Omaha Steve's Labor Group

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