homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Construction


print  email to a friend  reprints add to mydjc  

August 21, 2018

Operating engineers strike at area construction sites

Members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 last night voted to strike local job sites starting today.

The strike affects crane operators, concrete pumpers, dirt and paving crews, and hoisting and material handling crews.

Members turned down the second tentative agreement between union negotiators and the Associated General Contractors of Washington, which represents construction companies.

The strike affects Local 302 members in districts 1-4. It does not affect people working under project labor or community workforce agreements, and people working under the West Coast Drill Shaft and Refinery Building Trades agreements.

Crews at Skanska are not affected because Skanska uses a different collective bargaining agreement with a different expiration date.

The ballot count wasn’t immediately available.

The second tentative agreement offered workers a 15 percent increase in total compensation over three years. Hourly wages would have increased nearly 16 percent over three years. The current top level wage is $41.29 an hour and would have risen to $47.84.

In an Aug. 6 letter to union members, Daren Konopaski, Local 302 international vice president and business manger, wrote that the agreement was the contractors’ final offer.

The current contract expired June 1.




Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.