Press Releases
New Jersey Teamsters Strike Shred-it
Drivers and Helpers in Trenton Establish Unfair Labor Practice Picket Line at Shred-it, Inc.; Demand the Company Negotiate a Fair Contract in Good Faith
(WASHINGTON) –Drivers and helpers for Shred-it, Inc., in Trenton, N.J., went on strike this morning to protest unfair working conditions and to demand the company meet with Teamsters Local 469 and bargain a contract in good faith.
“This company continues to trample on the workers’ rights,” said Cassiba Joseph, a Shred-it driver who helped launch and lead the unionization effort. “We decided that enough was enough. We were fed up. We felt we had no choice but to strike.”
On April 21, Shred-it workers overcame an aggressive anti-union campaign by management and voted overwhelmingly to join Local 469 in Hazlet, N.J. Since electing the Teamsters as their bargaining representative, workers have been fighting for a union contract that protects workers’ rights and secures fair wages. Meanwhile, the company has continued to stall at the bargaining table in hopes that the workers will lose faith in the union.
“The company would rather spend money on union busting attorneys than on investing in their workforce – the hardworking essential workers who have continued to earn a profit for the company working on the frontlines of a global pandemic in hospital and other medical settings,” said Chuck Stiles, Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division. “This has been Shred-it and Stericycle’s game plan for dealing with the unions across the country. Workers at other Stericycle and Shred-it locations at Toledo, Youngstown, Providence and New York have had enough of the games, too, and have also taken labor actions to demand a fair contract. Teamsters are united in this fight and won’t back down until justice is won.”
Shred-it, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stericycle, Inc., provides confidential shredding services to businesses across the U.S. and Canada. This fall, Ohio workers at Local 377 and Local 20 went on strike to protest the company’s anti-worker behavior at Stericycle.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org or more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.