Toledo medical waste company workers on week 2 of strike [The Blade, Toledo, Ohio]

Oct. 19—Twenty-eight employees of a Toledo medical waste disposal facility have been on strike more than a week over wages and health insurance coverage that they said recently became substantially worse.

The Stericycle workers — 17 drivers and 11 plant workers — are members of Teamsters Local 20 and began picketing Oct. 10 outside the plant, located off Alexis Road next to Menards.

Workers on Monday told The Blade that they want a new contract with higher wages after their last one expired in June. But their main frustration is the health insurance change that has led to pricey hospital trips and doctor visits.

For years, workers said, the Illinois-based company offered a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan that offered an 80-20 percent match between employer and employee. But this year, they said, the company switched to a 60-40 plan with UnitedHealthcare and did not clearly communicate the change.

"We're not asking for a lot. We're actually just asking for what we already had," said plant worker Tim Byram of the insurance coverage.

"They just want to keep taking, and taking, and taking, from us," added driver Rick Kaliniak of the company's approach.

A Stericycle spokesman said in a statement that the company has engaged in "good faith negotiations with Teamsters Local 20" on a new collective bargaining agreement for about the past six months.

"Unfortunately, instead of engaging with us and providing advance notice of their intentions, the union has decided to engage in a work stoppage during a global pandemic," the statement said.

A steady chorus of car horns showed drivers' support for the group Monday morning. Jerry Holcomb, a driver for Stericycle, said people have dropped off supplies to keep the group going, including coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and firewood to burn for warmth in a pair of barrels. Several workers for the nearby Jeep plant have also stopped by to show solidarity, he said.

"It's definitely an eye-opener," Mr. Kaliniak, 43, said of the community support. "I had given up on humanity a little bit, you know? But everybody's been real nice."

He said he will "pay it forward" next time he sees a group of workers on strike around Toledo.

Union members from at least one other Stericycle Ohio facility, in Warren, went on strike last week. WKBN-TV reported that work stoppage involved about 50 people. The Toledo location picks up medical waste from around northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan and treats it using a sterilizing machine known as an autoclave.

The Stericycle statement said the company has brought in "additional facility workers and drivers to ensure we continue to provide our healthcare customers and our communities with essential services" during the pandemic.

"We remain committed to bargaining in good faith and are hopeful that representatives from Teamsters Local 20 will come back to the bargaining table," the company said. It did not directly respond to The Blade's questions about the change in insurance coverage or which other Stericycle facilities are on strike.

The Stericycle strikes are part of a larger pandemic-fueled walkout trend that some have labeled "Striketober" on social media. The largest include more than 10,000 John Deere workers and about 1,400 Kellogg Co. cereal workers who walked off the job. Thousands of health care workers in California and Oregon also appear headed toward a strike.

Toledo Stericycle workers told The Blade their frustration with the company grew early in the pandemic. Deemed essential workers, they began working longer hours and picking up more coronavirus-related medical waste, including from testing centers, but they said there were not provided sufficient protective equipment. And they said they were paid one bonus that amounted to a few hundred dollars after taxes, but no hazard pay raises like some other companies provided to employees who showed up through the pandemic.

"It got more dangerous," said Mr. Byram, 35, who has worked at the facility all of his adult life. "We got over our heads in COVID waste."

But the "big thing" that maddened employees was the insurance change, said Mr. Holcomb, 57, who racked up a $3,500 bill for a recent shoulder surgery. He said workers figured the coverage would not change at least until their union contract ended earlier this year.

Mr. Byram's daughter was born earlier this year with Down syndrome, he said, which has required multiple visits to specialists each week. Bills are piling up fast under the company's new plan, he said.

"I was getting these crazy bills," Mr. Byram said. "And I brought it up to [the company], 'Why are these bills so much? Why do I owe $97,000, and it's only been five months?'"

He said he would rather not be striking. He would rather be working, making money for his family, and for a heart surgery he said his daughter needs soon.

"I need to be working," Mr. Byram said. "But everybody out here, we're standing together. We want to go back, but we got to do what we got to do to get what we need."

First Published October 18, 2021, 5:52pm

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