March 26, 2020

Since Governor Inslee finally announced his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order Monday evening, we have spent the last two days doing our best to figure out which of our employers can continue to operate under the order. Now that the order has gone into effect as of midnight last night, we are still left full of questions about several of our industries. Unsurprisingly, most of the services provided by the members of Local 174 are considered “essential” under the order – many of which are in critical industries like sanitation, grocery, fuel hauling, public works, package delivery, etc. As for the rest of the employers within our Local, the issue becomes significantly murkier.

At this time, an overwhelming majority of our employers are claiming they are exempted by some section of the order and will continue to operate as usual in the coming weeks. What remains to be seen is how true these self-made pronouncements really are. We simply do not know if any of these companies will later be told they are not essential and must shut down, or if some that are allowed to operate will make the decision to shut down voluntarily, or if some that are allowed to operate will end up closing temporarily because of the shutdown of some portion of their supply chain.

We had hoped to have more answers for you all, as we know how frustrating it is not getting your questions clearly answered and only having them met with more questions. The staff and leadership of Teamsters Local 174 is just as frustrated as you. We appreciate your trust and patience as we work through this day by day, hour by hour, and sometimes even minute by minute. We encourage you all to find ways to keep in immediate contact with us – “Like” our Facebook page, save your Business Agent’s contact information, build phone trees (official or unofficial) within your work group – anything to aid in the quick dissemination of new information. We are doing our best to get it out to you as soon as we receive it.

Stay safe and stay healthy!