A strike by some Carpenters Union members is causing some minor inconvenience for a project at Oregon State University - but it could turn into a major headache if the walkout drags on.

About 1,300 drywall workers, acoustic ceiling installers and some other specialists represented by the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters walked off their jobs Friday in Oregon and southwest Washington when their contract expired.

That number included two union members installing ceiling tiles at the large animal clinic addition under construction at OSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Since then, they've been walking a picket line with other Carpenters Union members outside the job site, leaving a nearly completed job in a radiology suite unfinished.

"It's a small remodel we were doing outside the main addition," said Andrew Dykeman, a project manager for general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis.

The rest of Dykeman's crew of 18 or so, however, is still showing up for work, because no other unions have gone on strike in support of the carpenters.

"We've got masons and electricians and plumbers and others that are still on the job," Dykeman said.

For now, work is progressing smoothly on the $10 million addition, Dykeman said, but if the strike lasts more than a couple of months, it could become a serious obstacle. By that time, he'll need a full crew of drywallers to finish out the interior.

"If it is a protracted strike and it goes to where we are doing our interior drywall work, it could definitely impact this job," he said.

Wages are the main issue in the strike, according to Steve Carlson, a Salem-based business agent for the union.

"Basically, it's just the cost of living," he said. "We haven't kept up with it the last few years."

The only other mid-valley construction job impacted by the walkout is the Kohl's Department Store project in Albany, Carlson said.