Hundreds of Seattle area concrete mixer drivers who have been on strike for more than three months will begin returning to work Monday, though they still have not reached a deal with their employers.
Teamsters Local 174 said Friday afternoon that all of the more than 300 drivers on strike have "offered an unconditional return to work starting on Monday."
"This won't stop the negotiations. It will just stop people thinking we're to blame and we're the bad guys," said Brett Gallagher, a mixer driver and member of the bargaining committee. "We have a lot of mud to get done and lot of people to get back to work."
The concrete companies whose employees are on strike did not immediately comment Friday.
The months-long strike has ground many local construction projects to a halt and led to scores of layoffs in other trades. Developers and politicians have urged both sides to reach a deal. Friday's offer comes several weeks after the union sent a portion of its drivers back to work, citing the need for concrete on high-profile infrastructure projects such as the West Seattle Bridge.
The union notified the concrete companies of the return Friday morning and some members soon began receiving dispatch calls about their work assignments for Monday, Gallagher said. Others have not received word yet when they might be called back.
As the strike has gone on, some local concrete suppliers have turned to replacement workers and so-called "ghost trucks" to keep concrete moving across the Teamsters picket lines. A handful of union members have also crossed the line. And pressure has mounted as hundreds of employees in other trades have been laid off.
"The majority of us are ready to stay out for another year, but what would that do to the region?" Gallagher said. "We can't keep asking our brothers and sisters who honor us in every other trade to keep suffering along with us. ... I think we've asked that long enough. We've got to try something else."
Negotiation sessions have dragged on with help from mediators but little apparent progress, including on one key sticking point about improvements to a retiree health care plan. On Wednesday, bargaining stretched on for 13 hours, Gallagher said.
"The mediators are throwing their hands up. We're throwing our hands up. The companies are throwing their hands up," he said.
The concrete companies have defended their negotiations, saying they are bargaining "in good faith and in a professional manner."
