Allied Systems, the largest carhauling corporation, is going to court on April 26 to void the contract covering 4,000 U.S. Teamsters and impose a 10 percent wage cut. Management claims that the company will suffer irreparable harm as soon as May if they don’t get the cuts immediately. They are also demanding that the June 1 contractual raise be eliminated.

In mid-April, the company advised all U.S. Teamsters that they anticipate court approval and that they will cut all wages by 10 percent on April 30 if this approval is granted.

The International Union responded by demanding more detailed financial information from the company on its financial status. While a good start, this response seems entirely inadequate to the situation, which threatens to shatter a national Teamster contract.

In a similar situation with the largest auto supplier company, Delphi, the United Auto Workers (UAW) has threatened to strike if their contract is voided in bankruptcy court, and the tactic has brought General Motors into the bargaining picture. GM cannot afford a strike that will interrupt its product flow.

Our union needs a plan to fight back. And the entire labor movement and our allies need to take on this corporate scam, which is already infecting two major industries and could spread to more.