Workers at Lehigh Valley’s Nestle Purina PetCare plant ends strike
The six-week strike at Nestle Purina PetCare in South Whitehall Township has ended.
Leaders of Teamsters Local 773 said that members voted last week by a “significant” majority to accept the company’s latest offer. Workers at the factory produce several brands, including Alpo, Beneful, Beyond, Dog Chow, Friskies, Purina One and Purina Pro Plan.
Full production is expected to resume Thursday.
“We got good wage increases, sizable increases to the pension and then a lot of language issues cleaned up in the contract,” Local 773 Secretary Treasurer Brian Taylor said. “The grievance procedure was really messed up, but we got that worked out. The attendance policy was not in the contract. Now that’s in the contract.”
Taylor said workers will get a 5% wage increase with additional funds being put toward pensions.
Other issues included shifts and the ability to collect overtime on weekends.
Of the 568 workers at the plant, 459 belong to the union.
Bill Etling, a spokesperson for Nestle Purina, said the company was pleased that it reached an agreement with the Teamsters.
“We believe the settlement is in the interest of both our employees and our business,” he said Monday. “The agreement continues our commitment to provide a great workplace and competitive wages and benefits.
“We are proud of Purina’s long history of positive engagement with labor unions across the country, and we will continue our efforts to remain an employer of choice.”
Taylor said the contract “is a long time coming.”
“They’ve never had a strike here before in their 50-year history,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately, I think the company was getting used to that and taking advantage of that. This round of negotiations is by far the best contract they ever received.”
He was pleased with the language cleanup, which he said gives workers an easier time to apply for a different position in the plant.
“The vast, vast majority are overwhelmingly pleased with the new contract, because everyone agrees it is by far the best contract they’ve ever gotten here,” Taylor said.
Workers began the strike March 2 and set up pickets at Route 309 and Pope Road, near the plant’s entrance. The sides had been bargaining since Feb. 1 over issues including wage increases, pension support and work-life balance.
The plant, just north of Allentown, was originally owned by Alpo, which moved to the South Whitehall site from the city in 1958.
Alpo was sold to Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. in 1964, and then to Nestle SA in 1980. After Nestle acquired Ralston Purina Co. in 2001, the Swiss owner combined the two iconic pet food brands under the name Nestle Purina PetCare Co.
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at [email protected].
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