Carhaul: How About a Two-Year Contract?
February 21, 2008: Bargaining begins for the national carhaul contract in March, and the concessions at Allied could spread.
Carhaul Teamsters are talking about what we can do to protect our master contract and our Teamster standards.
In late January Teamster carhaul officials met to screen contract proposals and formulate the demands for the national contract that expires May 30. On Feb. 20 local officials will meet again to approve the union’s demands. Bargaining will officially start in March.
Hopefully the good proposals submitted by members and locals will be put on the table, but the fact remains that a large chunk of Teamster carhaulers are stuck under the 2007 Allied concession deal that lasts another two years.
Maybe it’s time for a two-year contract, to bring back our national standards and then bargain at a better time for our members and union.
Concessions May Spread
The 17.5 percent concessions at Allied would spread to a majority of the industry if Allied takes over PTS.
The future of PTS may not be decided until March, or even later. These concessions hang over the bargaining like a dark cloud.
Even though Jack Cooper, Cassens and Active are making profits, they are going to resist major contract improvements over and above the $1 per hour per year that will be required for pension and health and welfare.
That’s why a short-term contract makes sense as part of a plan to rebuild Teamster power in carhaul.
It’s time for our International Union to come forward with a plan to restore our national contract and organize to expand our power, and to be held accountable by members and locals.
Turning our union’s policies over to billionaire Ron Burkle isn’t working. We need a new direction.
To hear what members have to say about a two-year contract and bargaining, click here
Carhaul: Can a Two-Year Contract Help Rebuild Teamster Power?
February 1, 2008: In late January Teamster carhaul officials met to screen contract proposals and formulate demands for the national contract that expires May 30.
Hopefully the good proposals submitted by members and locals will be put on the table, but the fact remains that a large chunk of Teamsters carhaulers are stuck under the 2007 Allied concession deal that lasts another two years. This creates a tough bargaining climate for our union.
The 17.5 percent concessions at Allied would spread to a majority of the industry if Allied takes over PTS. The future of PTS may not be decided until March. These concessions hang over the bargaining table like a dark cloud.
Even though Jack Cooper, Cassens and Active are making profits, they are going to resist major contract improvements over and above the $1 per hour per year that will be required for pension and health and welfare.
Some Teamster carhaulers have suggested that negotiating a two-year contract would be a strategic first step in a plan to rebuild Teamster power in carhaul.
The idea is this: Bargain a short-term contract that protects our national standards. Then return to the bargaining table in two years—when the concessions at Allied expire. Then our union would be positioned to fight for a unified national contract with the highest possible standards.
One thing is clear. Our International’s policy of relying on billionaire Ron Burkle to do the heavy lifting for our union is undermining industry standards—not improving them.
We need a new direction and a union plan for restoring our national contract and organizing the nonunion competition.
Negotiating a two-year national contract is not a cure-all. But it may be a start.
What do you think? The Carhaul Committee of Teamsters for a Democratic Union wants to know.
Click here to tell us what you think of the idea of bargaining a two-year contract or what steps our union should take in the short-term and over the next two years to rebuild Teamster power in our industry.
Carhaul Bargaining to Open
January 10, 2008: The IBT Carhaul Division will soon start bargaining with the employers for a new national contract. The current contract expires May 31. But the negotiations will be held under a cloud of concessions.
As of mid-January, the future of the 1,500 Teamsters employed at PTS is up in the air. In December the International Union conducted a vote of Allied Teamsters to cut the wages of PTS Teamsters in the event that Allied takes over PTS.
The Hoffa administration is closely aligned with the private investment firm Yucaipa and its principal owner, Ron Burkle. Yucaipa first took control of PTS, then later, with IBT help, took control of Allied and imposed 17.5 percent concessions last summer.
The future of PTS and its Teamster employees will soon be sorted out in bankruptcy court in Buffalo. Allied is expected to re-submit a bid to take over the assets of the company.
IBT Calls for Terminals to Close
PTS Teamsters are getting little help or even information from the International Union. The Hoffa administration is so loyal to Burkle that they have called—in advance of any merger of the two companies—for some PTS terminals to be closed: “PTS kept too many poorly operating terminals open,” stated the Carhaul Division’s letter to members in December.
Lansing Local 580 PTS steward George Warner and St. Louis Local 604 filed a motion in bankruptcy court in Georgia asking that no concessions be imposed on the PTS Teamsters without their being allowed a vote. Instead of Allied filing opposition papers, it was the IBT who carried the water for Yucaipa, calling for the motion to be dismissed. No hearing has been held as of mid-January. We need a plan to save good Teamster jobs, not just a plan to make friends with Ron Burkle.
Local unions received notice in late December that locals and members only have until Jan. 15 to submit bargaining proposals. Many locals didn’t have time to even hold a proposal meeting. Click here to download a form to submit proposals.
