More than 300 workers have gone on strike at a materials plant operated by AdvanSix Inc. in Hopewell, Va.
AdvanSix's Hopewell South bargaining unit consists of members of several unions, including the International Chemical Workers Union and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. That unit has called a labor strike for "economic considerations" against AdvanSix, officials with the Parsippany, N.J.-based firm said in a news release.
About 340 workers are affected by the strike. AdvanSix "proposed a new labor agreement that is fair and competitive in the market and equitable for our employees," President and CEO Erin Kane said in a news release.
She added that the proposed terms "offer a market-based, role-specific wage approach designed to ensure we are providing competitive wages to our valued employees while ensuring long-term, sustainable growth."
"While we bargained in good faith with the unions, we have taken substantial contingency measures and are well prepared to support safe, stable and sustainable operations and continue delivering for our customers while our Hopewell South workers are on strike. AdvanSix is committed to doing its part to reach a resolution to this situation and calls on the union to do the same."
Officials said that AdvanSix doesn't have an estimate of when employees affected by the strike will resume activities or of the timing for completion of negotiations with the Hopewell South bargaining unit.
Officials with the ICWUC in Akron, Ohio, and with the IAMAW in Annapolis, Md., could not be reached for comment on the strike.
According to the AdvanSix website, the Hopewell plant is the world's largest single-site producer of caprolactam, a key nylon resin feedstock, The plant also is one of the world's largest single manufacturing sites for ammonium sulfate, which is used in fertilizers.
For full-year 2022, AdvanSix posted sales of almost $2 billion, including sales of almost $500 million from its nylon unit, including resins.