Some employees of Airgas USA are striking today at four of the company’s plants in the Los Angeles area, including locations in Burbank and Ventura. Airgas USA, based in Sacramento, is a gas supplier to industrial facilities, restaurants and medical businesses such as hospitals and nursing homes. Its parent company, Air Liquide in France, is the world’s largest distributor of specialty gases and is a Forbes Global 2000 company. Those on strike include unionized truck drivers, gas cylinder fillers, loaders, dispatchers and other employees. Workers at the company’s facilities in Burbank, Ventura, Pomona and Lynwood who are members of Teamsters Union Local 848 are protesting what they say are violations of federal workers’ rights laws. “We work hard to help Airgas and Air Liquide earn huge revenues. Air Liquide earned $23 billion last year. Yet despite the work we do for Airgas, it continues to treat us abusively and with disrespect,” said striking Airgas driver Mario Quintero in a statement. “Airgas fired employees for union activity and has harassed and intimidated many of us who chose to form a union so we could have dignity and a voice on the job. Treating workers this way is unconscionable and illegal.” The company did not respond to a request for comment.
