INEOS, unions reach tentative deal over strike at US TiO2 plant

HOUSTON (ICIS)–INEOS reached a three-year labour agreement with two unions at one of its pigment plants in Ohio, the company said.

It reached the three-year tentative collective bargaining agreement on Friday with Teamsters Local Union 377 and Local 1033C of the International Chemical Workers Union Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

The company said that ratification of its tentative agreement is pending approval by the workers and that it was looking forward to Plant 2  at Ashtabula, Ohio, returning to operation.

INEOS did not comment on when production at Plant 2 would resume or the status of the ratification process.

INEOS Pigments had previously confirmed to ICIS that hourly workers at Plant 2 have been on strike since 12 March.

The company has two production facilities in Ashtabula. The second plant – where workers went on strike – produces titanium dioxide (TiO2) and chlorine.

Last week, INEOS said that this plant had been taken offline, ahead of a scheduled maintenance.

According to an earlier release from the Teamsters, workers at Plant 2 in Ashtabula walked out on 12 March because of what they said were unfair labour practices and following prolonged attempts by unionised employees to negotiate their first contract after forming a union in September 2021.

In a post on social media outlet Facebook, Sam Cook, secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters Local 377 union, congratulated union members on reaching the tentative agreement after 15 months of negotiations with INEOS.

A representative for the International Chemical Workers Union Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment

INEOS Pigments is a subsidiary of INEOS, a British multinational chemical company with its headquarters in London.

Thumbnail shows white paint, which typically has TiO2. Image by Shutterstock.