February 23, 2022

Concrete flows at Seattle project

Photos by Benjamin Minnick

With a mixer truck parked to the side, the crane at The Jack jobsite lifts a bucket full of concrete.

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Freshly poured forms can be spotted at The Jack.

Spotted Tuesday at the Urban Visions jobsite near the Seattle waterfront: a concrete mixer truck. And, along with that truck, a concrete bucket pouring columns for the future office building called The Jack at 74 S. Jackson St.

The truck was parked in a fenced loading area on Jackson adjacent to the site. The fence has black screening and the truck had all of its logos — including those on the doors and mixer drum — covered over with white tape or plastic. Newly poured columns in the project's hole could be seen where forms once stood for weeks on end without concrete.

The Jack is being built by JTM Construction

“Over the past several weeks, JTM has been exploring and planning alternative delivery means to get concrete delivered to our projects, and to get our team members, and trade partner employees back to work,” said JTM President Martin O'Leary. “Today we were successful in making concrete deliveries to a few of our project sites. The entire construction industry remains disappointed that the Teamsters and concrete supply companies have not yet settled their dispute.”

All this comes as the strike by Teamsters Local 174 will mark its third month next week. Over 300 sand and gravel workers with Local 174 went on strike Dec. 3 over wages and benefits. They are striking against Gary Merlino Construction Co. and five concrete suppliers: Glacier Northwest/CalPortland, Stoneway Concrete, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel Co., Cadman and Lehigh Cement.

The union posted a copy of a Feb. 18 email from Patty Warren, director of negotiations for 174, to Gary Merlino Construction President Charlie Oliver. That email said the union doesn't believe it's productive to negotiate through a third party, and instead called for face-to-face negotiations. The companies have been calling for mediation.

Emotions apparently have been running high on the picket lines. An online post Monday by four of the companies participating in the collective bargaining said there has been racial taunting, threats of physical violence, reports of physical altercation, property damage, harassment of non-striking employees, and blocking ingress and egress to production plants, which has created unsafe conditions.

The union refuted those claims online.

The companies say King County Superior Court Commissioner Mark Hillman on Feb. 18 issued a temporary restraining order that limits actions of all parties at the strike locations. A union post said this order was expected to go into effect on Tuesday.