Teamsters Local 213 announces 72-hour strike that could bring concrete production to a halt

VANCOUVER – A concrete strike may be looming in the Lower Mainland.

On July 2, Vancouver-based Teamsters Local 213 issued a strike notice to Heidelberg Materials, citing “cameras aimed at the driver, excessive discipline, pension payments and coffee/lunch breaks,” according to the account @TeamstersStrike X.

Heidelberg Materials is a multinational company with cement production facilities in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

After more than eight months, “Teamsters Union Local 213 was forced to give the company a strike notice at 10:50 a.m. this morning. The ‘FIGURE OUT’ part of #FAFO has begun,” said the @TeamstersStrike account.

If a strike were to occur, it would not occur until late Friday morning (PST) at the earliest.

A five-week stoppage by concrete mixer drivers in 2022 brought work to a halt across the Lower Mainland as Rempel employees went on strike and workers at other Metro Vancouver concrete companies refused to break the picket lines.

In a June Journal of Commerce article about delays in the Broadway subway and Pattullo Bridge projects, Vancouver Regional Construction Association President Jeannine Martin commented on the impact of the strike on construction in 2022.

“The feedback from my members is: The industry can cope with a few days, but five weeks? Then the entire supply will come from someone else who is already supplying someone else,” said Martin.

The Journal of Commerce has reached out to both Teamsters Local 213 and Heidelberg Materials for comment, but has not yet received a response.