TEXAS CITY, Texas \u2013 This week, 70 skilled workers began an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike at Ashland Specialty Chemicals in Texas City, Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Unfair Labor Practice strike is truly about safety \u2014 for both our members and the community,\u201d said Lewis Crawford, IUOE Local 564 Business Agent and Lead Negotiator for the Texas City Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO. \u201cThis highly-skilled work should include the highest safety standards, but instead this global company is choosing to slash years of common sense safety protections and benefits. It\u2019s time for Ashland Specialty Chemicals to come back to the table to negotiate in good faith.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashland Specialty Chemicals Strike Details<\/p>\n
WHO: 70 skilled workers from four different unions, represented by the Texas City Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO<\/p>\n
WHAT: Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike at Ashland Specialty Chemicals, workers and supporters walking the picket line\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHEN: 5:00AM to 10:00PM every day<\/p>\n
WHERE:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Picket line: Attwater Ave & Hwy 146, Texas City, TX 77590<\/p>\n
Staging area: Moses Lake RV & Storage, 3902 HWY 146, Texas City, TX 77590<\/p>\n
The workers are represented by the Texas City Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO, and come from four different unions:\u00a0<\/p>\n
International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 564,\u00a0<\/p>\n
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 527,\u00a0<\/p>\n
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA) Local 211, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 776.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Members voted to reject the company’s contract and authorize this strike because Ashland Specialty Chemicals:<\/p>\n
Is forcing employees \u2014 including Operators \u2014 to perform work outside their craft, creating serious safety risks for our members and the surrounding community,<\/p>\n
Is proposing to slash the paid sick time our members have earned over decades of bargaining. Under the company\u2019s offer, the most senior employees \u2014 skilled workers who have given this plant twenty and thirty years of service \u2014 would see their sick time cut from weeks down to a handful of hours,<\/p>\n
Is outsourcing the storeroom to eliminate union jobs and replace bargaining unit members with outside contractors.<\/p>\n
The union has negotiated in good faith with the company since Jun. 1, 2026. Ashland Specialty Chemicals committed multiple Unfair Labor Practices during negotiations \u2014 charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 16 (case 16-CA-389483<\/a> and 16-CA-389474<\/a>). The ULP strike officially began at 6:30pm on Wednesday, Jun. 24.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEXAS CITY, Texas \u2013 This week, 70 skilled workers began an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike at Ashland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-351530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}