Teamsters and CHEJ Launch "Vulcan Materials Quarry Watch"

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, in partnership with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), launched Vulcan Quarry Watch today in an effort to assist communities and workers negatively impacted by Vulcan Materials' (NYSE: VMC) mining activities throughout the United States.

Vulcan Materials, America's largest supplier of construction aggregates and a major producer of asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete, operates almost 500 mine quarries, asphalt plants and ready-mix concrete facilities throughout North America. CHEJ, one of America's oldest and most effective environmental organizations, works to empower people to build healthy communities and prevent harm to human health caused by exposure to environmental threats.

The website links communities negatively impacted by Vulcan's operations with the CHEJ's Resource Library, highlights the stories of remarkable local leaders challenging the negative impacts of Vulcan Materials' operations, and promotes aggregate recycling as an alternative to expanding and opening new aggregate quarries. The website also highlights the company's ongoing mistreatment of its workforce, including a group of eight mining vehicle operators at the company's open-pit mines in Sun City and Laveen Village, Ariz.

"Vulcan claims to be a socially responsible company with a strict code of conduct," said the Teamsters Building Materials and Construction Trades Division Director Marion (Bubba) Davis. "But the communities near Vulcan's facilities and the company's frontline workers tell a different story."

Over the last five years, at least ten communities have challenged the negative impacts of Vulcan's mining operations in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

In Georgia, Vulcan truck drivers recently filed a class action lawsuit against the company in federal district court. The lawsuit claims the company unlawfully misclassified the drivers as independent contractors to avoid its obligations to pay overtime as required by federal law.

In Arizona, Vulcan is demanding that the eight mining vehicle operators, represented by Teamsters Local 104, accept a contract that would take away their retirement pension, increase healthcare costs by as much as $464 per month, allow the company to cut hourly wages by $2.60 for some drivers, reduce safety rest periods between shifts, and allow the company to replace workers with subcontractors and temporary employees.

"We've seen firsthand the negative impact of Vulcan's operations on the communities near the company's quarries," said Gustavo Andrade, the Director of Organizing at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. "Our Resource Library provides neighborhood activists and communities with extensive step-by-step guides to help them fight back against companies like Vulcan Materials."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:
Matt McQuaid (202) 624-6877
[email protected] 

Gustavo Andrade (301) 526-3344
CHEJ Organizing Director

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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