CONTACT: Kent Holsing (989) 615-3901
(Elizabethtown, Ky.) – Union leaders representing thousands of workers employed at DowDuPont companies from the United States and around the globe recently met in Kentucky to discuss issues common across their worksites.
Union members spent four days sharing collective bargaining data, identifying mutual obstacles, discussing the future and brainstorming potential solutions.
Delegates discussed a number of issues, primarily the DowDuPont merger, the subsequent split between the company’s new divisions and the potential effect on the employees, their families and communities. Other topics included workplace safety, organizing and the need for proactive communications between the corporations and the respective unions.
“The workers of DowDuPont are facing many changes and challenges in the coming months, and the unionized sites of DowDuPont around the globe will be working together to ensure the members’ best interests are represented,” said Kent Holsing, chairperson of the DowDuPont North American Labor Council and president of USW Local 12075 in Midland, Mich.
“We are speaking not only for the unionized employees of DowDuPont but also for the non-union employees who don’t have that voice. We are preparing action items to address these concerns.”
The meeting also served to strengthen international connections and increase mutual respect and understanding across DowDuPont’s unionized worksites.
Representatives from the United Steelworkers (USW); the International Union of Operating Engineers; Texas City Metal Trades; the International Chemical Workers Union Council/UFCW; National Conference of Firemen and Oilers; the Ampthill Rayon Workers Incorporated (ARWI); the Dow Chemical-Stade Works Council (Germany); UNITE the Union (United Kingdom, Ireland); the Global Union Federation IndustriALL (Geneva, Switzerland); the Union of Workers and Employees Petrochemicals States-SOEPU (Argentina), the CUT and Forca Sindical (Brazil) participated in this year’s event.
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, chemicals, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments and agencies