Dive Brief:
- Sonoco workers in Los Angeles have voted 52-2 to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union said in an announcement Tuesday. The 71 workers experienced “years of poor representation with their former union” and sought higher wages, better healthcare and stronger retirement security, according to the Teamsters news release.
- The union said this is the fourth group of packaging workers, or “print industry workers,” to join the Teamsters since October, adding to the more than 200 Graphic Packaging International employees in Chicago; 110 WestRock employees in Salinas, California; and more than 60 Southland Box employees in Vernon, California.
- About 12.5% of Sonoco employees have union representation, according to the company’s most recently released data, from 2022. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put the nation’s overall percentage of union workers at 10.1% in 2022.
Dive Insight:
The packaging industry has experienced labor adjustments over the last three years, mirroring broader employment shifts across the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Numerous packaging companies reduced their workforce — with at least 9,000 jobs affected in 2023 alone — largely citing economic conditions or footprint consolidation. Some of those companies reported working with unions on employee placement or compensation. Some also faced worker strikes: Teamsters-affiliated employees went on strike at an Amcor facility in Iowa for two weeks in July and August. And some employees sought union representation — whether for the first time or switch unions.
The Institute for Supply Management predicted last month that manufacturing would experience revenue improvements this year, and employment across the sector would grow 2%; ISM’s report this week shows that manufacturing entered its 14th consecutive month of economic contraction in December. On Wednesday, BLS released data showing that the number of job openings and hires both dipped slightly in November to the lowest level in about three years. Fewer workers quitting their jobs suggests the peak of the “great resignation,” a period of heightened voluntary quitting in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has passed and workers might be less confident in their ability to find other jobs in the current market, according to Bloomberg.
On the other hand, enough labor contracts expire in 2024 — covering more than 1 million workers — to result in another year of significant labor unrest, Bloomberg Law writes. While less strike activity is expected than in “record-breaking” 2023, labor experts suggest the number of high-profile strikes last year — including among autoworkers and at delivery companies — and the gains made on those contracts could “embolden and encourage” workers entering negotiations this year.
Neither the Teamsters or Sonoco responded to requests for comment on the Los Angeles vote by publication time.
