Seattle sand-and-gravel workers plan for strike

A number of workers in the sand-and-gravel industry in Seattle voted to go on strike.

Members of Teamsters Local 174 voted to go on strike after a week of contract negotiations that were allegedly rejected several times, according to Teamsters Local 174. The union represents about 7,200 working men and women in the Seattle area. According to the union, the Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council endorsed individuals in the sand-and-gravel industry on Teamsters Local 174 to go on strike.

“A strike is always a last resort,” says Rick Hicks, Teamsters Local 174 secretary and treasurer. “But at this point, we seem to be running out of options. These employers still just do not get it.”

According to the union, individuals who voted to go on strike include truck drivers and concrete mixers at Cadman, CalPortland, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel and Stoneway, as well as some cement operators at Lehigh Cement Terminal. In addition, drivers in the industry entered contract negotiations with the expectation that the industry’s boom in construction would align with the union’s proposals.

“Construction in the Seattle area is off the charts,” says Todd Parker, an employee at Cadman Seattle and member of Teamsters Local 174. “Just the other day, there was an article in the paper about how Seattle’s construction boom has set another new record. We literally laid the foundation for that construction boom. Now it’s our turn to reap some of the benefits of that.”