August 21, 2008: Teamsters who load vehicles onto railcars at the local Ford plants went on strike today after contract negotiations broke down between the union and a contractor, Auto Port.

The strike, which involves about 435 workers, is not affecting production at the plants, said Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski. The auto company had contingency plans in place, Kozleski said, but declined to describe the measures.

Click here to read more at The Courier-Journal.

August 14, 2008: After voting by a 60-40 margin to reject a concessionary agreement offered by the International Union, carhaulers are planning to reverse the concessions and win a better contract.

Click here to see the vote count results.

It was the first national trucking contract rejection since the 1980s, when Teamster president Jackie Presser was handing out concessions. This deal was so bad, even Presser would have been embarrassed to try to sell it.

It was an important turning point, but only a first step. Now comes the challenge of winning a good contract.

Here’s how you can help:

Distribute contract updates. Click here to download a leaflet you can post and distribute to other members.

Keep other members in the loop. Download a Carhaul Update sign-in sheet and register Teamsters at your terminal to receive updates.

Join TDU. It’s just $40 for a one-year membership, or $95 for three, and it means you’re doing your part to support the movement of rank-and-file Teamsters working to protect our contracts, our pensions, and our rights.

August 12, 2008: Rank-and-file carhaulers have flexed their muscles and decisively rejected a tentative agreement loaded with concessions.

Their vote will send union negotiators back to bargain a more acceptable contract.

Tom Landwehr, a rank-and-file observer told us from the count site in Maryland that “I was nervous about it this morning, but the No votes just kept piling up. I feel good about our own Local 327—we had a good vote there. The members were just fed up with the massive concessions.”

Landwehr, a Jack Cooper driver, traveled from Nashville to Maryland on his own time and own dime to help ensure a fair vote, as did several others.

The national contract was rejected by 2,939 to 2,076, and all three supplements were rejected as well. The Central-Southern supplement was rejected 2,555 to 1,500, the East by 316 to 304, and the West by 184 to 171.

Most of the bigger locals where members haul out of auto assembly plants rejected the deal, some by big margins. It went down in Kansas City Local 41, St. Louis Local 604, Lansing Local 580, Ft. Wayne Local 414, Dallas Local 745, San Jose Local 287, Lordstown Local 377, Chicago Local 710, Moraine Ohio Local 957 and others. Most of the smaller locals rejected it as well.

It was the massive list of concessions, which would have gutted decades of hard-won contract protections, that sent the proposed agreement down to defeat.

It took something else to win this battle. It took a growing network of carhaul Teamsters, stewards and some local officers who worked together and with TDU to build solidarity and also to safeguard the vote process.

The time is now for the International Union to listen to the rank and file and make some serious improvements before coming back for another vote.

It’s time for rank-and-file carhaulers to continue to build a strong network that can carry the battle forward.

Click here for a breakdown of the ratification vote by local union.

What do you think? Click here to send us your ideas on next steps for our union.

Be a part of TDU’s carhaul network. Click here to join TDU.

August 12, 2008: The ballots cast on the tentative national carhaul agreement are being counted, and initial partial results are available.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) will make results available as soon as possible, on a local-by-local basis.

Click here to see preliminary results.

The ballots cast on the tentative national carhaul agreement have been tallied and the contract was rejected.

Yes: 2,076  No: 2,939

Below are tentative local-by-local results.

Updated at 9:44 AM, Aug. 13.

Central-Southern Supplement

Eastern Supplement

Western Supplement

August 11, 2008: The ballots cast on the tentative national carhaul agreement will be counted on Tuesday, August 12, and the count could continue the following day as well.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) will make results available as soon as possible, on an on-going, local-by-local basis. Check www.tdu.org or contact the TDU office.

The ballots will be picked up from the post office in the morning, and then the sorting and processing will take time before counting can begin. Each local will be counted separately.

As a result of a successful lawsuit pursued by rank-and-file carhaulers and TDU, three experienced observers independent of the International Union will be at the count. There will also be other observers sent from some local unions.

But the balloting process is in the control of the International. There have been reports of widespread problems with members not receiving ballots, ballots going to long-retired members, and multiple ballots received by some members. The International Union, by intent or incompetence, has not handled the ballot process well. If the vote is close, those problems could be important.

If the contract and all three supplements are approved by majority vote, it will go into effect. If the national agreement or any supplement is not approved, further negotiations will be needed.

August 7, 2008: Rank-and-file carhaulers will have their own observers at the contract vote count next week thanks to TDU members who won that right.

When the vote was taken on the 2003 carhaul contract, some Michigan Teamsters knew the result couldn’t be right. These office and dispatch Teamsters had their own supplement, the Michigan Office Supplement, and knew it could not have passed.

They started networking, in Detroit, Flint, Lansing and Pontiac—and they confirmed that the reported “Yes” vote was false.

They decided to take action. In the end, they proved that the vote count was bogus. It didn’t help them deal with their issue of job security, because the employers had a signed contract that was legally enforceable even if it had been voted down. But they did win a right for all carhaulers: to have observers—not just handpicked ones—for the vote count process.

Three Teamsters, Donna McCuiston and Rick Miazga in Local 299, and Ava Miller in Local 332, were represented by TDU attorney Barbara Harvey when they sued in federal court over the vote. They had signed, notarized affidavits from a majority of affected members that they had cast a No vote.

The IBT attorneys took depositions of all voters who said they voted No but couldn’t shake even one.

The lawsuit revealed that the so-called election supervisor was not even present when the office supplement votes were counted. The International Union counted the votes privately in Washington, and faxed a form to the supervisor, who signed it, certifying a ballot count that he had not witnessed.

