fashion label Belstaff, which operates clothing stores in New York and Los Angeles.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million working men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.
