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Originally Posted by RANDY P
That strike was from Glacier refusing to sign the new payrate increases for the Concrete union. It the first time ever for Stoneway concrete to go under strike under Gary Merlino. It always comes close, but this time it happened.
Hung up the whole industry for weeks with that stunt. Jobs were backordered and construction halted in a lot of places while they waited for this nonsense to end.
My buddy is a 20 year employee of Stoneway, and I can attest that his income hasn't gone up with the cost of living. He was considered well off 10 years ago, now he's just getting by. From what I gather the Union that represents him isn't out of control like some.
rjp
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This is a very, very interesting story. There are aspects I would not discuss here, but would gladly discuss over a beverage. The union was going after more wages. The wages there are, in my opinion, soft. All or nearly all those workers live 2+ hours away. Those wages do not support housing prices in Seattle, and the plant is downtown. Merlino had no choice. Glacier does not just own a competing concrete business, it also owns the cement (the active ingredient in concrete) that supplies the other concrete-makers. They are at Glacier's mercy. The thing that made that strike especially scary is that the guy pulling the levers at Glacier is a determined union-buster, his tactics are brutal and he doesn't give a **** about the community. Glacier is multinational. They could screw the entire Seattle construction industry for a year and not notice any impact on itself. Everyone got involved in that one. The Governor, for example. Again, there are aspects of that story I would prefer to discuss over a beverage.