California and Chicago Teamsters join together to take on VWR and Madison-Dearborn

JC7 President Rome Aloise addresses the crowd rallying outside Madison Dearborn's Chicago headquarters.

Local 673 rallied at the Chicago headquarters of Madison Dearborn, the company that owns the medical and scientific product company VWR International. California Teamsters know VWR because this is the company trying to hightail it out of Brisbane and its 50-plus year contract with Local 853 for non-union, tax-supported pastures in Visalia. In Chicago, VWR has denied decent working conditions to its workers represented by Local 673, refusing to reach an agreement after more than five years of negotiations.

“VWR has axed profit sharing, frozen pensions and increased health care costs," said a VWR employee at the rally, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. "Most employees have had no pay increases for six years, yet the company has continued to make profits year after year.”

Joint Council 7 President Rome Aloise spoke at the rally: “Madison Dearborn is a private equity firm that gobbles up companies and doesn’t care about the employees. To fight them, we have to join together.”

Also attending the Chicago event was John Thomas, a 15-year employee at VWR’s Brisbane warehouse. “The Madison Dearborn economic model is destroying the lives of too many Americans. My job is going to become a low-wage job somewhere else in California, at taxpayer expense. Madison Dearborn and the rest of the top 1 percent are destroying families just to siphon a few more dollars their way."

“Madison Dearborn needs to tell VWR to step up and provide good working conditions and job security to workers who have been good, loyal and longtime employees,” added Roger Kohler, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 673 in Chicago.

See pictures of the Madison-Dearborn rally.