Employees at Boise Cascade, a national lumber production and manufacturing company with an office in Billings, are on strike.
The 20 unionized full-time warehouse and truck drivers said Wednesday they are fighting for increased wages and healthcare benefits.
Employees have been on strike since Tuesday evening, and they said they will continue protesting until the company and union agree on a negotiated contract.
Learn more about why employees at Boise Cascade are on strike below:
The Billings Boise Cascade location is on South 29th Street West, where employees marched outside Wednesday.
Cars driving down South 29th Street West likely saw signs saying, "Honk for a living wage," "On strike for competitive wages," and "Boise Cascade pay your workers."
"My stomach's in knots. You know, I've been here 23 years. I've given my all to this company," said Zeb Plovanic, an employee striking Wednesday.
Plovanic has been a warehouse employee at Boise Cascade since 2002. He said while prices in groceries and living costs have increased, his wage has not. Because he has a wife and a daughter, Plovanic said he had to get another job on top of the warehouse.
"We are a hard-working group of people here. We're not trying to pull one off on the company. We just want a good living wage that we can go forward with," he said.
Plovanic said when he started working at the company, things were different from today.
"It was good. It seems like management and corporate have kind of changed some things up and it doesn't seem like we're getting treated as good as we used to," he said.
Plovanic said when he started at the company 23 years ago, a union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was already established within the company.
The union's regional principal officer with Billings-based Local 190, Jim Soumas, said the company and union renegotiate contracts every three to four years.
According to Soumas, the union's contract with Boise Cascade expired March 31, and workers continued working under their old contract. He said since April, the union and company have held three negotiating sessions with hopes of reaching an agreement.
"We did have negotiations. The company was really late getting to the table, which was frustrating... They told us yesterday they felt the terms were reasonable, but our members are saying it's not," Soumas said Wednesday.
Soumas said unionized employees would like an increase in wage and healthcare benefits. The union declined to release specific numbers.
While Boise Cascade did offer an increase in wage since the last contract, employees said it wasn't high enough.
"The company was not offering any changes to their last offer and the members said, 'That's not good enough.' They said the wages would be higher and they would like more of an improvement to their health insurance," said Soumas.
Tuesday evening, the union and Boise Cascade met for a third time to renegotiate contracts. When an agreement was not made, employees clocked out and left the facility. Since then, employees have been on strike. They told MTN they plan on staying on strike until an agreement is reached.
"That was a choice that the members made. They have to vote as a group whether or not to go on strike, and they voted unanimously yes," said Soumas.
"(I will strike) as long as my legs can go," Plovanic said.
MTN reached out to Boise Cascade for a comment following the strike. Amy Evans, a representative for the company, disagreed with some of Soumas' and Plovanic's claims. That statement can be read below:
“Boise Cascade respects the rights of our associates to express their concerns and advocate for themselves through the collective bargaining process. Although an unexpected walkout has occurred at our Billings facility after we were led to believe we had a tentative agreement with the union, we remain committed to open and constructive dialogue with union leadership. We are hopeful that both parties will return to the table in good faith to reach a resolution quickly and respectfully that supports the long-term success of our people and our business. Until then, our top priority is ensuring the safety of everyone onsite and working hard to minimize any disruptions to our customers, vendors, and partners.”
-Amy Evans, Boise Cascade
Soumas disagreed, stating that Boise Cascade has not been cooperative.
"We would like to have a meaningful conversation. That's what negotiations is all about. And at this point, the stance they took yesterday was unacceptable," he said.
As of deadline Wednesday, Boise Cascade union members are still on strike, which could go on for indefinitely.
"We're just hoping to get some better pay to be able to live," said Plovanic.
