Workers at Wisconsin Rapids Ocean Spray Plant Voting on Whether to Unionize Thursday and Friday

Wednesday, January 31st, 2024 -- 10:01 AM

(Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) Workers at an Ocean Spray plant in Wisconsin Rapids will vote this week on whether to unionize.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, it will be the second time workers at the facility will hold a union vote in almost a decade. A previous attempt failed in 2014 on a 40-55 vote. The new effort started this past fall, according to a worker at the Wisconsin Rapids plant.

He spoke to WPR on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. He said the organization effort came after cuts to employees’ performance bonuses and increases to mandatory overtime caused by short-staffing.

The employee said workers want to have a voice in decision-making in part because they enjoy their jobs. “We just want to have some structure so that we can have a decent work-life balance,” he told WPR. “When we put in an honest day’s work, we want to be rewarded for it.”

Ocean Spray did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. About 94 workers at the plant will vote Thursday and Friday. If the vote is successful, they will be represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 965. The union primarily represents utilities and manufacturing workers in south central and central Wisconsin.

Dillon Gorman, business manager for IBEW Local 965, said the union gave workers in Wisconsin Rapids information about how to go through the unionization process and how the union could help workers improve their conditions.

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