US: Union workers at the Keystone Cement plant in Bath, Pennsylvania have started legal action against the company over its sale to HeidelbergCement. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) union says that the company must honour its contracts, according to the Morning Call newspaper. It is representing around 132 workers at Keystone’s cement and aggregate operations.
According to the lawsuit, HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Lehigh Hanson announced in October 2019 that it would not accept or assume the terms of any existing contracts. The union claims that this contravenes a requirement that any new owners or operators of the plant assume the contracts in place at the time of sale. The agreement to sell the plant to Germany’s HeidelbergCement for US$151m was announced in late September 2019. It is subject to regulatory approval.