Teamster strike impending

Nevada Teamsters Local 533 struck the conglomerate Granite Construction after talks broke down Aug. 13. The strike began at 5 p.m. on Aug. 16. The union ended it Aug. 18 in hope the company would return to the bargaining table.

Granite wants an $8 an hour pay cut on private sector work, from $21 down to $13 an hour. The Northern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council and affiliated unions voted to support the walkout, designed to get Granite back to the bargaining table.

Granite operates across the nation on both public infrastructure and private construction. It has construction material processing plants, equipment fleets, builds highways, airports, dams, and other infrastructure across the nation.

On Aug. 7, the corporation (NYSE:GVA) announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.13 per common share. A week earlier it reported net income of $17.9 million or $0.46 per share for the second quarter of 2009 compared with $25.6 million or $0.67 per share for the second quarter of 2008.