Glacier Northwest, Inc., is a subsidiary of CalPortland Company incorporated in Washington state.[1][2] It also does business as CalPortland.[2] Its history can be traced back to the 1890s and some of the early building projects around Puget Sound.
History
editThe corporate history of Glacier Northwest begins in the early 20th century and involves several sand and gravel companies in the Seattle-Tacoma area, principally Pioneer Sand & Gravel and Glacier Sand & Gravel. A number of corporate acquisitions and mergers led to the current corporate structure.
Pioneer Sand & Gravel
editThe U.S. Government constructed three new forts in the 1890s to form a "Triangle of Fire" to protect the entrance to Puget Sound: Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, and Fort Casey. The Pacific Bridge Company, a major contractor on these projects, was searching for gravel to produce the large quantities of concrete needed. After several previous sites proved unsuitable, an employee named David Williams discovered a large amount of high-quality gravel at a waterfront site near Steilacoom, Washington, and the company mined there throughout construction of the forts.[3][4] The material was sufficiently uniform that the Army Corps of Engineers used it as a quality standard for gravel obtained elsewhere.[3]
William B. Martin, who worked on the Fort Flagler project, set up the Martin Gravel Company and acquired the mine once the fort projects were complete; sources differ on whether the purchase occurred in 1899[3] or 1905.[4][5] By 1907, two more mines were operating near Martin's property, owned by the Seattle Sand & Gravel Company (started by Horace Middaugh) and Independent Asphalt Paving Company (started by Herman Goetz and Jim Stirrat).[3][4] The companies were all involved in disputes with railroad companies regarding right of way through their properties.[3] Northern Pacific Railway sued Martin Gravel and Independent Asphalt Paving in December 1908 over the issue.[6]
The three companies united to form the Pioneer Sand & Gravel Company in either 1907[3] or 1910,[7][4] in order to push back against railroad companies in a dispute over a through their properties.[3]
The company grew, and by 1927 had six storage bunkers in Seattle, as well as in Bremerton, Olympia, Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, Raymond, and Longview. Pioneer Sand & Gravel supplied sand and gravel for area projects such as Seattle Civic Auditorium, the Lake Washington Floating Bridge, the Aurora Bridge, Husky Stadium, and the dry docks at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and also offered structural steel and other building materials.[3]
In 1959, Pioneer Sand & Gravel Company had net income of $201,342 ($2.1 million in 2023) on sales of $5.9 million ($61.7 million in 2023)[8] and its mine at Steilacoom had grown to become one of the largest in the world.[3] Lone Star Cement of New York, the largest producer of cement in the U.S. at the time, acquired the company on December 1 of that year.[3][9][8] The purchase price was $3,920,000 ($41 million in 2023).[8]
Glacier Sand & Gravel
editAnother company, Glacier Sand & Gravel, began mining on the south side of the Steilacoom site in 1910.[4]
Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters
editOn August 11, 2017, in the midst of contract negotiations between Glacier Northwest and Teamsters Local 174, which represented the company's 80 to 90 truck drivers, the truck drivers went on strike. Some of the drivers did not complete their deliveries and returned their trucks with concrete still in the mixing drums. Concrete begins to harden 20 to 30 minutes after mixing stops, and the trucks would have been damaged if the concrete hardened inside. The company took emergency measures to clean out the trucks, but lost the value of the undelivered concrete. A new contract between the company and the Teamsters was ratified on August 18, and a large concrete pour was scheduled for the following morning in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. Only 11 of the estimated 40 to 50 drivers needed showed up in time to perform the pour, contrary to assurances from a union official that the workers would respond to the work dispatch. Canceling the job incurred $100,000 in penalties for the company, which claims the union misrepresented the workers' willingness to respond.[2]
The company sued Local 174 for damages due to both property damage and misrepresentation in King County Superior Court; the court dismissed all of the claims against the union. Glacier Northwest appealed to the Washington Court of Appeals, which affirmed the dismissal of the misrepresentation claims but reversed the dismissal of the property damage claims related to the August 11 incident. Both parties petitioned the Washington Supreme Court to review the case, and on December 16, 2021, it dismissed all of the damage claims by the company.[2] Glacier Northwest appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, which on June 1, 2023, reversed and remanded the judgment of the Washington Supreme Court in an 8–1 vote, finding that the National Labor Relations Act does not preempt claims for intentional destruction of property.[10]
- ^ Petition for Writ of Certiorari at ii, Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters, 598 U.S. 771. (No. 21-1449)
- ^ a b c d Glacier Nw., Inc. v. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, 198 Wn.2d 768, 500 P.3d 119, 2021 Wash. LEXIS 739
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board (May 20, 2014). Report on Designation: 901 Harrison Street (PDF) (Report). pp. 8–11. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ a b c d e "The History of the Chambers Creek Properties" (PDF). Chambers Creek Foundation. 2020. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ Carson, Rob (June 14, 2015). "A Course Built by Glaciers". The News-Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. pp. A1, A10. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ "City News in Brief". Tacoma Daily Ledger. December 3, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
- ^ "About CalPortland". careers.calportland.com. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ a b c Federal Trade Commission (F.T.C.) (January 1965). Federal Trade Commission Decisions (PDF) (Report). Vol. 67. pp. 67–71. Docket 8585. In the matter of Lone Star Cement Corporation. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- ^ "New York Firm Buys Pioneer Sand and Gravel". Everett Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. November 16, 1959. p. 22. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- ^ "Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 598 U.S. ___ (2023)". Justia Law. Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
