Cement workers’ strike may pave way for more employer lawsuits against unions

On January 10, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that—if it goes the company’s way—would give employers more leeway to circumvent the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) process and go straight to the friendlier venue of a state court when a union’s strike tactics have caused economic damage. This would upend decades of National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) case law disallowing maverick state court actions under these circumstances.

Strike by cement mix workers against Glacier Northwest, Inc.

Glacier Northwest is a ready-mix company in Washington state. The mixing truck drivers who deliver concrete to its customers are represented by Teamsters Local 174.

After a bargaining disputed boiled over in August 2017, the union timed a sudden cessation of work to start after a fleet of trucks had already been loaded, leaving a large quantity of concrete at risk of hardening in their mixing drums. After returning to work but before joining the picket line, the drivers took care to keep the engines on and keep the mixers circulating, but some trucks ran out of gas, hardening the cement within the mixer and rendering it unusable.

The strike lasted one week before the parties reached a new collective bargaining agreement, but the conflict wasn’t over. The company sued in state court, seeking monetary damages for “tortious interference” with its financial interest because of the union’s “coordinated sabotage.”