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Editor’s Note: John Hsu is a former congressional candidate from New Jersey’s 6th District

By John Hsu

Since April 22, over 100 workers from Silgan Containers, makers of steel cans for food products such as soup and dog food, have been on strike at the company’s 135 National Road location in Edison, N.J., after failing to come to terms on a new contract. The workers are unionized with United Steel Workers (USW) local 6129.

New management arrived in September, when working conditions at the plant became unsustainable. In one case, an employee worked approximately 40 days straight before the USW intervened. The factory runs round-the-clock, so it has high workforce demands. Prior to September, workers worked 12-hour shifts for 4 straight days with 4 days off, ensuring employees would have guaranteed time off. But workers could be called in for 2 of their 4 days off. 

After September, workers worked 8-hour shifts, which sounds like an improvement, however, many started working 7-days a week to maintain the factory’s 24-hour a day pace. The 12-hour days also had the benefit of 4-hours overtime pay after working past 8 hours. Now, overtime only accrues after working 40 hours in a week. Daily overtime was the standard tradeoff for the long daily hours in the industry for decades.

The corporate strategy is likely to force the workers to accept terms of a new contract, so that 12-hour work days would no longer include the industry standard of 4 hours of daily overtime. They would then return to the original schedule which would result in a substantial pay cut of tens of thousands of dollars for each worker. This contract will set a precedent for other contracts at other factories which are set to expire soon—and will have a wider effect of making these vital jobs less desirable and weakening the leverage of the workers to demand competitive compensation.

Silgan holdings made a gross profit of $993 million in 2023, down from $1.408 billion in 2022. Management will use the decrease in profits as an excuse for these measures, but profits were $714 million in 2021 and $519 in 2011. The industry is extremely profitable and the increase in productivity can be explained by the remaining workers maintaining output during the COVID-19 lockdown despite workers leaving the industry or calling out of work.

If you talk to workers, you will understand that they do not want to be on strike. The uncertainty of lack of income and health insurance is a real fear that anyone can understand. There are other reasons the workers are on strike not mentioned here. If you want to learn more, visit them on weekdays at the plant located at 135 National Road near the intersection of Talmadge and New Durham roads from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. To support this important working class movement, you can donate food or to their strike fund by sending funds through zelle at guswl6129@gmail.com.

In the words of Joseph Delitzia: 

“Last Labor Day, before the current contract negotiations began, our shift schedule was changed which resulted in a nearly 15 percent cut in pay, once the ‘scheduled’ overtime was removed. The depth and timing of that active cut on the company’s part made Silgan’s intentions clear. They are slapping us in the face. 

We were first set to strike in February, and instead granted four contract extensions, hoping that there may have been some light at the end of the tunnel. Silgan's final proposal was insulting to all of the Local 6129 members who worked hard and  helped make Silgan Containers a leader in the industry. This comes after Local 6129 membership broke company production records, made the company record profits for the years during, and after covid. Local 6129 members stuck with the company when they needed us the most and instead of taking care of us they have taken from us. 

We must stand strong and demand a fair contract from Silgan Containers.”