Press Releases
APP/World Fuel Services Teamsters Authorize Strike
Fuel truck drivers and warehouse workers could strike as soon as December 1st
Press Contact: Jamie Fleming Phone: (425) 281-0166 Email: jfleming@teamsters174.org
This weekend, a group of 90 fuel truck drivers and warehouse workers at APP/World Fuel Services voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against their employer. The group, who are members of Teamsters Local 174, have been in negotiations with APP/WFS as they struggle to achieve their second contract as union members.
This highly-skilled group of drivers is required to hold commercial drivers’ licenses with HAZMAT endorsements and TWIC cards. All drivers that perform this particular work must receive specialized training from the state of Washington in order to access refineries to fill their fuel tanks. These stringent requirements will make the workers impossible to quickly replace if they are forced by the company to take their fight to the street.
“A strike is always a last resort, and it is our sincere hope that APP changes their attitude before that action becomes necessary,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “It is astonishing to me that a company that relies so heavily on the training and certifications of its essential workforce would be so cavalier with worker safety, recruitment and retention. Management continues to violate state laws regarding safety operations and refuses to recognize the value of such a skilled workforce. In fact, they have proposals that at the peak of a worldwide pandemic would cut wages up to 10 percent per hour for our members – who are exposing themselves and their families to a disease that has already killed more than 250,000 Americans in the United States. If APP/World Fuel Services want to pretend these workers are replaceable, we are not afraid to demonstrate to them just how wrong they truly are.”
Now that a strike has been authorized by the membership, workers could walk off the job as early as December 1, which would have a severe impact on businesses throughout the Puget Sound region who receive their fuel deliveries from APP/WFS.
Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 8,600 working men and women in Seattle and the surrounding areas. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.