Ingredion strike part of growing national trend

With a union strike against the Ingredion plant in Cedar Rapids nearing the end of its fourth month, there’s a perception that more industries are seeing worker strikes than in past years. And that’s more than perception. The Guardian reported in late September that union election petitions nationwide increased 58% in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2022, compared with 2021. And public support for labor unions is at its highest point since 1965, according to the most recent Gallup poll, with a 71% approval of labor unions in the United States. A University of Iowa labor relations expert says numerous factors affecting laborers have led to an uptick in strike activity nationwide in recent years, including local strikes at Ingredion and at King’s Material in Cedar Rapids. Robin Clark-Bennett, director of the University of Iowa’s Labor Center, which has focused on challenges facing Iowa workers for more than 70 years, said the rate of strike activity nationwide had been increasing in 2018 and 2019, and the pattern has re-emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the themes that’s emerged and expanded since the 1980s is that of pay equity, she said. “There’s been a pattern across industries of creating second-tier pay structures, in which the new generation of workers either had to postpone their hopes of getting up to the standards that workers who've been there previously had achieved, or never would get there,” Ms. Clark-Bennett said. “And so resolving those two-tier pay structures has really been a theme across a lot of those strikes – the idea that people shouldn't have to work next to each other and earn significantly different pay for doing the same job.” Another common theme, particularly in the manufacturing sector, involves workers who have generational legacies with the same firm. “That's certainly the case with Ingredion,” Ms. Clark-Bennett said. “It was the case in (the) John Deere (strike in Davenport and other locations). And it was a very personal struggle in the sense that (your) grandparents, (your) parents, worked hard to establish a reputable profitable company and to secure living wages, and that that's a legacy that they feel it's now their turn to protect.” Other common issues include scheduling conflicts and company commitments to workers who continued to perform their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Clark-Bennett said. “Another theme that came up in the Marriott strike just before the pandemic was that one job should be enough,” Ms. Clark-Bennett said. “Economists have chronicled 30 to 40 years of stagnant wages as profits, productivity and as CEO salaries went up. There’s a sense that wages are stagnating and workers are forced to either take on second jobs or work a lot of overtime to make ends meet. The pandemic just supercharged all of that.”

Key issues persist in Ingredion strike

Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International union began a strike against Ingredion in Cedar Rapids on Aug. 1 after union members voted unanimously to reject Ingredion’s “last, best and final offer” to resolve a series of issues that had prevented a new contract from being approved. Several issues were resolved in the most recent negotiations between the union and Ingredion leaders Nov. 7 and 8, said BCTGM local president Mike Moore. “Those were the most productive negotiations we had since we first started sitting down,” he said. “The company moved on some issues. We moved on some issues. We had 25 or 26 things that we were far apart on, and we narrowed them down to somewhere between four and six (issues). So we're close, but we're not there yet.” Key issues remaining to be resolved include health care benefits and the company’s offer of bonuses to resolve previous differences in wage tiers. In addition, Mr. Moore said Ingredion has reserved the possibility of sanctioning some striking workers when they return to their jobs after the strike is resolved. “They want to hold between 10 and 15 members accountable and discipline them when they come back, including (possible) discharge,” Mr. Moore said. “I've never heard of anybody being held accountable for a strike, even back in the 1950s and 1960s, when there were a lot more physical (conflicts). Our members have been all peaceful. There haven't been any citations or anything that's come across the county attorney's desk that justify what the company is saying on that.” Some striking workers have moved on, Mr. Moore said. Of the 116 Ingredion workers who walked out Aug. 1, “probably 30 to 40” have found other jobs outside the company. “They don't want to work for Ingredion anymore,” Mr. Moore said. “They're tired, and they're moving on.” However, the union remains steadfast in its resolve, and striking workers continue to man the picket lines around the clock, he noted. “My strike line has kind of dwindled,” he said. “But people are still standing strong. I have a saying from when we walked out Aug. 1 – ‘We walked out as one. And we will go back as one.’”

More negotiations set this week

More talks are being held today (Nov. 29) and again on Friday, Dec. 2, Mr. Moore said. Ingredion spokesperson Becca Hary said recently the company continues to pursue a resolution to the ongoing strike. “Ingredion and the BCTGM have remained in contact since our most recent meeting on Nov. 8,” Ms. Hary said in an email to the CBJ Nov. 21. “We expressed our willingness to continue negotiations if doing so would remain productive and likely result in our reaching an agreement. Furthermore, both sides are in the process of exchanging written proposals because of the meetings. We believe that Ingredion made significant movement in several areas in response to the union’s feedback. We look forward to continuing our discussions and making further progress toward a resolution.”