Carhaulers Say No Givebacks

September 19, 2008: Teamster carhaulers are standing up to givebacks.

Last month, members voted to reject the proposed contract—despite employer threats and a hard sell from Hoffa administration officials.

Teamster carhaulers across the country are standing up to corporations that are trying to take away decades of union gains.

Carhaul employers demanded the most concessionary contract in the history of the industry. Hoffa and IBT Carhaul Director Fred Zuckerman not only agreed to the givebacks, they aggressively promoted them to Teamster members.

But on Aug. 12, 2008, carhaulers decisively rejected the proposed national contract. All three regional supplements were rejected, and it went down big in many of the larger carhaul local unions.

The rejection marks the first national trucking contract rejected since the mid- 1980s, when the notorious racketeer Jackie Presser was Teamster president.

As we go to press, negotiations resumed on Sept. 16 to come up with a second offer to ask carhaulers to vote on.

Carhaulers Organize Member-to-Member

The rejection of the first offer came because Teamsters decided that giving away decades of union gains is not real unionism. It also came because carhaulers organized, member-to-member, to make it happen. And after the rejection, that rank-and-file network has grown.

Thousands of carhaulers petitioned to ask that the negotiating committee be changed, since everyone on it recommended the disastrous first offer. Hoffa ignored the request, but the petition helped unify the rank and file.

Thousands of No Givebacks stickers have been put to good use to spread solidarity.

Thousands of informational leaflets have been distributed.

Carhaulers have talked to fellow Teamsters and networked from terminal to terminal.

Drivers, owner-operators, mechanics, driveaway, yard and office Teamsters have joined together.

Active carhaulers are holding conference calls to share information and coordinate action.

Because of a successful TDU lawsuit, the contract vote was overseen by independent rank-and-file observers.

No Concessions

Teamster carhaulers are organizing to defend their contract even as the auto industry is in a deep recession. They are not making pie-in-the-sky demands, far from it: most carhaulers would accept a two-year extension of the existing contract, with only a cost of living boost. The employers have already agreed to terms to maintain pension and health and welfare benefits.

Teamsters are resisting deep concessions that would divide our locals, slash wages, endanger job security, install a tiered wage for new-hires, allow companies to use GPS to fire Teamsters, and even allow the companies to open nonunion terminals in the West.

The 2008 bargaining round has been the most concessionary in Teamster history. After promising Teamster Power, the Hoffa administration has opened up the concessions stand to UPS, freight, DHL and now carhaul employers.

Hoffa promised these concessions would deliver job security. The opposite has happened. The ink wasn’t even dry on the DHL contract before the corporation announced massive layoffs and demoted hundreds of Teamsters to part-time. Yellow Freight announced major downsizing this week.

Giving corporations a blank check on concessions and hoping for the best hasn’t worked. Our union needs a new strategy for protecting our jobs and our standards in tough economic times.

Teamster carhaulers are showing the way by saying no to concessions. At Teamsters for a Democratic Union, we stand with them. Where do you stand?