The concrete truck driver's strike that put a four month speed bump in the work on the West Seattle Bridge never truly ended and could be back on said Teamster's Local 174. on Aug. 1. Now the Seattle Department of Transportation confirms that if a work stoppage resumes it could in fact delay the reopening of the West Seattle Bridge, set for the week of Sept. 12.

The need when they walked out back on Dec. 4 was for highly specialized concrete to form the anchors inside the girders of the bridge, some able to support 20 million pounds. But when the union resumed work, even without an agreement, that work was able to get done. 

But SDOT Press Secretary Ethan Bergerson told WestSide Seattle today that a delay could in fact happen. "We’re watching the contract situation closely, as concrete is an important part of nearly all transportation projects. While it is our expectation that concrete will continue to be delivered to the West Seattle Bridge over the coming weeks, if concrete were to become unavailable for the West Seattle Bridge then we wouldn’t be able to proceed with the project on its current schedule."

SDOT has said that they will provide 30 days notice on the actual opening date, which means it could come as early as 9 to 10 days from now if there are no delays.

The union has worked without a contract since August of 2021. The concrete companies affected have not issued a public statement.

Teamster's Local 174 released a statement regarding the strike here:

A full year after the expiration of their contract, the group of Teamsters Local 174 members working in the concrete industry have again voted overwhelmingly to reject the latest subpar offer from their Employers. This secret-ballot vote held by this group sends a clear message to the Employers and makes the strongest point since late 2021, when they voted 212-1 to reject an earlier substandard offer. Since then, multiple similar offers have been rejected by voice vote, ultimately leading to the group walking off the job in an Unfair Labor Practice strike that lasted 145 days.

The Union returned to the members to work in April in a gesture of good faith as contract negotiations continued with help from federal mediators; however, the group of Employers have remained steadfast in their proposal leading to today’s strong rejection by the Teamster members.

“This entire contract negotiation process has felt like the Twilight Zone in terms of how little sense the Companies are making,” said CalPortland driver and bargaining committee member Brett Gallagher. “From the beginning, our demands have been clear and reasonable. There’s nothing outrageous at all, but these companies just will not listen. It blows my mind that somehow, we are painted as the villains because we want a fair deal for our families.”

“Today we told them again that their offer isn’t good enough – which they should have known after 145 days without a single Teamster mixer driver crossing the picket lines, but apparently they needed to hear that message again,” said Denny Emerson, a Cadman driver and bargaining committee member. “It feels like we’ve rejected this same offer 20 times at this point, but now the ball is back in their court and it’s time for them to make a real move in their proposal rather than continuing to move the deck chairs around on the Titanic. Make a real proposal that we can all vote for and let’s get back to the business of delivering concrete and move on with our lives.”

Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 8,600 working men and women in Seattle and the surrounding areas. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.