Catherwood LibraryILR School

A tentative agreement between the maintenance and support contractor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Plum Island Animal Disease Center off the coast of New York and Local 30 of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) fell through yesterday. On strike for five weeks now, the seventy-six employees decided to remain on strike after the company tied their latest contract offer to holding on to fifteen to twenty of the replacement workers they have hired, and firing an equivalent number of union members. Since the workers went on strike over the company?s ?final? offer, there have been at least two accidents involving replacement workers, and area politicians from both parties have begun questioning the safety of continuing to operate the facility without its normal workforce.