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Construction sites in the Seattle area are enduring major disruptions after Western Washington members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 called a strike starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

According to published on the IUOE Local 302 website and signed by International Vice President and Business Manager Daren Konopaski, the labor dispute relates to wages, hours and working conditions.

鈥淟ocal 302 is asserting our rights under the National Labor Relations Act to withhold our labor from contractors, signatory to our Western WA AGC Master Labor Agreement,鈥� the statement reads. 鈥淎fter months of negotiations our members voted down two tentative contract offers and have elected to withhold our labor and picket jobsites until a more agreeable offer is presented.鈥�

The AGC of Washington also issued on its website saying it is 鈥渄isappointed鈥� that Local 302 members rejected an offer of a 15 percent pay increase over three years during the previous round of negotiations.

鈥淭hroughout the bargaining process AGC of Washington has committed to bargaining in good faith with a goal to reach a ratified agreement,鈥� the statement reads. 鈥淭his commitment will continue as we look forward.鈥�

The labor stoppage involves crane operators and other heavy equipment operators. Others affected by the strike include concrete workers, excavators, pavers and individuals involved in hoisting and material handling. They were asked to report to the Local 302 union hall for instruction and assignment on Tuesday.

According to the union website, an initial contract offer was rejected by voting members by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent.

Local 302 covers Washington, Idaho and Alaska, but only its Western Washington members are currently on strike. The work stoppage also does not apply to Local 302 members who are working under a Project Labor Agreement or Community Workforce Agreement, those working under the West Coast Drill Shaft Agreement or under a Refinery Building Trades Agreement. Also, Local 302 has a separate contract with Skanska USA, and it is not affected by the strike.

The impact of the work stoppage is somewhat outsize because of the inclusion of crane operators. Seattle currently has 65 tower cranes deployed 鈥� the most in the country. And in contrast to a 2006 strike by the same union in which only 100 or so workers were involved, this strike impacts nearly 5,000 skilled trades workers, .

The union and management have been negotiating over the contract since May. A tentative deal had apparently been reached earlier this month, but it dissolved.

A number of Portland-area general contractors that carry out projects in the Seattle market use Associated General Contractors as their collective bargain agent. That includes Andersen Construction, which is currently taking on two significant projects there.

鈥淭here hasn’t been any effect here in Portland for us, but it could affect two of our projects up in Seattle,鈥� Andersen Construction Vice President Todd Duwe said. 鈥淭here’s some potential exposure there. We’re always hoping that they can come to agreement, and the sooner the better. But the operators were not showing up yesterday, and the concrete pumping was shut down yesterday. I don’t have any updates for today other than we’re having to prepare for that and communicate with our clients.鈥�

Mortenson Construction also carries out high-profile projects in Seattle, but spokesman Cameron Snyder referred all questions about the strike to AGC of Washington.

Portland-based general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis has labor agreements with five different trade unions, including Local 302.聽 Company officials say the labor stoppage has brought a number of their current Seattle projects to a halt.

CEO Bart Ricketts said in a prepared statement that while AGC has recently negotiated new agreements on the company’s behalf with carpenters, laborers and cement masons, the operating engineers proved less flexible.

“Unfortunately, the operators rejected the terms of AGC’s proposed agreement and chose to stop work,” Ricketts said. “The operators labor strike affects different projects in different ways. Work reliant on heavy equipment tends to be affected the most. We have been forced to shut down some sites entirely because work cannot progress without operators. In these circumstances, the other union trades are also unable to work.”

A number of other contractors did not immediately return calls or emails seeking comment.

In Seattle, work on Amazon’s new downtown office tower has stopped, the .

Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant issued in support of the strike.

鈥淎fter months of negotiations, members of Operating Engineers Local 302 have elected to go on strike in response to the nickel and diming intransigence of highly profitable contractors raking in millions off the workers’ labor,鈥� she stated. 鈥淪eattle has been the construction crane capital for three years running. The building boom in the city and region has made untold profits for corporations and wealth for billionaires. And yet the workers who operate those cranes and help create the profits are increasingly unable to afford to live in the very city they are building.鈥�

The city of Kent, a Seattle suburb, released on its website on Tuesday acknowledging the strike’s impact.

鈥淭he strike will delay a number of Kent construction projects in progress 鈥� both city-initiated and private projects 鈥� as well as projects that have been scheduled but not yet started,鈥� the statement reads.

Meanwhile, an estimated $4.8 million in public works projects in Clallam and Jefferson counties on the Olympic Peninsula came to a halt because of the strike, .