Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-1449_d9eh.pdf
Page Number: 43.0

22 

GLACIER NORTHWEST, INC. v. TEAMSTERS 

JACKSON, J., dissenting 

cessation of work risks foreseeable, imminent, and aggra-
vated  harm  to  persons,  premises,  or  equipment.    Beyond
this narrow reasonable-precautions requirement, however,
employees  have  no  obligation  to  protect  their  employer’s 
economic interests when they exercise the right to withhold 
their labor. 

B 
Glacier does not allege that the cement truckdrivers com-
mitted acts of violence or seized its plant or property as part 
of the strike the Union orchestrated.  Instead, the thrust of 
its complaint is that the Union was aware of “the perishable 
nature  of  batched  concrete,”  App.  9,  and  that  the  drivers’ 
walkout was intentionally timed so as to risk harm to that
product.  See id., at 10 (alleging “sabotage, ruination and 
destruction of Glacier’s batched concrete”).

I  agree  with  the  majority  that  the  risk  of  losing  the
batched concrete alone would not be sufficient to divest the 
striking  drivers  of  statutory  protection.    As  Glacier 
acknowledges, wet concrete is a perishable good.  Ibid.  And 
the Board has repeatedly reaffirmed that the loss of such
perishable goods due to a mere work stoppage does not ren-
der a strike unprotected. 

There  is  also  no  duty  to  take  reasonable  precautions  to
prevent  this  kind  of  economic  loss,  which—standing
alone—posed no risk to persons, premises, or equipment, let 
alone a risk of aggravated harm.  While it seems that the 
drivers were in a position to save the batched concrete that
was inside their trucks when the strike was called (by, for
instance,  continuing  to  deliver  it  to  the  intended  custom-
ers), that is beside the point. Employees have a protected 
right to withhold their labor.  And it would undercut that 
right if they could be held liable for the incidental loss of the
perishable goods (which includes concrete no less than raw 
poultry, cheese, or milk) that they tend to as part of their