Laborers Local 110 union members who work at four Central Stone quarries in Jefferson and St. Louis counties are on strike, demanding wages like those offered at other quarries in the area.
Clinton McBride, government affairs director for Laborers Local 110, said the strike began at the end of June, after months of contract negotiations with Central Stone reached a stalemate. He said the laborers have been working on an expired contract since mid-March.
Laborers at Central Stone quarries in Antonia, 3860 Old Hwy. M, and Pevely, 8799 Trautman Quarry Road, are participating in the strike. Other strikes are being held at the company’s Eureka location, 6800 Bussen Road, and the St. Louis location, 5000 Bussen Road.
The company is a major producer of construction aggregates in Missouri, offering lime, asphalt and concrete stone, railroad ballast and trap rock, among other products.
As of July 11, McBride said 16 laborers were on strike, with many other union workers refusing to cross the picket line in solidarity.
McBride said the laborers deserve fair wages in line with industry and area standards.
“A lot of these guys are working between 11- and 12-hour days, day in and day out without complaining, and they deserve dignity,” he said. “The fact that a person just a couple of miles away can be doing the exact same hard work and making significantly more money – that just really doesn’t make much sense, and it’s disheartening.”
Brian Dockery, vice president of community and government relations for Central Stone, said the quarries remain open for business.
“We did offer a very fair package which included wages, insurance and retirement,” Dockery said. “We were actively engaged in the negotiations when the union elected to terminate the negotiations.”
Antonia quarry
Four laborers, Mike Crostic of De Soto, Jeremy Webb of Dittmer, Tracy Harrell of Warrenton and Damien Rogers of De Soto, work at the Antonia quarry and were picketing on July 11 near the Antonia quarry. Rogers has only been working there for about a month.
“Our contract ran out March 15,” said Harrell, who has worked for Central Stone for 31 years. “We’ve been negotiating ever since, and we finally came out here because they weren’t paying us what we think is the standard for around here – what the other quarries are giving.
“They just want to lowball and see what they can get. That’s my opinion.”
Crostic agreed.
“It feels like they’re throwing sand in our face,” said Crostic, who has worked for Central Stone since 2009. He said a few teamsters have joined the strike as well.
“We’re not asking for much; all we’re asking for is wages,” he said. “We’re happy with our insurance and we’re happy with our retirement. We didn’t even have any of that in our negotiations. It was just strictly wages.”
Webb said that while operations haven’t ceased at the Antonia quarry, the picketers have noticed a significant decrease in truck traffic. He said there’s been an increase in non-union crews with out-of-town trucks driving to and from the quarry.
“In our first few days (striking), we had a lot of guys stop and say they wouldn’t cross, turn around and go somewhere else,” Webb said.
Harrell said Central Stone has raised the price of material a few times in the last few years, with Webb adding that in the nearly two years he’s worked there, prices have risen at least twice.
Harrell questioned where the money from the more expensive material was going.
“We haven’t seen any of it,” he said.
“This is what greed looks like,” McBride said.