Seattle-area carpenters on strike, slowing construction projects across the region

For the first time in nearly two decades, hundreds of Washington carpenters quit their jobs Thursday, slowing down construction site work, and demanding better pay.

With 56% to 44% votes over the weekend, the members of the Northwest Carpenters Union rejected a preliminary contract and approved a strike. Pickets were planned for early Thursday morning.

The strike is expected to halt the work of carpenters on hundreds of construction projects across the region, from construction sites with few carpenters to large-scale projects, according to the union. Affected locations include Microsoft office projects on Eastside and Vulcans Block 38, a mixed-use office project in Seattle on Westlake Avenue and Mercer Street.

However, the impact of the strike may appear muted to the general public. Most of the city’s largest projects, such as the Climate Pledge Arena and the construction of the Sound Transit light rail, have reached agreements preventing a strike. In these locations, unionized carpenters will continue to work and pay part of their wages into a strike fund to aid those who have left. About 2,000 of the approximately 12,000 union members work in locations where they can strike, according to the union.

Carpenters say they are pushing for bigger pay hikes on their next contract to keep up with the cost of living.

The strike also reveals divisions in the union, whose members have rejected four tentative agreements this year. In the last vote, some ordinary members rallied against the proposal, while others pushed for a “yes” vote. In the run-up to the strike, some members wondered why the union had no intention of demonstrating more sites, and the union leadership warned members not to engage in unauthorized wildcat strikes and failures.

“We were unable to unite under this agreement. It’s time we got together on a strike, ”said Evelyn Shapiro, union manager and treasurer.

The Association of General Contractors of Washington, which represents carpenters’ employers, says it has offered workers a “strong package” of pay increases. Contractors “intend to continue doing their business,” the association announced this week in a written update to employers.

In a statement released Thursday after the strike began, the AGC said it was “disappointed and at a loss that the union is continuing this strike after such a robust and competitive package deal”. High construction costs can “push developers into other markets, increase the loss of market share in the Union and potentially reduce carpentry hours,” the AGC said. The two sides have not yet set a further negotiation date, the union said on Wednesday.

The latest four-year contract, which was rejected by union membership, included a “total package increase” of $ 13.25, including salaries and benefits.

Currently, wages range between $ 46.92 and $ 48.42 an hour. The latest offer would have increased wages by about $ 9.40 an hour over a four-year period, according to the union. According to the union, pension contributions would have gradually increased from $ 8.60 an hour to $ 11.15 an hour over the four-year tenure.

Union members who opposed the deal are calling for a $ 15 increase over three years and a better parking fee, said Joe Sosa, a carpenter who voted against the latest contract proposal.

Contractors would “make millions, but they don’t want to pass those profits on to the grassroots,” Sosa said.

“Seattle has been booming since 2010,” said John McCallum, who also voted no. “Every time the contract is signed, the same bullshit is spat: ‘We did our best. We’ll make you better next time. ‘ … It is coming to a head and we have to stand up for ourselves. “

Lee Carter, an ordinary member who was on the negotiating committee and backed the latest deal, said that because of the hot Washington real estate market, many carpenters live far from the downtown projects they are building. Other costs, such as parking, gasoline and childcare, also eat into their wages. The cost of retirement is looming.

“Some people want more money in their retirement. Some want more on the check, ”Carter said. “Each member will have a different situation.”

Members who voted no “tell us, ‘Hey, that’s not good enough,'” Carter said. “As a member of the negotiation team, I say ‘OK. It’s not good enough for my members. I have to work harder. ‘”

David D’Hondt, executive vice president of AGC, declined to comment beyond the group’s written statements on the Internet. In this week’s update to employers, the group said that “unions’ market share and competitiveness are of primary concern”.

“It is important that every carpenter understands the major challenges of market share erosion and increased open business competition that all Union Carpenters, their families, their union and their employer face,” the AGC wrote.

The work stoppage won’t be the first to hit Seattle’s booming construction industry in recent years. Crane operators and other construction workers went on strike for 17 days in 2018. Concrete truck drivers were on strike for about a week in 2017, and glaziers on strike for about three weeks in 2016.

Washington’s carpenters’ union last struck in 2003, and that of Oregon in 2007, the union said.

Although American union participation is well below the levels of the 1940s and 1950s, Washington’s progressive policies and Seattle’s long union history have strengthened the unions here, said Jake Grumbach, an assistant professor at the University of Washington who teaches courses on local politics and labor.

Blue-collar workers have shown increasing interest in unions and strikes in recent years, fueled by gaping economic inequality and political movements such as the rise of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Grumbach said.

More recently, the pandemic has exposed the working conditions of workers ranging from grocery stores to meat packers to building trades.

“If work is really important to keeping the economy going in a crisis like this, workers may feel encouraged to exercise their power,” Grumbach said.