Seattle-area Teamsters, concrete companies set to meet with federal mediator

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The first sign of progress toward settling Teamsters Local Union No. 174's strike against concrete companies has emerged with news that the two sides are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator Thursday.

Union spokesperson Jamie Fleming confirmed the meeting, writing in an email to the Business Journal that the Teamsters "sincerely hope tomorrow’s negotiations are fruitful. This strike has gone on long enough."

The strike, which began in November at Gary Merlino Construction and expanded Dec. 3 to other concrete suppliers, has slowed work on some large public and private projects and ground it to a halt on others, like a Meta Platforms Inc. office tower in Bellevue's Spring District. The strike impacts are being felt on Sound Transit light rail projects as well as at 11 affordable housing developments.

Fleming did not know the name of the mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent agency that aims to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2022/01/19/teamsters-concrete-companies-meet-mediator.html

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1. Teamsters spokesperson calls first day of concrete strike mediation 'unmitigated failure'

Things did not go well Thursday when workers represented by the Teamsters met with Seattle-area concrete suppliers to start mediating an end to the strike that after two-plus months is crippling the region's construction industry.

While the regional executive manager of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FSMC) said the parties met and that "the door remains open to further conversations," a union spokesperson called the meeting an "unmitigated failure."

The strike by 330 Teamsters at six companies in the construction industry will continue after today’s failed mediation session yielded no progress, said a Thursday evening press release from Teamsters Local No. 174.

The rank-and-file bargaining committee and their union representatives arrived ready to mediate, but representatives of the concrete companies did not, according to the union, which added the two sides are no closer to an agreement.

Schuyler Brazier, a driver at Stoneway Concrete and member of the Teamster bargaining committee, said in the release that he thought the employers would "at least ... pay some lip service towards movement on our big priorities, but they didn’t even bother making a proposal to put us back to work. It’s like they’re proud of how much this strike is hurting everyone, and they want it to go on as long as possible.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2022/01/21/teamsters-spokesperson-calls-first-day.html