ROCHELLE — Negotiations between striking workers and company officials at Silgan Containers in Rochelle have apparently come to a halt until after the new year.

More than 170 workers of Local 2068 of the International Assoc. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) voted to go on strike nearly two weeks ago after rejecting the contract offered by the company; the walkout is over benefits, wages and working conditions.

The union voted to go on strike in the early morning hours of Saturday, Dec. 8, and on Tuesday night workers packed two rooms in a show of solidarity at the union’s business meeting.

“We were told the company is going to wait until after the holidays to go back to the table to negotiate,” said union lodge president Rick Pease. 

Billy Broughton, business representative for IAMAW, said the mediator informed him it will “be early January before we get back to the table.”

“Over the last 10 years, insurance premiums have eaten away at the workers’ wages,” Broughton said. “In the proposed contract, the first year the premiums would go up considerably and the company was only going to offer a bonus that first year. At the end of the day, the company has big tax breaks. The last couple of years are the best they ever had.”

Workers have been picketing at both sides of the company’s entrance along Lincoln Avenue and at Eighth Avenue. 

“Rochelle is a union community. We appreciate all the support we get from this community,” said Broughton.

Bob Lewis, chief financial officer at Silgan Holdings, has not returned a phone call for comment regarding the ongoing labor dispute.

Silgan Containers is a leading supplier of metal food packaging with sales in five locations and over two dozen manufacturing facilities across the U.S