By JENNIFER DENMAN AND JED LOGAN
Staff Writers
GILROY
– More than 80 Graniterock employees take to the picket lines
today for their fourth day of striking against the construction
company’s intentions to hire temporary workers to fill in during
workers’ vacations.
By JENNIFER DENMAN AND JED LOGAN
Staff Writers
GILROY – More than 80 Graniterock employees take to the picket lines today for their fourth day of striking against the construction company’s intentions to hire temporary workers to fill in during workers’ vacations.
Fifteen employees from the Gilroy Teamsters local 287 stopped working at 6 a.m. Tuesday and are now picketing Graniterock facilities. Other employees from local teamsters 890 and 912, who work in Salinas, Seaside, Seaside, Santa Cruz and Watsonville, are all striking.
The two sides are currently negotiating a contract. The previous five-year deal expired May 31, according to Graniterock President Bruce Woolpert.
“We’re not serving our customers and we’re very unhappy about that,” Woolpert said.
He said the two sides do not disagree about financial issues of the contract negotiations, and that he had not expected the strike before it occurred.
Frank Galletos, president of local 890, in Salinas said the strike goes beyond the temporary worker issue.
“We are also fighting for better wages and a health insurance plan that would not have us paying out of out own pockets,” Galletos said.
Woolpert said the Graniterock teamsters union had not been on strike since the 1970s, and there has been no recent history of problems.
“It was a very huge surprise Tuesday morning,” he said.
Woolpert said the company has not previously hired any fill-in workers. Graniterock does intend, however, to hire five or six people to form a pool to help when full-time workers go on vacation. They would be needed primarily during the summer months.
Woolpert said he doesn’t understand the strike, and he speculated the union has concerns that part-time workers may lead to other changes in the future.
“I actually think it’s more ‘Boogey-man’ thinking, that this could erupt into something else,” he said.
Woolpert said the only purpose for the additional workers is to maximize the number of drivers available. He mentioned bus drivers or retirees from Graniterock as possibilities for the part-time positions. The company currently has 120 retired drivers.
Projects at KB homes located at Fort Ord, in Monterey and the University of Santa Cruz are at a standstill,” said Val Carrillo, a teamster for Salinas and Seaside. He said that if negotiations are not finished in the next couple of days that those two places will probably hire new companies to complete the work.
Woolpert said he is ready to negotiate now. The Teamsters Union has requested a federal mediator to help resolve the issue.
“I’m available all day today (Thursday) and all day tonight,” he said.
Negotiations began at 10 a.m. today, and Teamsters hope to reach an agreement soon, or continue striking, Carrillo said.
“We are willing to meet at anytime so the employees can go back to work,” Galletos said.
