Coca-Cola products could soon be harder to find in Western Washington.
Hundreds of Swire Coca-Cola employees have authorized a strike if their unions fail to reach a deal on their contracts with the company.
The employees are represented by a coalition of five local unions and include drivers, production workers, merchandisers, mechanics and sales representatives.
Negotiations between the unions and the company began in late April. Both parties have negotiated for two weeks, according to Teamsters 117. The contracts expire on Thursday, and workers are prepared to walk off the job if a deal is not reached.
“They’ve worked several years now under a contract that didn’t recognize them fairly for the inflation, their cost of living, fuel costs, grocery costs, everything else, while at the same time, they have real issues with the health care providers that the company has contracted with,” said Paul Dascher, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters 117.
“We don’t take it lightly,” said forklift operator Tyson Baker of a possible strike.
Baker said that without better healthcare benefits and a more livable wage, he’s not sure he could stay at the company.
“You don’t want to live paycheck-to-paycheck and horribly terrified, ‘What happens if I get seriously injured? How am I going to pay my bills?’” he said.
A representative with Swire Coca-Cola said the company and union representatives will continue to meet and negotiate.
“We are negotiating in good faith with union representatives and are optimistic we will reach agreement on a fair and equitable contract,” wrote the representative in a statement.
If a strike moves forward, the unions say it would “effectively shut down production and distribution of all Coca-Cola products to stores across Western Washington as early as Thursday.”
Local stores that carry Coca-Cola products say it would have a big impact.
“Coke products sell quite well at all of our locations,” said Luisa Koerber, Store Director at Kitchen & Market. “We’ll run out really quickly, and we’ll have some customers definitely asking for the products.”
Koerber said that whatever happens, the store is prepared to navigate it.
“We’ll lean into giving great service and delivering bad news with a smile, and we’ll focus on other products,” she said. “Sometimes the supply chain is beyond our control.”
Negotiations will continue between the parties on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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