Bellingham Cold Storage workers on strike. Here’s why
More than 100 workers at Bellingham Cold Storage went on strike Thursday, July 1, protesting what they say is the company’s unwillingness to negotiate on a new contract.
Workers with picket signs were at both the Roeder Avenue and Orchard Drive facilities after the strike started at 8 a.m. The workers plan on continuing the strike until the company shows a desire to negotiate, said Rich Ewing, secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters Local 231. About 115 people went on strike, with many of the positions involving forklift operations at the two cold storage facilities.
The strike comes at a crucial time not just for the storage company, but for local berry farmers. The raspberry and blueberry harvests are underway and many of the high-quality berries are quick-frozen and stored in places such as BCS.
On its website, the company said it has initiated a preparedness plan to have dozens of skilled warehouse workers on-site within hours of the strike happening.
“The company is prepared to operate indefinitely,” according to the post.
The two sides had been working on a contract since November, but negotiations have broken down in the past month after the company submitted its final offer. Union leaders decided the last offer was unacceptable and staged a 30-hour strike starting on Friday, June 18. After that 30-hour strike, progress appeared to be made as the company and the union agreed to set up a meeting with a federal mediator.
Setting up a meeting date has proven difficult, however, leading to the current strike. Union leaders said they were willing to meet on Thursday, but the company said they couldn’t make it on that date. On the BCS website, the company said it was willing to meet on Monday, July 12, but that the union was unable to make that date.
“As a result, it appears that we will all three need to search for a better date sometime in mid-July that works for the federal mediator, the Teamsters and the company,” according to a post on the cold storage’s website.
Ewing said they believe the company is just stringing them along, delaying a chance at negotiating. The two sides differ on several compensation issues, including health care, wages and pension benefits.
“It’s become clear that they are not interested in negotiating,” Ewing said.
As of 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Ewing said he had not noticed any new workers at the facility and that none of the union workers had crossed the picket line at the Roeder Avenue facility, where he was picketing.
Ewing said that the striking workers have received overwhelming support from the community, noting the car honking of support that was taking place during a telephone interview.
“It’s disappointing that this is the employer Bellingham Cold Storage has become, it didn’t used to be this way,” Ewing said, referring to the company’s purchase by a Seattle investment group called The Joshua Green Corp. in 2018.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 11:29 AM.
