Dairy Workers End Strike, But May Not Get Jobs Back Both Sides Losers In Walkout

Broadview Dairy factory workers called off a 13-week-old strike Friday and said they’re ready to go back to work.

But company officials said few positions are immediately available for the remaining 14 Teamsters Union members.

“There aren’t positions for everyone, but hopefully we’ll expand the business with this new structure in place and can hire more people,” said Art Coffey, chief operating officer of Goodale & Barbieri Cos., which owns the dairy.

The Teamsters’ action ends a bitter battle at the downtown milk bottling company. Pickets lost thousands of dollars in income without gaining any concessions, while the company lost at least one major customer and took some public relations blows.

“Everyone got a bloody nose out of this deal,” said Richard Solberg, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Union Local No. 582.

Of the 45 workers represented by the Teamsters when the strike began Nov. 1, only 14 were left at the end.

Most positions at Broadview Dairy were filled by permanent replacement workers and Teamsters who crossed the picket line.

Located at Washington Street and Cataldo Avenue, the 86-year-old dairy is managed by G&B, a diversified hotel, real estate and ticketing company. Broadview Dairy is one of two remaining commercial milk bottlers in Spokane, competing with Darigold Inc.

The Teamsters will continue to represent about 45 positions unless the workers vote to decertify the union, Solberg said.

Since the strike began, Broadview factory workers have been working under a new contract that the owners believe will return the company to profitability.

By accepting Broadview’s terms, Teamsters members take a 67 cent per hour pay cut and sacrifice automatic contributions to workers’ pensions. The union had offered to take a $2.37 per hour pay cut if Broadview would fully fund the pension and medical plan.

Broadview’s employee benefits package is worth $19.60 per hour, G&B said. Employees also become eligible for profit-sharing that pays them a 25-cent-per-hour bonus on every $100,000 in net profit garnered by the company.

Broadview lost at least one contract during the strike, while G&B lost some of its luster as the company that rescued the historic dairy and 80 employees from bankruptcy five years ago.

Last month, the company lost a $137,500 contract with the giant Mead School District because of leaky cartons and soured milk. Al Swanson, Mead assistant superintendent for finance, said the problems forced the 7,700-student district to transfer the business to Darigold.

“We didn’t take this lightly,” Swanson said. “We tried to work with the company.”

Coffey blamed the problem on Broadview Dairy’s milk carton supplier, which has been replaced.

But the Teamsters blamed replacement workers. A continuation of the strike might have made it difficult for the company to operate, Solberg said.

“If we kept this up and jeopardized more accounts, at some point there might not be any jobs to go back to,” he said.

Teamsters also won support from construction trade unions, whose pension funds are financing the Crescent Court Annex downtown, a G&B development. The unions said the Teamsters strike raises questions about whether they will finance future G&B real estate projects.

, DataTimes