AFTER A NINE-MONTH organizing campaign, 36 workers at Aggregate Industries in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, voted June 27 to join the Boilermakers union. The National Labor Relations Board certified the election results on July 9, and a negotiating committee is working on their first contract.
“The contract the workers establish will help them institute and maintain a safe working environment, fair wages and good benefits, in addition to the many other advantages won through collective bargaining,” said Jody Mauller, Great Lakes Organizing Coordinator, M.O.R.E. Work Investment Fund. “This is the first Aggregate Industries plant in which the Boilermakers have had a presence. We’re proud to be there and look forward to investigating the feasibility of bringing other Aggregate Industries sites on board.”
Aggregate Industries is owned by Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim Ltd., a large, multi-national corporation that produces cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete and other building materials. The corporation’s 2018 net revenue was almost $28 million, and net income was about $1.75 billion. It employs approximately 75,000 workers in around 80 countries, including almost 13,000 employed at 561 locations in the United States and Canada.
“We’re excited to work with the management at Aggregate Industries to continue to provide the best limestone aggregate to exact specifications,” said Tim Rutherford, who runs a loader and a rock crusher at the quarry and was instrumental in drumming up interest in the Boilermakers union.
The Boilermakers have a long history of representing aggregate and cement workers, including at companies such as Lehigh Hanson, Inc. and Buzzi Unicem USA.
