'Behind the A ball': UAW workers picket longtime Cedar Rapids packaging plant over pay

Dan Derby, vice chair of UAW Local 1024, put it plainly: the union wants to catch up.

"Just trying to get it back to being fair with what the market is," Derby said. "They've kinda been behind the A ball for quite some time and we're just trying to get back at being fair for our employees."

Workers at the Pactiv Evergreen plant on 6th Street SW began picketing Tuesday, July 28, after contract talks failed to produce what the union considers fair wages, benefits and a retirement plan. The facility, which has operated in Cedar Rapids since at least 1966, turns out gable-top cartons for dairy, juice and liquid egg producers on machines that can fill 340 cartons a minute.

The plant's parent company is Novolex, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Requests for comment sent to Novolex had not received a response.

The strike did not come out of nowhere. In May 2024, an unfair labor practice charge was filed with the National Labor Relations Board involving Pactiv Evergreen, alleging the company refused to provide information the union is entitled to during bargaining. That case, 32-CA-342301, is still pending.

What happens next is unclear. The number of workers on the picket line has not been disclosed. It is not known whether production continues with salaried staff or replacement workers, or when the last contract expired. The union has not publicized specific dollar figures for its demands.

For a city where manufacturing remains a backbone, a prolonged stoppage at a plant that feeds perishable-food supply chains could ripple beyond the picket line.