Lawsuit over 2017 strike threatens to undermine federal labor law
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced he’s leading a coalition of 16 attorneys general in an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court defending workers’ rights.
Glacier Northwest Inc v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174 potentially threatens workers’ right to strike and the effectiveness of the National Labor Relations Act. Washington and its multistate partners filed the “friend-of-the-court” brief late last week.
“The right to strike is critical to workers’ ability to advocate for themselves, and rightly protected under federal law,” Ferguson said. “My office will stand up for workers’ rights.”
Glacier Northwest, which also does business as CalPortland, provides construction services and building materials, including concrete. In 2017, Glacier and Teamsters Local 174 were in a labor dispute. Their collective bargaining agreement had expired, and in the course of negotiating a new one, the local called a strike.
When the strike was called, some Glacier drivers were in the process of delivering mixed concrete, but left the job to participate in the strike. The mixed concrete became unusable, and Glacier later filed a lawsuit against the union. Glacier argued this was an intentional destruction of property not protected by the union’s right to strike.
The Washington State Supreme Court disagreed, finding that, while “employees must take reasonable precautions...
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