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BEVERLY - For the first time in nearly two weeks, no picketers were present outside the AFH Products wood flooring plant in Beverly on Friday morning, after the strike by the plant's union workers came to an end on Thursday evening.
Picketers represented by Teamsters Local 175 had been stationed at both entrances to the plant for the past 12 days, after rejecting a new contract proposal and voting to strike.
On Friday morning, however, the picketers and their signs, and their canopies to protect them from the rain, and even the grills they used to cook food while drivers passing by honked their support, were gone.
A press release from AHF stated, "AHF Products is pleased that Teamsters Local 175 has now voted to approve a good-faith agreement that was very similar to the one successfully crafted with the union's bargaining team two weeks ago prior to the strike.
"Our AHF Products Beverly team has continued to keep the plant open and operating to provide our customers with solid hardwood product.
"AHF Products Beverly remains dedicated to its employees and to our community. This is realized by offering good-paying jobs with benefits and continuing more than 30 years of investment in the state's hardwood industry."
The Inter-Mountain placed multiple calls to multiple representatives from Teamsters Local 175 on Friday, seeking comment for this story. None of the calls were answered or returned.
On February 24, union workers voted down the contract proposal and voted to strike. AHF Products said the company and the union had put together a good-faith agreement just days earlier that would have resulted in the largest economic package for workers in the history of the plant.
When the strike began, a representative from the union told The Inter-Mountain that workers were mostly unhappy with the way they were treated at the plant, and that they were also looking for "more wages."