Strike affecting Coke deliveries despite contingency plan
SEATTLE -- Anger is mounting among the 500 Coca-Cola employees who walked off their jobs as the ripple effects of the strike are spreading across the Puget Sound area.
Seeing the company utilizing temporary workers in their absence, the workers who decided to strike amid a deadlock in negotiations are irked, and unafraid to show it.
The strikers minced no words as they addressed the temporary, non-union drivers pulled out of the company's Bellevue plant.
"What's up, you coward? Do you sleep at night? Look at these guys in the eye," said one worker.
"Scabs are just coming in from anywhere and taking food from our family's table. They're coming in, and it's just not right at all," said Shawn O'Neill, a union employee.
Some of the company's managers hit the delivery route on Wednesday, but temporary workers took over on Thursday.
"Today a large passenger van dropped off about 20 to 25 scabs. We don't think that they're employees or management of Coca-Cola," said Tracey Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 117 and the lead negotiator for Washington Teamsters United.
The disgruntled workers, who are members of six local chapters of the Teamsters, went on strike on Monday claiming the company failed to bargain in good faith with employees, resulting in a deadlock in negotiations, which began in April. The workers have been working without a contract since May 15, when their last contract expired.
The workers said the company on Wednesday canceled their health care through the end of August even though they've already paid their premium. The union, which claims the company is trying to eliminate health care for retirees and to raise employees' health care premiums by 800 percent, said its members expected to have health coverage until the end of the month.
However, Bob Phillips, Coca-Cola's vice president of public affairs, said the company did not cancel the workers' health care coverage as punishment. He said the workers were paid only through Aug. 14, and a fee scheduled to be deducted from employees' Sept. 3 paycheck was to cover health care from Aug. 15 to Aug. 28. Because the coverage has been canceled, Phillips said no medical deductions will be made on the next paycheck.
On the issue of the company's long-term plans with health care coverage for retirees, Phillips said, "Cost management imperatives, in what is a very difficult economic environment, mandate that we not overspend. Retiree medical is one of the most expensive benefit issues we deal with."
The workers walked off the job on Monday, sending the company scrambling for temporary replacements while assuring customers Coke product deliveries will not suffer.
But it appears the strike is, in fact, slowing the flow of Coca-Cola products in Western Washington.
Jennifer Oberlander runs the Gateway Gas and Deli in Snoqualmie. She was expecting a delivery of Coca-Cola products on Thursday, but it never showed.
And the timing could not be worse as she's expecting a big weekend with the Boeing Classic Golf Tournament expected to bring in some 60,000 people to the area. Oberlander doesn't have nearly enough to serve the crowds.
"I have six bottles of Coke, eight bottles of Diet - that's it. I'm out," she said.
Oberlander couldn't get any answers from her Coke contact. When KOMO News contacted the company, a representative said Coke would do its best to make an express delivery on Friday. There is no guarantee, but the message from Coca-Cola did give Oberlander some sense of reassurance.
"It's something. It's a step in the right direction. It's what I need," she said.
Phillips said the company is continuing to produce and distribute Coke products throughout the area.
"We have a very strong contingency plan in place. We're looking forward to negotiations to resolve the situation," he said.
The strike affects all six Coca-Cola plants in Western Washington with workers hitting the picket line in 10-hour shifts.
According to the Teamsters, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is investigating the company for violations of federal labor law, including surveillance of its employees, and threatening to retaliate against workers for engaging in protected activities. The workers said managers watched and intimidated employee who handed out leaflets outlining their gripe outside Qwest Field and supermarkets.
"It's total intimidation when your managers are there and you're doing something to highlight what the company has been engaged in. And management is there taking pictures of you -- that's incredibly intimidating," said Thompson.
The company and the Teamsters are returning to the negotiating table some time next week.
Seeing the company utilizing temporary workers in their absence, the workers who decided to strike amid a deadlock in negotiations are irked, and unafraid to show it.
The strikers minced no words as they addressed the temporary, non-union drivers pulled out of the company's Bellevue plant.
"What's up, you coward? Do you sleep at night? Look at these guys in the eye," said one worker.
"Scabs are just coming in from anywhere and taking food from our family's table. They're coming in, and it's just not right at all," said Shawn O'Neill, a union employee.
Some of the company's managers hit the delivery route on Wednesday, but temporary workers took over on Thursday.
"Today a large passenger van dropped off about 20 to 25 scabs. We don't think that they're employees or management of Coca-Cola," said Tracey Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 117 and the lead negotiator for Washington Teamsters United.
The disgruntled workers, who are members of six local chapters of the Teamsters, went on strike on Monday claiming the company failed to bargain in good faith with employees, resulting in a deadlock in negotiations, which began in April. The workers have been working without a contract since May 15, when their last contract expired.
The workers said the company on Wednesday canceled their health care through the end of August even though they've already paid their premium. The union, which claims the company is trying to eliminate health care for retirees and to raise employees' health care premiums by 800 percent, said its members expected to have health coverage until the end of the month.
However, Bob Phillips, Coca-Cola's vice president of public affairs, said the company did not cancel the workers' health care coverage as punishment. He said the workers were paid only through Aug. 14, and a fee scheduled to be deducted from employees' Sept. 3 paycheck was to cover health care from Aug. 15 to Aug. 28. Because the coverage has been canceled, Phillips said no medical deductions will be made on the next paycheck.
On the issue of the company's long-term plans with health care coverage for retirees, Phillips said, "Cost management imperatives, in what is a very difficult economic environment, mandate that we not overspend. Retiree medical is one of the most expensive benefit issues we deal with."
The workers walked off the job on Monday, sending the company scrambling for temporary replacements while assuring customers Coke product deliveries will not suffer.
But it appears the strike is, in fact, slowing the flow of Coca-Cola products in Western Washington.
Jennifer Oberlander runs the Gateway Gas and Deli in Snoqualmie. She was expecting a delivery of Coca-Cola products on Thursday, but it never showed.
And the timing could not be worse as she's expecting a big weekend with the Boeing Classic Golf Tournament expected to bring in some 60,000 people to the area. Oberlander doesn't have nearly enough to serve the crowds.
"I have six bottles of Coke, eight bottles of Diet - that's it. I'm out," she said.
Oberlander couldn't get any answers from her Coke contact. When KOMO News contacted the company, a representative said Coke would do its best to make an express delivery on Friday. There is no guarantee, but the message from Coca-Cola did give Oberlander some sense of reassurance.
"It's something. It's a step in the right direction. It's what I need," she said.
Phillips said the company is continuing to produce and distribute Coke products throughout the area.
"We have a very strong contingency plan in place. We're looking forward to negotiations to resolve the situation," he said.
The strike affects all six Coca-Cola plants in Western Washington with workers hitting the picket line in 10-hour shifts.
According to the Teamsters, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is investigating the company for violations of federal labor law, including surveillance of its employees, and threatening to retaliate against workers for engaging in protected activities. The workers said managers watched and intimidated employee who handed out leaflets outlining their gripe outside Qwest Field and supermarkets.
"It's total intimidation when your managers are there and you're doing something to highlight what the company has been engaged in. And management is there taking pictures of you -- that's incredibly intimidating," said Thompson.
The company and the Teamsters are returning to the negotiating table some time next week.