August 24, 2012: For some time now, various locals have taken votes to give employers a break on hauling auction cars and cars from rental companies: Teamsters are paid 25% of revenue. Some have said yes, others no, and others haven't voted yet. Jack Cooper drivers in Flint Local 332 are set to vote soon.

The problem is, 25%-of-revenue rate means there is no set scale and you need to trust the company on what you're paid.  And the employer takes a cut off the top before calculating the percentage.

St. Louis Local 604 negotiated a rate schedule, which perhaps could be a model for other locals. But one driver there told us that since they negotiated a clear rate, they don't get the work. It goes to locals which went along with the blanket 25%.

A Flint driver told us "This is the hardest work we do. Long walks to find the cars, and sometimes they don't even start. And for the extra work, we get paid like nonunion drivers. We want to gain back work from nonunion, but not by going down to nonunion pay and standards."

Other drivers favor the move to capture some of this work. The solution seems to be for the Carhaul Division to establish a rate schedule and standards which would avoid the companies playing one local against another.