Rather than losing in court, the International Union settled the case with an agreement to grant observer rights in future contract ballot counts. As a result of the lawsuit, carhaulers won the right to have independent observers on all contract votes. The office workers were disappointed that they couldn’t overturn the contract. But they were proud to win a new right for Teamsters.

There will be observers at the carhaul vote count.

How New Rights Are Won

That’s how new rights are won for Teamsters. Members take action, with Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) being the driving force.

It was TDU that put forward the issue of the Right to Vote on Contract Supplements. We built support, we drafted the constitutional language, and in 1991, we won it at the IBT Convention, after delegate Tom Griffith of Local 776 gave a magnificent speech on the issue. We won a new right.

It was TDU that put forward the right to vote by Majority Rule (instead of 2/3 to reject) on contracts. TDU members fought for it, and finally went to court, and in 1988 we settled the case and won Majority Rule on contracts. Prior to that time, freight, UPS and carhaul contracts had all been imposed on the majority.

The right to vote on contracts by majority rule. The right to vote on contract supplements. The right to independent observers at the contract vote count.

These rights make our union more accountable to our members, and make our union stronger, They make it harder for employers to stick us with a bad contract.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union: where would Teamsters be without it?

July 25, 2008: Carhaulers across the USA are speaking out against the concessionary national contract that is being voted on right now.

Many are angry about the outright lies being told on the Teamster website about members' sentiments.

You can read a letter from a concerned steward in Kansas City Local 41, who calls on president Hoffa to pull the plug on the lies and on those who abuse members. Click here to read the letter.

The International Union has even screwed up the ballot mailing, although most locals provided them with a clean list of carhaulers entitled to vote. The deadline for ballots has been extended to August 12.

If you need a duplicate ballot, contact your local union as soon as possible, and definitely before August 1. Encourage everyone to get a ballot and vote. Organize a big No vote at your terminal.

What do you think? Click here to send your comments or questions to the TDU Carhaul Committee.

Stay in the loop. Sign up for email updates from TDU.

July 17, 2008: Q. How do you know when a proposed contract is rotten?

A. When they use corporate sales tricks to try to get you to buy it.

Carhaulers are getting sales calls, and there will be more to come. Many are getting “polled” and asked directly how they intend to vote on the contract.

The callers are not Teamsters. They work for Contact America, Meyer Teleservice, or another nonunion tele-marketer.

By tomorrow you may be getting “robo-calls” from computers.

So you will get annoying sales calls, first from nonunion folks in cubicles, then from computers.

The bad news is that you paid for this crap with your dues.

The good news is your vote counts.

If you want to send them back to the table, mark it No and mail it in. And encourage your co-workers to do the same.

Get a big turnout from your board. Help make it happen.

Click here to download an informational leaflet about the contract you can distribute to other members.

Click here to read the contract and supplements and decide for yourself.

What do you think? Click here to send your comments or questions to the TDU Carhaul Committee.

Stay in the loop. Sign up for email updates from TDU.

July 9, 2008: Carhaul locals are holding meetings to sell the proposed carhaul deal. But the concessions are getting a chilly reception.

Here are reports from meetings that have been held so far.

To send in a report on your contract meeting, or to tell us what members in your local think of the contract, click here. We’ll keep all comments confidential unless you indicate otherwise.

Local 604, St. Louis
Members Vote Unanimously to Oppose Deal

"We had over 130 carhaul members at our contract meeting. Not a one supported the contract when they spoke. We had a unanimous No vote. There's nothing in this contract for the membership. It's a sad day when all that was fought and bled for just gets bargained away. We need to stand up and fight to maintain our jobs. We're Voting No to send them back to the bargaining table."
Gary Burch, Jack Cooper
Local 604, St. Louis

Local 327, Nashville, Tenn.
“The IBT Says Article 48 is Not Gutted. But Members Think Otherwise.”

“Local 327 held a carhaul meeting on Monday morning to go through the proposed changes. Our steward and our members made it very clear that this agreement is not acceptable. Jimmy Neal did not leave with any uncertainty: he knows the contract is going down in our local.

“The IBT says Article 48 is not gutted. But members think otherwise. Members are up in arms about being forced to haul up to two loads from a foreign terminal and being forced out onto five tours.

“Also there’s no snap-back to bring ‘New Business’ up to the full contractual rate.

“We all know that times are tough and the car industry in particular is in a bad spot. We also know that what we give up, we don’t get handed back. It’s been a long hard fight to get where we are. We’re not about to give it all up because times are tough.

“We made plans to mark and mail our ballots together and turn out the strongest possible No vote here in Local 327.”
Matt Studd, Cassens
Local 327, Nashville

Local 41, Kansas City
“I Can’t Find a Driver That Supports the Contract”

"I can't find a driver here in Kansas City that supports the contract. We're already living with a 15 percent pay cut. There's nothing in this contract that's for the members; it's all about money savings for the companies."
Jimmy Travis, Allied
Local 41, Kansas City

Local 120, Twin Cities
“We Need Clear Language Not Promises.”

"We're concerned about the five tour deal and getting home off the road. At our meeting, we got an explanation about how this will work out for us drivers. But none of that's written in the contract. 24 years in the Teamsters has taught me not to count on interpretations. We need clear language in the contract or the companies will run right over us."
Dave Murphy, Allied
Local 120, St. Paul

To send in a report on your contract meeting, or to tell us what members in your local think of the contract, click here. We’ll keep all comments confidential unless you indicate otherwise.