Sysco Seattle Says Teamsters’ Sympathetic Picket Broke Law (1)

Sysco Corp. alleges in a suit against a Seattle Teamsters local that union workers broke the law by picketing in support of striking workers in other states.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington state, accuses the union of breaching contract language that prevents members from going on strike. The current contract, set to expire Sept. 1, includes standard language prohibiting strikes and requiring all disputes to be resolved through arbitration, Sysco said in the lawsuit.

But the agreement also contains language permitting workers to refuse to cross a “lawful, primary ...