An arbitrator has ordered 24 workers at Airgas’s Ferndale facility to be reinstated immediately with full back pay and benefits, ending a labor dispute that began May 15, 2025 and left the employees off the job for nearly a year.
The ruling covers 24 Teamsters Local 283 members — drivers, pump fillers and loaders — and directs the company to make the workers whole for roughly a year of lost wages and benefits, a remedy the union says corrects what it called unlawful conduct during the work stoppage.
Teamsters Local 283 framed the decision as a decisive vindication. Sean M. O’Brien, the union’s president, said, "These dedicated Teamsters endured hardship for almost a full year as Airgas tried to wear them down, but not once did they even think about crossing the picket line." He added that "Their solidarity, determination, and resolve cannot be understated."
The dispute began on May 15, 2025, when the 24 workers walked out in a contract fight. By 2026 the union says those employees were effectively locked out and had been kept from returning to their jobs for nearly a year; the arbitrator’s decision orders reinstatement and a year of back pay and benefits to remedy that period out of work.
Union leaders said the conflict stemmed from repeated failures by the company to offer a fair contract and alleged a pattern of unlawful behavior — threats, lockouts, discharges and retaliation — as well as a failure to provide notice or an opportunity to bargain. The Teamsters framed the arbitration victory as a message that employers who violate workers’ rights will be held accountable. "The arbitration victory sends a clear message that employers who violate workers’ rights will be held accountable and the Teamsters Union will never stop fighting to protect our members in every industry and every state," O’Brien said.
Airgas — a subsidiary of French multinational Air Liquide and a supplier of industrial, medical and specialty gases — has not been reported to have supplied a response to the arbitration finding in the materials released with the ruling. The union’s account and the arbitrator’s remedy are explicit; the company’s perspective on the conduct alleged by the union and on how or when it will comply with the order is not included in the record made public.
The arbitration settles the immediate legal question by ordering reinstatement and back pay, but it leaves an urgent practical question unanswered: when will the 24 workers actually return to their jobs and receive the year of back pay and benefits the arbitrator ordered? The sources do not say whether Airgas will comply promptly, set a schedule for reinstatement, or challenge the decision through further proceedings.
The most consequential open point now is compliance. The arbitrator has set the remedy; the workers and the union will expect prompt implementation. What remains unresolved — and what will determine whether this decision truly ends the nearly year-long stoppage — is whether Airgas will follow the award or seek to overturn it, and on what timetable the workers will be paid and put back on the payroll.
