Nearly 200 Teamsters Demand End to Lockout and Mandatory Overtime

(CINCINNATI, Ohio) – Today, members of Teamsters Local 135 at MonoSol protested outside Procter & Gamble headquarters in Cincinnati, calling on the company to demand its key supplier MonoSol end forced overtime for workers and bargain a fair contract. 

Procter & Gamble (P&G) obtains water-soluble packaging for products like Tide laundry detergent pods and Cascade dishwasher detergent pods from MonoSol, a division of Kuraray Co. Ltd. Last week, MonoSol locked nearly 200 Teamsters out of its LaPorte. Ind., plant after workers voted to reject the company’s contract offer and to authorize a strike.

Today’s demonstration was the latest effort by members of Teamsters Local 135 to call out MonoSol and P&G and demand MonoSol bargain a contract that does not include mandatory overtime. They were joined in support by Teamster trucks from Indiana, Minnesota, Kentucky, Chicago, and Missouri. 

“MonoSol is forcing our members to work up to 22 mandatory extra hours every single week, under threat of dismissal,” said Dustin Roach, President-Elect of Local 135 in Indianapolis. “Procter & Gamble has a Responsible Sourcing Policy that says suppliers must avoid any form of forced labor and respect their employees’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. We’re here today to call on P&G to demand that its supplier, MonoSol, stop its forced labor practices and stop the lockout. MonoSol is trying to bully our members into accepting a substandard contract with forced overtime and we’re not going to stand for it.”

“The support of other Teamster locals has been amazing,” said Roach. “In less than 24 hours, we’ve received over $50,000 in pledges to support our members who’ve been locked out with no paychecks.”

“MonoSol needs to bargain a fair contract and call off this lockout now,” said Eric Hoffman, a MonoSol worker and Local 135 member. “MonoSol’s management can hire enough people to staff all of this work, but chooses not to. It’s abusive and exploitative to force overtime on us. We’re going to stand strong together until we get the contract we deserve.”

In 2020, the Kuraray Co. became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, which includes a pledge to uphold freedom of association in the workplace, recognize the right to collective bargaining, and eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labor, including forced overtime. Last week, Local 135 sent Procter & Gamble a letter asking the corporation to investigate MonoSol’s labor practices throughout the United States.

Founded in 1940, Teamsters Local 135 represents workers over 10,000 workers in a wide variety of industries throughout Indiana. For more information, go to local135.com.

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