LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- About 100 truck drivers who deliver food to Louisville-area restaurants, hospitals and schools went on strike Monday morning against Sysco, the multinational corporation with a local distribution hub.
Drivers and others affiliated with Teamsters Local 89, the union that represents them, carried signs outside Sysco's Fairdale-area warehouse Monday, where they normally would set out in a tractor trailer to make deliveries of wholesale food to the company's customers.
"We're out here standing up for each other," said Michael Bonner, a driver who has worked for Sysco since 2008.
The drivers, who unionized last summer, are hoping to get a labor contract that will relieve them of working what they say are excessively long days and ensure that the company makes safety improvements.
"These guys are on the road 12, 14, 16 hours a day, and it isn't just driving; it's very physical labor," said Trey McCutcheon, a business agent at Teamsters Local 89.
In a statement, Sysco said the strike will not keep the company from operating, though it didn't elaborate the steps it has taken to ensure deliveries.
"Sysco Louisville has implemented its contingency plans to quickly ramp up operations to serve our customers despite the Teamsters leadership's actions to disrupt the delivery of products to hospitals, schools and local small businesses," the Houston-based company said.
The company said it respects its drivers and that it has offered "a nearly 14% increase in hourly pay" as part of contract talks, as well as "improvements in health insurance, vacations, and premium pay."
One of Sysco's customers is Jefferson County Public Schools, the district that serves nearly 100,000 students.
JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan said there is no immediate risk to school lunches.
The district's cafeterias received all their Sysco orders last week and are stocked up into the Spring Break week of April 3, she said. The district's warehouse has also stocked up on chicken and entrees, she said.
"If there is still a strike after Spring Break, we have enough food," Callahan said. "Students will not go without food."
While Sysco is JCPS' largest vendor — the district spends about $7 million a year with Sysco — it has separate vendors for milk, bread and produce, Callahan said.
Union officials said it's unclear how long the strike will go on.
McCutcheon said the goal is get Sysco to reengage in contract talks.
He said the drivers are seeking simple changes that would make their work safer, such as limits on high tightly Sysco can pack their trucks with products.
"Sysco is notorious for stacking these cases all the way to the back of the trailer and as high as they can get them. ... You're constantly reaching and pulling. You might open the tractor trailer door, (and) cases fall out on top of you. These are the things these guys are facing everyday out on the job," he said.
