Keokuk, Iowa - A city council in Iowa has received a petition asking it to withdraw financial assistance to polyol producer Roquette, according to local media.
The Keokuk City Council and Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) have been asked to stop financial assistance for Roquette America Inc. until the company ends the lockout of some 240 union workers.
The Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union want Roquette, which produces polyols for the polyurethane industry, to negotiate what it calls a fair contract for its workers.
Petitions with more than 2500 signatures supporting the union's position were presented to the city council and IDED board in Des Moines, Iowa 20 Jan.
The Daily Gate newspaper in Keokuk said the petition listed any financial assistance as including grants, loans, tax credits, tax abatements, publicly-funded infrastructure investments and any other forms of economic assistance to Roquette.
The paper reported Roquette as saying that it needs a signed contract for union employees to return to work, and that the union can accept the proposal at any time. LMH
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