Insulting offer after return to negotiations have Teamsters Local 174 members on brink of work stoppage
This weekend, after a unanimous strike authorization vote at the Teamsters Local 174 Union Hall, the Bargaining Committee returned to negotiations hoping to see a change in attitude from their owners. Instead, what the Union received was yet another slap in the face: a new proposal adding just $0.17 over three years. This pushes the group even closer to an industry-wide shutdown, affecting operations at Cadman, CalPortland, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel, Stoneway Concrete, and Lehigh Cement. These contracts expired Saturday July 31, and a strike can now begin at any time.
The meeting on Saturday was full of energy as the group of rank-and-file Teamsters shared stories about management dispatchers who constantly bully and harass our members through racist and anti-Semitic comments and messages. Management has also consistently rejected proposals to add Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday, despite the fact that most companies have taken this step during recent contract negotiations – including all AGC Construction companies. The attitude of company owners throughout negotiations has been utterly dismissive and disrespectful. When the time came for workers to vote, they did not hesitate to speak clearly in one voice, delivering a vote of 218-0 in favor of authorizing a strike.
Following the unanimous strike authorization vote, the Union returned to the bargaining table in hopes of convincing the companies of the importance of addressing our members’ demands. Instead, company management seemed to invite a strike.
The decision to move forward with the insulting contract offer is especially sinister given that on Tuesday afternoon, a fully-vaccinated concrete mixer driver who had been present at the strike authorization vote and who spent two full weeks attending all negotiating sessions tested positive for COVID-19.
Company management received this information first thing Wednesday morning, yet took no immediate action to implement their own COVID-19 protocols, even though their entire workforces were potentially exposed. Instead, they spent the day making strike contingency plans.
At the end of the day, management refused to return to the table to hear directly from their employees about the treatment they have endured and continue to endure throughout this pandemic. “They never took COVID seriously, ever, and now they’ve somehow found a way to insult us even more,” said CalPortland driver and Bargaining Committee member Brett Gallagher. “We carried these companies throughout the pandemic as ‘Essential Workers,’ and now they have the nerve to tell us we don’t pull our weight and we don’t value our jobs. We have shown up every single day from the start of the pandemic despite the risks. It’s unacceptable to me and demonstrates that they don’t respect the sacrifices we have made, at a time when they have made record profits.”
Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 8,600 working men and women in Seattle and the surrounding areas. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.