By BETH ZUMWALT
Negotiations between the striking Teamsters at Ascend in Barry and Ascend management broke down July 9, according to Kyle Bollinger, vice president of the Teamsters.
“We sat down with them, but then they walked away from the table,” Bollinger said. “We have another meeting scheduled for this week, July 15.”
The 300 workers at the Ascend plant in Barry have been on strike since June 25. The employees said they deserve a fair increase in wages, affordable insurance and better working conditions.
“This strike is about basic fairness,” Ascend Teamster Shane Widmer said earlier in the strike. “The employees who cultivate, process, package, transport, and distribute Ascend’s products deserve to share in the success they create. They deserve family-sustaining wages, affordable benefits, and an employer that respects their legal rights.”
The strike affects Teamster-represented employees at Ascend facility in Barry represented by Local 916. Union leadership remains prepared to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair agreement that addresses workers’ concerns and resolves the dispute.
“These workers did not choose this fight,” said J.P. Fyans, Teamster president. “They chose to stand together after being left with no reasonable alternative. Their solidarity demonstrates just how strongly they feel about the need for change.”
Management of Ascend say they have presented their last best and final offer.
They also plan to keep the facility open, hiring non-union workers to cross the picket line. Those workers will likely be terminated once a contract is reached and union employees are ready to return to the job.
The plant opened in 2015 as a medical marijuana facility, before recreational marijuana was made legal in Illinois. The facility is 110,000 square feet and grows cannabis and produces vaporizer cartridges and other cannabis products.
