PORTLAND -- Hundreds of employees Monday night walked off the job at Oak Harbor Freight Lines, a Northwest trucking company.

Union members hit the picket lines and stayed out all night. Union officials told Newschannel 8 there were about 600 workers on strike.

The company and union have been in contract negotiations for almost a year. Both sides said the major sticking point was over health care.

The company reportedly announced it would hire replacements because it had commitments to keep moving freight in Oregon, Washington, and California. Some striking workers said that was a slap in the face.

"Everyone should support unions. They're why we're not making $2.30 on the job like back in the day because of the unions. That's why I stick by it," said Ron Decker, who has driven for the company for more than a decade.

Oak Harbor has submitted another contract offer to the workers which was expected to be reviewed sometime on Tuesday.

Company spokesman Mike hobby released a statementt Tuesday:

“We deeply regret that the Teamsters have called a strike. We have work for all employees who chose to work. Just as we have committed to our customers and unrepresented employees, we will be servicing our customers and will use replacement workers if necessary. We will not discuss the details of our Last, Best and Final proposal in the media, that is not appropriate, we will be posting the entire proposal for our employee’s review on our website, www.oakhanswers.com as soon as we legally can.”