The contract will cover Allied, PTS (if it still exists separately), Jack Cooper, PMT, Cassens, Active, and some yard companies. With Allied and PTS making up over half of the industry, the other companies will be looking to match the 17.5 percent cut and three-year wage freeze at Allied.
Carhaulers are looking to hold the line, save good jobs and a future for ourselves and our union. We need a plan to bring Allied back up to scale, and not degrade the whole contract.
If you want to be part of making it happen, contact TDU today.Click here to contact TDU's rank-and-file network in carhaul, or call (313) 842-2600.
Carhaul Contract Proposals Due January 15
January 8, 2008: The International Union has opened a very narrow window to allow carhaulers a chance to submit proposals for the new national contract.
That window shuts on January 15, the deadline for members’ proposals.
Some locals are holding meetings to take and discuss proposals, but some are not.
Carhaulers who want to submit contract proposals should use the Carhaul Division’s form. A copy of that form is available for download here.
Those forms should be returned to your local union, or you can mail proposals to the address listed below.
Teamsters National Automobile Transporters
Industry Negotiating Committee
ATTN: Carhaul Division
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
You can also email proposals to kmulligan [at] teamster.org.
Concessions for PTS Carhaulers Approved
December 19, 2007: The International Union pushed through 17.5% wage concessions for 1500 PTS Teamsters, by giving none of them the right to vote on the pay cut. Allied Teamsters voted by a 3-1 margin to approve the concessions, in balloting tallied today.
There were nearly one thousand fewer votes cast than in the Allied vote in April, when most strong carhaul locals voted No. Most angry Teamsters simply didn’t vote in the charade, and many who did vote felt defeated or were ready to accept a promised $2,000 bonus for their yes vote. Only St. Louis Local 604 rejected the deal outright.
Thanks go to Flint Local 332 members Ava Miller and Rex Wheeler for going to Washington, D.C. to observe the voting on behalf of concerned rank-and-file Teamsters.
A big question mark is whether Allied will follow through and buy PTS, and retain the PTS business.
George Warner, PTS steward in Lansing Local 580, and Local 604 have filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court in Georgia asking the court to block the imposition of concessions on PTS Teamsters without their being allowed to vote.
Huffington Post: Bill Clinton Severs Ties with Billionaire Buddy Burkle
December 13, 2007: Bill Clinton has severed business ties with Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, fearful that their deals could erupt into bad publicity damaging his wife's presidential bid, according to sources who know both men.
In April 2007, investors of Hawk Opportunity Fund sued Burkle over charges that Yucaipa's acquisition of Allied Holdings, Inc., North America's largest car-hauling company, gave it an unfair share of the market. The suit was dismissed.
But the transaction, not the lawsuit, forced Clinton to get involved. According to reports, the former president was brought on board to help persuade the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to take a 15 percent wage cut at Allied in exchange for bringing the company out of bankruptcy. The Teamsters agreed to accept the reduction.
Read the full story in the Huffington Post.
Support UAW Strikers
September 24, 2007: The United Auto Workers strike at General Motors has 73,000 members on the picket lines. Lots more may be idled soon as the impact spreads to supplier plants, Canadian plants and to Teamster carhaulers and other truck drivers.
The auto workers are striking against huge concession demands and for preserving manufacturing jobs in North America, and deserve all of our support. They have already agreed to concessions and plant closings in recent years, and now GM is pushing to bust one of the best labor contracts anywhere.
GM wants to reduce the UAW’s top-quality retiree healthcare, the right to close more plants, subcontract out work, and introduce two-tier wages. The workers on the line are fighting to protect good jobs and good benefits.
The GM contract will set the pattern for Ford and Chrysler, and set a standard for other manufacturing contracts.
Teamster Support
In the strike’s initial days, Teamster carhaulers are not heavily affected as there are full lots of cars and others coming off the rail. But those will start to dry up if the strike goes past a week, and many carhaulers may be laid off.
No Teamster should cross any picket line, a right protected in our contracts. Teamster locals near GM facilities should make contact and offer solidarity. The Teamsters Union should put our full weight behind this strike and this struggle.
Is Hoffa Giving Up On Our Master Contracts?
July 12, 2007: Master contracts are the foundation of our union’s power. Will Hoffa let that foundation crumble? And what can concerned Teamsters do about it?
Master contracts cover about 25 percent of Teamsters, but they set standards for the majority. They are the foundation of Teamster power.
Jimmy Hoffa Sr. understood this principle and built up our national contracts. Is Hoffa Jr. giving up on the master contracts that were his father’s greatest legacy?
Just look at the warning signs that are flashing at us right now.
