December 18, 2023
Members of Teamsters Local 174 Honor Picket Lines from Teamsters Local 100
With Christmas around the corner, DHL packages in the Seattle area continue to pile up undelivered due to a Teamster strike in Cincinnati that has been extended to DHL facilities locally. Teamsters from Local 100 at CVG airport have been on strike since December 7 to protest unfair labor practices from their employer, and have been expanding their strike to other DHL locations across the country. Striking Teamsters from Local 100 established picket lines at DHL SeaTac and BFI on Thursday December 14, effectively shutting down those locations as members of Teamsters Local 174 exercised their contractual right to refuse to cross a picket line.
The Teamsters Union represents more than 6,000 DHL workers nationwide, including more than 130 couriers, clerical workers, and ramp workers here in the Seattle area. While a handful DHL delivery vans operated by third party contractors have continued to make deliveries, the overwhelming majority of DHL’s holiday volume remains undelivered as the company refuses to return to the bargaining table to reach a contract with Local 100.
“It is stunning to me that a company like DHL would rather take a nationwide strike the week before Christmas than simply negotiate in good faith to reach a contract with their own employees,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “This is not only a shocking lapse in ethics from a normally reasonable employer, but it is astonishingly poor business strategy that can only be repaired by returning to the bargaining table and reaching a contract with Teamsters Local 100. In the meantime, our members have a right to choose to honor the Local 100 pickets, and we will continue to stand with our brothers and sisters from Cincinnati and support them in their fight for a fair contract.”
Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 8,400 working men and women in the Seattle area. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.