![]() “The owners have been absorbing most of these costs. According to Johnson, the demand for third-party haulers is what’s responsible for the 250% to 300% increase in price for the building material. ![]() Leon Johnson, president of Greater Seattle Concrete, a contractor that works most often with CalPortland (Glacier), disputes the idea that their contracts with suppliers have changed over the course of the strike. “This would create an opportunity for the companies to invalidate their prior quotes to contractors.” “As concrete is sold to contractors via sales contracts whereby a concrete manufacturer provides a per yard quote for specific jobs and then a contractor accepts the quote by signing, it is believed that those contracts may allow manufacturers to increase their price quotes based on significant changes to the union contract,” Constantine’s correspondence with Ferguson reads. The shop steward claims that the recent average price was closer to $120. Concrete order receipts from third-party contractors indicate their price ranges between $350 and $360 per cubic yard. Concrete prices riseĪ shop steward for Cadman Seattle and Teamsters Local 174 representative tells MyNorthwest that the price of concrete had risen three-fold in recent months, noting that per-yard concrete can currently be priced as high as $500 after its sold directly to developers. ![]() While the financial cost’s relationship to the concrete strike is attributed to multiple variables, the price of concrete in the region is undeniably higher than when the strike began industry-wide Dec. Those cost inflations prompted the group to request that the mayor broker a deal between the region’s affordable housing projects and labor to initiate “a collaborative conversation with the union about purchasing concrete from outside of King County,” citing “a moral obligation to the low-income and vulnerable populations we serve to find a way to resume our work immediately.” “If the delays continue through June or July as projected, then the total financial cost to these affordable housing projects is likely to be at least $30 million,” the group states. The companies previously stated that they required five days to process the partial return-to-work offer after the Teamsters’ Monday announcement. The union claims that despite the Teamsters’ offer to return to work at Cadman Seattle, Lehigh Cement, and Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel to resume key infrastructure projects, only four of a potential 31 Cadman workers have actually been on the job as of Tuesday. Such an event would likely increase the companies’ power at the bargaining table,” Constantine writes. “Local 174 members have reported hearing from representatives of the companies that they are planning to force members to strike into the spring, which will cause members’ healthcare coverage to lapse. The Teamsters and suppliers met once again on Wednesday, March 23, but failed to reach an agreement. Writing to the attorney general, Constantine alleges that the employers could be intentionally allowing the strike to continue into the spring, even as the union has made it clear that it is willing to fold certain strike lines to resume work on fundamental construction projects.
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