Chicago Teamsters at Mauser strike

Over 100 Chicago Teamsters are walking the picket line, fighting back against the anti-union playbook Mauser has deployed against locked-out Teamsters in Seattle

CHICAGO, IL (June 13, 2025) — More than 100 Teamsters at Mauser Packaging Solutions, Inc in Chicago are on strike after the company failed to offer a fair contract. The warehouse workers, represented by Teamsters Local 705, are demanding higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions, just like the 20 Seattle Teamsters Mauser and its subsidiary Industrial Container Services (ICS) locked out in April.

“Mauser tried to push us out instead of bargaining fairly,” said Brian Perfitt, a locked-out Teamster at ICS and member of Local 117 in a statement. “Now they’re trying the same thing in Chicago — but they’re not just fighting one group of Teamsters. They’re up against the entire Teamsters Union.”

Photo: Teamsters Local 705

Teamsters represent hundreds of workers at Mauser, a multinational packaging company that manufactures drums, cans, bottles, and intermediate bulk containers. Along with the on-going Seattle lockout, picket lines at Mauser have already spread to Minnesota and Los Angeles.

“Mauser is striking itself by refusing to put a serious offer on the table,” said Juan Campos, President of Local 705 and Teamsters International Vice President At-Large. “Our members do essential work, and they deserve a contract that reflects their value. They are taking action to hold this greedy company accountable.”

Mauser and ICS have a well-documented track record of disregarding the health and wellbeing of both workers and the environment. The companies have been cited or fined by numerous regulatory agencies, including OSHA, the EPA, L&I, and the NLRB, for polluting the environment, ignoring health and safety protocols, violating federal labor law, and harming workers.

Teamsters have been documenting these violations in a website calling out Mauser Packaging Misery.

As Teamsters Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer Paul Dascher said when workers were locked out in April, “Mauser Packaging Solutions doesn’t care about the welfare of its workers or the health of our community. They only care about lining their pockets with profits made off of the backs of workers who are exercising their right to stand together for better conditions.”

Now, with active picket lines in four states, Mauser and ICS are facing down a giant.

“Mauser is about to find out what it means to take on the Teamsters,” said Tom Erickson, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division. “We are bringing the full strength of this union to the fight. Our members will not be disrespected, and we will not back down.”