(MOUNT MORRIS, NEW YORK) – As we turn the page to Spring, the Winter is nothing but a memory as New Yorkers welcome the warm change in weather for several months to come. But at American Rock Salt (ARS) in Livingston County where the United Steelworkers (USW) represent 250 Workers at the largest Rock Salt Mine in the country, the coming months will also provide a time to reflect on its efforts to serve a multitude of communities with road salt during what was an extremely harsh Winter, as well as focus what needs to be done to meet the growing demand for what it and its Union Workforce mine deep underneath the ground in Mount Morris.

Looking back, it's no secret that a shortage of rock salt across Western New York caused a flurry of angst and outcry from area Town Highway Superintendents to Elected Officials, some who publicly criticized the company as everybody and their grandma attempted to get enough road salt to handle a stretch of 40 out of 41 consecutive days in which snow fell across the region.  

And to make matters worse, the company also had to deal with a conveyor beltline problem that occurred during that time even as its USW Local 763-represented Workforce was on the job for 126 out of 137 days from October 2024 to February (2025).

And on top of that, a freshman New York State Assemblyman - a Republican from the Buffalo Suburb of Cheektowaga, immediately targeted the State’s Buy American Salt Act, calling for it to be ignored in favor of purchasing foreign salt from places like South Africa and Egypt to handle the high demand.

“This is ‘nature and sometimes nature throws you a curveball,’” USW District 4 Representative Jim Briggs matter-of-factly told WNYLaborToday.com during a recent sit-down interview with management in Mount Morris. “But ‘we figured it out, a new (mining) area has been opened and this (new) salt will increase productivity.’”

“But ‘where would this State be without this mine?,’” asked Briggs, who took issue with Assemblyman Patrick Chludzinski’s misguided call. “We campaigned for an American Workforce that worked sixteen hours a day to make sure (the salt) came out. The Bill ‘protects our Workforce, otherwise these jobs - as well as trucking jobs, railroad jobs, Mom and Pop stores, would all be gone.’ This Bill protects the community where they ‘all’ live. This Bill - which passed unanimously in the Assembly and in the Senate, ‘made sure’ salt mines that ‘operate with more safety protections and provide livable wages to their Workers have a level playing field’ (with foreign salt providers).”

Briggs, meanwhile, heaped praise on Governor Hochul, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and former State Senator Tim Kennedy (now a U.S. Congressman) who stood up for and supported the American Salt Bill: “‘They understood the issues and its importance to defer to the Bill when it came to deciding on American salt versus foreign salt.’”

ARS’s facility is located about 50 miles east of Buffalo, not far from the Finger Lakes, where its 250-Member USW Workforce makes the more than 1,400-foot journey below the earth’s surface to go to work - a distance as high as New York City’s Empire State Building.

Inside an underground maze of white-walled caves and chambers, Workers use huge drills to cut 10-foot holes into the rock before blasting and scraping chunks of salt free and loading them onto some of the nearly 40 miles of conveyor belts that help to carry them to the surface.

“‘Sometimes you forget how vast (the mine) is and all the salt that comes out of it,’” Plant Manager Greg Norris said.

All the while Workers are being monitored above ground in a nerve center (Pictured Below/WNYLaborToday.com Photo) that features several large TV screens and computer systems.

Cameras have been installed within the mine so the company can keep an eye on production and the Workers themselves - who wear a small tracking device so their whereabouts - no matter where they are, can be monitored to maintain their individual safety.

Systems are also in place to ensure fresh air is pumped into the mine, as well as to control salt dust and monitor air quality - all done to ensure safety on-the-job.

Once the salt reaches its destination up top, ARS Workers unload, process, sort, test, pack and prepare the product for distribution.

It was back in December 2022 that New York State passed the Buy American Salt Act, requiring the State’s Public Agencies and Authorities that use rock salt to purchase it from U.S. mines.

Governor Kathy Hochul called it “an important step to support good-paying jobs in our Upstate communities, while growing New York’s economy.”

Other States have similar statutes, designed not just to protect jobs like those in Mount Morris, but to grow them for future generations. 

The salt deposits that USW Members are mining underground in Livingston County are said to be about 350 million years old, formed from a trapped ocean basin that was buried over time beneath layer upon layer of earth.

American Rock Salt owns about 13,000 acres of mineral rights, giving the company access to enough salt to keep the mine running for several generations to come, said ARS Vice President of Production and General Operations Manager Joseph G. Bucci, Jr.

In addition to dealing with a broken belt line over the Winter, ARS Officials told WNYLaborToday.com they also had to ship the salt they mined to the State in Albany before it was shipped back to Western New York’s Towns and Highways Departments where it was needed, which unfortunately added additional time to what could have been direct deliveries.