UPS. The Hoffa administration claimed early bargaining would deliver stronger pension and health benefits. But top officials are leaking that Hoffa may go along with UPS’s proposal to break up the Central States Pension Fund.
CARHAUL. The Hoffa administration has allowed 3,300 carhaulers, nearly 40 percent of Teamsters covered by the contract, to have their wages slashed to 17.5 percent below union scale—and frozen for years. This has happened even as billionaire Ron Burkle has taken over 60 percent of the industry.
FREIGHT. Freight division leaders openly question whether Hoffa has given up on this core industry. ABF’s CEO is promoting a scheme to bust out of Teamster pension plans and set up a company pension, or even just a 401(k).
DHL. IBT insiders report that Hoffa will allow DHL out of the National Master Freight Agreement.
UPS FREIGHT. Over a year ago Hoffa claimed a national cardcheck agreement would soon unionize 15,000 UPS Freight employees. Now management is playing hardball and attacking our union—and union officials in freight are concerned that Hoffa will give up Teamster standards to get the company under a contract.
UPS CARTAGE. Hoffa’s so-called “master” contract leaves substandard wages in place and no protection against subcontracting.
Master Contracts:Fact From Fiction
A true master contract uses our union’s national power to raise all Teamsters up to the highest level.
What the Hoffa administration calls a “master contract” is any contract that covers multiple locations, even if there’s no Teamster pension, the wages vary by location, and the conditions are inferior to our national standards.
Hoffa’s “master contracts” mean drastically lower wages (carhaul, UPS Cartage), undercutting our national standards (DHL and UPS Freight), and potentially even busting up our pension plans (UPS, freight, and UPS Freight).
Rank and File Can Make a Difference
Our Right to Vote on contracts gives members the power to prevent Hoffa from selling out our national contracts. But rank-and-file Teamsters need to be informed and united to use the power in our hands.
In carhaul, members nearly voted down Hoffa’s massive givebacks, but we fell just 2 percent short. With just a little more rank-and-file involvement, a 17.5 percent wage cut could have been prevented.
Do you want to be part of a movement to defend our contracts and rebuild our union’s power? Or do you want to sit on the sidelines?
Contact Teamsters for a Democratic Union today to find out how rank-and-file Teamsters can stand up for our contracts and the future of our union.
Click the links below to read more:
UPS Freight Attacks Teamsters Union
Carhaulers: Prepare Now for Coming Contract
June 8, 2007: Teamster carhaulers have entered the one-year countdown to the next national contract. The time for rank and file carhaulers to establish our network to share information, strengthen unity and build power is now.
June 1 marked the start of the contract year, as well as the date that our national contract became two-tier for the first time in Teamster history. Teamsters at Allied now make 17.5 percent less than other carhaulers.
“It’s brutal,” a Detroit driver commented as he thought about what he will lose in the coming year.
Many carhaulers are angry at the Hoffa administration for allowing it to get to this point. That anger has to be turned into a positive force.
We do have power. This is still—despite the growth of nonunion companies—a heavily unionized field dependent on a small number of shippers, with a highly skilled Teamster workforce.
Our network can unite Teamsters into a force to protect our contract.
Even in the face of threats from the company, the union, and the bankruptcy court, Allied Teamsters voted No in most big carhaul locals, and 48 percent overall. With another week of outreach, that deal would have been rejected.
Challenges Ahead
We face a big challenge in the coming contract because the IBT leadership signed a three-year freeze with Allied.
The answer to that problem is this: what was taken away can be won back.
If Allied returns to profitability, the IBT can demand to reopen the Allied contract, with the aim of reestablishing wage parity. And the national contract we are about to bargain can contain language to facilitate that.
The time to organize is now. Contact Teamsters for a Democratic Union at (313) 842-2600 or send a message.
Allied Carhaulers Take Cut, Others Get Raise
May 31, 2007: Teamster carhaulers at Allied Holdings now make 19¢ less per loaded mile than their brothers and sisters at other carriers. “It’s brutal,” a Detroit driver commented as he thought about what he will lose in the coming year.
Carhaulers get a 2.5 percent raise on the June 1 contract anniversary —50¢ per hour and 2.5¢ per loaded mile (1.25¢ per running mile). Two days earlier, Allied Teamsters got slapped with a 15 percent cut, putting them 17.5 percent below union scale. The contract loaded mile rate now stands at $1.12, but has been cut to $.93 for Allied drivers; the running mile rate is cut to 47¢, and the hourly rate is down to about $18.40.
June 1 also marks the one-year countdown till the contract expiration. This will create a huge challenge, because the IBT leadership signed a three-year cut and freeze with Allied, taking them out of the bargaining cycle.
Worth considering: if Allied returns to profitability, the IBT could demand to reopen the Allied contract, with the aim of reestablishing wage parity that has prevailed in the industry for decades.