Hundreds of truck drivers from Sysco Boston are continuing their strike against the company after negotiations broke down between the Teamsters and New England’s largest wholesale food distributor.
More than 300 truck drivers from the Plympton warehouse are on strike, walking the picket line as they call for better pay and benefits.
Negotiations between the Teamsters and Sysco broke down Wednesday evening after more than six hours of talks.
“Our members work hard, but they must be compensated with a secure and quality retirement and affordable health care,” Sean O’Brien, Teamsters general president, said in a statement. “No longer will we allow this company to churn workers and then throw them away.
“They are going to continue to stand up and fight for what they deserve,” he added. “We have a saying on the strike line: one day longer, one day stronger.”
Sysco Corporation said it had reached an “impasse” with the Teamsters, Local 653 in Boston and Local 317 in Syracuse.
“Despite best efforts to bring the current work stoppage to an end, including offering industry leading wages, the Teamsters’ leadership has effectively rejected the companies’ offers and denied their members the right to vote on the proposed offer,” Sysco said in a statement.
The company warned that the strike will “disrupt thousands of small businesses, hospitals may struggle to get their orders, children who rely on schools for their meals may not get them and the nation’s supply chain will be further stressed.”
The Massachusetts drivers make about $110,000 annually on average, Sysco said in a previous statement, and that it has offered a wage increase of 25% over the life of the contract. The Houston-based company also said it is offering more health care options at lower costs compared to the current plan.
A recent Sysco report showed that nearly half of its employees have been in their job for less than a year, according to the Teamsters.
“The company’s current offer is just another corporate bait and switch,” said Tom Erickson, director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division. “What they say they are giving in wage increases, they are taking away in employee paid health care costs.”
The Sysco warehouse in Plympton has been operating around the clock with third-party drivers.
Herald wire services were used in this report.
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