“There were ‘direct delivery and logistics problems that existed, but now the flow of salt will be better,’” Briggs said.  “Also, ‘enough was provided so that the State Thruway was of no’ concern.”

During that time, ARS slowed its commercial salt sales in order to focus on municipalities, hospitals and nursing homes, Plant Manager Norris told WNYLaborToday.com: “We ‘needed to make sure emergency vehicles could get to where they were going instead of sending it to landscapers at the local level.’”

ARS issued the following statement as the bruhaha broke out: American Rock Salt has been working diligently to meet the demand from local government customers across New York State for salt supply. We realize some municipalities are concerned about supply and we understand the frustration associated with this very difficult Winter stressing our supply chain. Since October 14th (2024), our team has worked relentlessly in the mine 24 hours a day, 101 out of the last 113 days which included Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and other holidays. We are extremely proud of the hard work of American Rock Salt’s 300-plus strong Union Members’ efforts to maintain salt production levels to satisfy this unprecedented demand. We also have taken additional measures to increase supply, including opening our reserve stockpiles, the purchase of new underground equipment to mine additional salt and construction of more access points to our underground conveyor and bin system to help transport more salt to our processing equipment. With these efforts we have successfully increased daily production by over 25%, while maintaining a safe working environment. For further context, in 2024 American Rock Salt shipped 1.8 million tons of salt for the entirety of the Winter season. This Winter through January 2025 alone we shipped (more than) 2.1 million tons of salt. In total, we have mined and shipped more salt so far this Winter than all of last year. Municipalities have acknowledged that in some instances they have already used the level of salt in 2025 compared to the level they used for the entire Winter season of 2024. Regardless, we are prioritizing resources and deliveries to ensure no one runs out of supply. This historic demand is due to the long stretch of cold weather events impacting the region where the constantly low temperatures require salting roads for even very small snowfall events. This trend is consistent throughout the Northeast and across the Nation as even parts of Florida have experienced snowfall this Winter. We are operating under the assumption that this strong demand will continue throughout the remainder of the 2025 Winter season. Finally, it is our understanding this historic demand is impacting the supply from all salt mining companies, foreign and domestic. American Rock Salt continues to be in direct contact with our State and local partners to ensure they continue to have adequate salt supply and working non-stop to meet the needs of our valued customers and communities.”

“We ‘wouldn’t have been truthful if we did not publicly address it as we did,’” ARS Vice President of Production and General Operations Manager Bucci said.

His Father - ARS Co-CEO Joseph G. Bucci, told WNYLaborToday.com: “We are ‘working with the State (on the logistics problem) and we are developing our west parcel, as well as investing in new equipment and hiring additional’ Workers. ‘We all work as a team here and I don’t think anyone else in the entire U.S. has a better Workforce, one that worked non-stop, double shifts to meet the need.’ ‘I’ve never seen a workforce like this - they’re ‘incredible.’ ‘We are more than a business.’ ‘We are a family.’”

Long-time USW Local 763 President Shane Chiappone said he was proud to listen to Bucci make those comments: “It ‘makes me feel good inside.’  Joe’s ‘been here all season, for everything.’  ‘So when he talks (and says that), it means a lot to me.’”

The average age of a USW/ARS Mine Worker ranges from 35 to 42 - “Eighteen years to seventy,” according to Chiappone. 

“Our Members make great money and are able to put money away,” he said. 

Average yearly salary is as much at $90,000 with that progressing to as much at $115,000 with overtime and bonuses, the USW said.

WNYLaborToday.com Editor's Note: Pictured above, from left to right: USW District 4 Representative Jim Briggs; ARS Co-CEO Joseph G. Bucci, Jr.; USW Local 763 President Shane Chiappone; ARS Environmental, Health & Safety Manager Joseph G. Bucci, Jr.; and USW Miner-Member Camden Yull. (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)

But now, as we all know, Spring will quickly turn to Summer and then to Fall before Old Man Winter returns.

Until then, the USW and ARS management have dedicated themselves to continuing to work together to address any problem that might surface in order to ensure the Northeastern United States continues to get the finest road salt product in a timely manner.

USW’s Briggs said: “While ARS ‘had issues, they were quickly repaired and the company took additional steps to make sure it won’t be a problem going forward.’ ‘There are things that can be controlled and (ARS) is doing things they’ve never done before.’ In the off-season, ‘we sit down and make corrections.’ It’s a ‘collaborative’ effort.”

Added ARS Co-CEO Joseph G. Bucci: “We ‘work as a team and we understood the problems - and we attacked them.’”

 WNYLaborToday.com Editor's Note: Photos of the American Rock Salt Mine that appear with this Labor News Story are courtesy of American Rock Salt.