By Jamie Parker | News Editor
On November 7th, upon arrival to work 60 warehouse workers and truck drivers of Aubuchon Hardware found themselves locked out of their jobs. They were even met by security who told them that they were not allowed on the property.
This situation all started with difficult negotiations between the Teamsters and Aubuchon back in October. Aubuchon wanted to end the employees’ pensions, raise their healthcare costs, as well as included language in the contract that would allow Aubuchon to outsource the distribution centers work. But the employees were represented by Teamsters Local 170, who strongly opposes the contract.
“We told Aubuchon that we cannot let this company outsource these jobs and destroy the lives of 60 families in Massachusetts,” said Shannon George, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 170. “They want to outsource their distribution business to Orgill, Inc. It is the height of hypocrisy for a company that calls itself locally-operated and community-oriented to send good New England jobs to a low-wage sub-contractor in West Virginia.”
Luckily, on November 19th both parties came to an agreement where the Teamsters were protected for now. “The workers are happy that they are going back to work,” George said Friday night. “There was some give-and-take, and we were able to reach an agreement.”
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