Strike halts flow of concrete in King County; light rail, other major projects impacted

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Sound Transit’s light rail expansion faces major delays after a union strike halted the flow of concrete across King County.

It means much of the construction work for light rail and other major projects has come to halt.

About 300 workers in Teamsters Local 174 have been protesting around the clock for two weeks or longer, asking for higher wages.

“Long hours, don’t know when you get to go home to see your family, working in every environment. We worked through COVID,” said Tim Davis, who drives a concrete mixer truck. “It’s frustrating. We just want what everyone else has,” he said.

The union is demanding higher wages as well as health benefits for retirees.

“The wages they’re offering is dramatically below what the other trades have already rejected,” said Jamie Fleming, a spokesperson for Teamsters 174.

Workers for all major concrete suppliers in King County have stopped deliveries and are picketing at these job sites: CalPortland, Cadman, Lehigh Cement, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel, Stoneway Concrete, and Gary Merlino Construction.

“The Teamsters are negotiating with six different companies, five of them are in sand and gravel, and one construction,” Fleming said “They have not spoken to us since the strike started.”

Sound Transit’s light rail expansion is especially hard hit.

“The impact is bad and it’s getting worse,” said Peter Rogoff, CEO of Sound Transit. “We’ve had over 500 deliveries of concrete not happen over the course of the last two weeks. If we can’t get concrete, we’re in a world of hurt.”

Rogoff said crews are doing workarounds where they can, but some construction has stopped. It means about 40 people in other trades already have been laid off at Sound Transit projects alone.

“That’s going to spiral up very quickly,” Rogoff said. “My concern is what’s coming next week and the week after that,” he said.

Rogoff said Sound Transit is in communication with both parties – the suppliers and the union – in hopes negotiations will begin.

“The most depressing thing is they’re not at the table and there’s no talks right now about getting back to the table,” Rogoff said.

Teamsters 174 is getting a lot of community support, including from King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay who joined picketers on Thursday.

“They can’t even get their employers to come to the table and negotiate in good faith,” Zahilay said. “That’s a really unfortunate situation and I think we all need to support the workers and make sure they have the pay they need to survive.”

Fleming said Teamsters 174 plans to continue picketing at six sites around Seattle and King County 24/7 this holiday season. Workers said they are confident their voices will be heard.

“We are in this until we win and that’s it,” Fleming said.

The union said supporters can help by dropping off warm drinks, food, firewood for burn barrels, or by donating online.

KIRO7 reached out to Gary Merlino Construction, the company the union said is leading negotiations for employers – but did not receive a response in time for this story.

A spokesperson with CalPortland emailed a statement on behalf of the concrete companies:

“Glacier Northwest, Stoneway Concrete, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel and Cadman, Inc. have bargained in a coordinated manner with Local 174 and have presented a generous and historic offer that includes wage increases in excess of 17.6% over the next three years, an improvement in pension contributions and continued support of an excellent Medical Benefits Package that includes a longstanding existing Retirees Health and Welfare plan the employees currently pay nothing into.

“The Union leadership has rejected all good faith attempts to mediate and settle this matter. The companies stand ready to resolve this dispute and get back to the business of supplying concrete to our customers.”

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