ON STRIKE
BY LATE DECEMBER 2016, about 700 members of IUE-CWA locals 81359 and 81380 had been on the picket lines around the clock for nearly two months, and it was getting cold. The workers walked out of the Momentive Performance Materials chemical plant in Waterford, New York on Nov. 2 over cuts to benefits and retiree health care that they called the last straw after years of cutbacks following the sale of the plant from General Electric to Momentive.
For months, they made their case on the picket lines along Route 4, in periodic demonstrations and marches, in trips to New York City and Albany, and in contract negotiations that gave no public indication of progress until February.
Hundreds of strikers nearly shut down Route 4 for about a mile as they walk from the Momentive plant to a bar and banquet hall down the road for a holiday party and rally in late December.
Strikers sign in and out for their shifts on the picket line at a makeshift union headquarters in a former Hot Dog Charlie's across the street from the Momentive plant in Waterford. Boxes of pizza and doughnuts, coolers full of bottled drinks, and messages of support left by volunteers and family members clutter the tables and counters.
On the line, George, a 26-year veteran of the plant, and Tyler, a seven-year veteran, kept warm around a burn barrel with a stack of broken pallets for fuel. Tyler joked about people dropping off random pieces of wood to keep the fires burning, then said seriously, "No, actually, we love that. If someone cares enough to come down here and bring us one piece of wood, that's amazing."
Classic rock played from Tyler's Jeep. Both of the men wore signs around their necks and waved at drivers that honked as they passed. George talked about the series of cutbacks in pensions and health benefits that led to the walkout. He took his gloves off to take out his phone and show a photo that had been shared on Facebook allegedly showing an obvious safety violation. That's how a lot of the talk on the picket line goes, at least for visitors— how dangerous the work is, how understaffed the plant must be, how many months of training are required, and all the details gleaned from a scanner about the most recent accidents inside the plant. A glance at DEC's spill record confirms at least the gist of this: during the months of the strike, the rate of spills increased more than two-fold.
In comments to the Times-Union and Daily Gazette, a Momentive spokesperson downplayed the spills, saying they were mostly related to vehicle use and not chemical production.
The next post up the road was busier. A handful of strikers stood around their burn barrel and waited for temporary workers -- "scabs," and nothing but "scabs" to the strikers -- to pull into the plant. When a pickup truck approached with a blinker on, they let loose.
"Scumbag! We got a scumbag here!"
"Fuck you! Assholes!"
"You piece of shit!"
They gave the driver the finger and continued to curse until the truck was out of sight. Despite the sincere vitriol, things rarely escalated beyond words. One man was arrested for obstruction and a truck driver was charged after nearly hitting a striker.
Throughout the strike, local papers carried ads for temporary workers at Momentive in every edition.
When George started on the job, he said, it was three months before he was allowed to even begin shadowing the job he was hired for. He wasn't fully involved in the work for another three months.
The plant was running at diminished capacity as he spoke, which was obvious to trained eyes. George pointed to a tower behind him. "You would normally see condensation pouring out of that," he said. "Nothing. It's not active."
George looked at the part of the plant he worked in, sighed, and gestured in frustration. A lot of the chemicals freeze before water does, he said.
Like all the other strikers, he was thickly bundled against the cold. His breath condensed before his face.
"Even if we get back in there tomorrow," he said, "I'll spend the rest of the winter thawing things out.