Seattle’s cement workers strike over low wages and unfair labor practices | Seattle

“Every day is different,” said Tim Davis, a concrete mixer truck driver in the Seattle, Washington, area.

The work Davis and his coworkers do on a daily basis provides the foundation for every big construction and infrastructure project in the region, with long hours and varying start times every workday, leaving little time to spend with family. “We live in those trucks day in and day out,” Davis said.

He is one of 330 concrete mixer drivers and plant workers – represented by Teamsters Local 174 – who have been on a general strike over unfair labor practices, accusing their employers of refusing to negotiate in good faith. The striking workers afraid employers want to purge unionized workers from the area’s construction industry and attempt to bankrupt the union through litigation.

The strike is reverberating through the construction industry in and around Seattle, which has the second most construction cranes of any city in the US and has been leading the country’s construction boom since the pandemic hit. Hundreds of contractors have been laid off as construction projects have ground to a halt or been forced to reduce operations without concrete, and layoffs are expected to continue as the strike drags on.

“The industry is moving forward and we’re falling behind,” added Davis. “The employers say they are family run, but I would never treat family like that. We were out on the picket lines through the holidays in the cold and there’s over 300 other guys out there. They all have families and their healthcare or medical is up this month. That affects 300 families and there are others now being laid off and that affects their families.”

Some 34 dump truck drivers began striking on 19 November at Gary Merlino Construction, with about 100 workers joining the strike on 1 December. The remaining workers launched an industry wide strike on 4 December at six different employers that dominate the concrete industry in the Seattle area: Gary Merlino Construction, Stoneway Concrete, Cadman, CalPortland, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel and Lehigh Cement. Workers voted unanimously in favor of authorizing the strike.

The companies’ lead negotiator, president of Gary Merlino Construction Charlie Oliver, did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

The workers’ contract expired on 31 July 2021, and they had worked without a contract for months before walking off the job in response to the stalled negotiations.

“Since the contract expired, we’ve gotten nowhere. It’s actually gotten worse,” said Todd Parker, a concrete driver at Cadman Seattle and member of the bargaining committee. “What we’d like to see is what everybody else got this year. We just want to be treated as equally as everyone else and they’re not right now.”

Workers have argued employers’ proposals for a new union contract included less compensation than other construction industry workers in the area receive, and would result in a decrease in compensation over the next three years, with inflation and the high cost of living in the area taken into account. The union has also claimed employers refuse to fund healthcare for retirees, even though the union offered to cover any cost increases.

“For the last two years we have been deemed essential workers fighting through this pandemic. You think we’d be met with just a little bit of appreciation and gratitude, but that sure hasn’t been the case,” said Brett Gallagher, a concrete mix driver at CalPortland and bargaining committee member.

Gallagher emphasized the pride he takes in his work, along with his coworkers, who get to see and help lay the foundation the rest of the building trades build upon. But he argued that concrete workers shouldn’t be treated with any less respect, as most of the office workers at their employers have been working from home throughout most of the pandemic.

“We’re fighting for not just us, but for everybody else in these trades and everybody else in our communities,” added Gallagher. “A lot of us have families, some with young kids. I have three children myself who depend on my medical insurance. I’ve got child support to pay and this is tough. It was tough to tell them that it was going to be a lean Christmas this year and they wonder why. It’s because a few people decided they don’t want to sit and talk to us like grownups.”