Group of nearly 100 concrete drivers are members of Teamsters Local 174

Stoneway Concrete drivers joined their Gary Merlino Construction (GMC) brothers and sisters on the picket lines today, beginning an Unfair Labor Practice strike over their Employer’s failure to bargain in good faith. The group of nearly 100 concrete mixer drivers had been honoring the GMC strike for nearly two weeks, but today they officially began picketing in an attempt to force their Employer back to the bargaining table.

The GMC strike began on November 19 after GMC lead negotiator Charlie Oliver refused to bargain in good faith for a contract to cover 34 dump truck drivers. Oliver is also the lead negotiator for the Sand & Gravel Common Clauses Agreement, which includes Stoneway, Cadman, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel, CalPortland, and Lehigh Cement. Those contract negotiations have been stalled for months, and members voted unanimously on August 1 to authorize a strike.

“I’m not sure why the Merlino Brothers have chosen Charlie Oliver to play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge this Christmas, but that is exactly what they’ve done and their workers are paying the price for it,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “If they really cared about their employees the way they claim to, they need to come back to the bargaining table and let’s negotiate a contract that rewards the hard work our members have performed day in and day out throughout Seattle’s construction boom.”

Stoneway is the only concrete company currently on strike with Teamsters Local 174, with picket lines active 24 hours a day.

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.