TransportFool

Was this contract that much better than the first one they turned down? Well, it was substantially better in some key areas but I think it has more to do with the auto transport industry feeling the impact of the economic trouble the big three auto makers are in. Another factor is the successful efforts by non-union auto transporters to land contracts. Another round of strikes would have really swung the door open for the non-union carriers who got their foot in the door during the PTS strike. Here is what one teamster had to say:

KarHauLer wrote:

NON-union is taking our jobs…
United Road has moved into Ontario and has hired driver for a mere $700.00 per week thru a driver service… Hauling Toyotas
What next?

• November 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

  The Chap Man Says:

  Sometimes it takes losing a great job like the PTS employees did to realize how good they had it. It is a true shame that PTS closed and opened the door for the Non-Union carriers.

  Now that the door is open expect it to be kicked down…

  Here is the kicker to the situation, the same Union drivers that held their ground with PTS are now working for those non union carriers and doing the job that they should have done in the first place before their company closed. The reality is that there are not a lot of Union Jobs out there because the companies that do business with the Union can not afford to stay open.

  The sad part of the situation is that the owner of the company is not affected on a personal level; unlike the union employees who ultimately lose there job and now have a history that most employers do not want to touch.

  It is a sad but true statement, but if the union employee did what is described in the contract as “fair days work for a fair day’s wage” then companies like PMT, Allied, and the fallen PTS would be strong and competitive in today’s market.

According To a post on Thecarhauler.com there is an effort by drivers at Hansen & Adkins to unionize. If you read the comments it looks like the guys at United Road would like to join the teamsters too.

I didn’t get banned for a raging post, or even for a post at all for that matter. I got banned because I don’t have a union card in my wallet! Here is the notice I got:

vBulletin Message

It has to be a bit embarrassing to have a contract recommended unanimously and then be soundly defeated. TDU has a petition on their site asking for a new negotiating committee. Of course there are two sides to every story and truth be told it has been a long time since times have been this tough for the big three that are the carhaul teamsters main customers. This means the customers are holding the rate down and in turn the union carriers are finding it hard to turn a profit. Allied ,PTS, Active, and Unimark are examples that come to mind. The union carriers have in the past set the standard, but as I travel around it has become apparent that the scales are tipping. I see more good jobs with decent benefits in non-union trucks than ever before. I see more cutting-edge technology like vin scanners and GPS navigation in the non-union trucks! As a matter of fact some of the union drivers have been asked to use some pretty sorry equipment!

Teamsters for a Democratic Union is reporting that the contract and all of its supplements were rejected! some of the margins are close but I’m surprised there was a clean sweep. Here is a quote from their site:

“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.”

From the official union site the reaction is less than enthusiastic. Fred Zuckerman is quoted as saying:

“We hope to resolve this contract without going on strike.”

here is the vote count

Here is a post From teamsteronline that I think accurately expresses the feelings of a majority of the drivers:

On TEAMSTERSONLINE.COM 2chained SAYS:

Could be the start of the end of Union Carhaul, lets just hope not

While we can debate whether or not this contract vote will determine the future of the teamsters union, I think most will agree that it is at least a very important vote. There is a post on The Carhauler titled:

“Ballot count may decide our Future or Failure!“.

The truth is both those voting NO and those voting YES believe that they are doing what is best for their union and for their jobs!

Here is some examples of what the members are posting on TDU: .

.

.

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 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

“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

• July 13th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

  ethan Says:

  I KNOW OF TWO DRIVER AT THE COOPER FAIRFAX TERMINAL THAT SUPPORT THE NEW CONTRACT, ITS NOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, WANTING TO BUILD A TWO YEAR RECORD AGAINT A DRIVER IS B.S. , NOT TO MENTION BEING FORCED TO RUN AND ADDITIONAL UP TO 5 LEGS AT HALF/ RATE.

We can talk all day about whether the Allied Auto Transport drivers did right to accept a pay cut to attempt to save their jobs. There has been a lot of discussion along the same lines about the union rejecting Performance Auto Transports attempt to force a similar pay cut through the bankruptcy court. The facts are that Allied is still hauling cars and paying their drivers the lower wage and PTS is closed.

Is my sense of fair messed up when I think it is UNFAIR for a driver with seniority that lost his job because he voted to strike rather than accept a pay cut to take a position at Allied, that results in either less work or possibly no work at all for a guy that has been driving for a year at Allied under the wage concessions!

This post on The car hauler is what set me thinking about this:

1. Active Car Hauler says:
   June 21st, 2008 at 10:17 pm - EditIf PTS workers came to work and the doors were locked I wouldnt have any arguement for their seniority rights, but this is not the case.. Allied drivers understood what would have happened if they didnt except the pay reductions, they did and their still working..PTS drivers rolled the dice and lost…now me and 40 other drivers some of who transferred cause our work was given up by the our company now face losing our jobs cause PTS drivers struck their company out of business…PTS drivers opened a can of worms…Ur former owner is still in,changing ur PTS logo to Allied as we speak, Uniited road is hauling PTS freight ,some of ur drivers who are being absorbed are looking at pay cuts. So who benefits from the strike and closure..the most senior men..and the question is asked why united road and others are taking our freight? maybe because the junior guys the future of the teamsters are dissatisfied and fed up with constantly being stepped on. But realize this, PTS went out of business while u guys struck..at that point You had no work 2 claim your own, you gave up that right ,just as u gave up the right 2 claim severence, vacation, and unemployement . The union has scrabled to force u guys down our throat but were not going 2 stand by and get stepped on cause u guys lost.. In my barn my shop steward went out on comp the day before u guys struck, that was the first sign., he wont return any active drivers call, and he has said he will not take any greveinces….see a pattern here? The teamsters is a democracy not a autonomy….Cassens and Allied have sent u 2 the bottom of their list……why isnt Active doing the same?

If this post from Thecarhauler is any indication then they have their work cut out for themselves:

1. JerseyDevil says:
   July 2nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm - EditWell in case anyone doesn,t know ,the contract updates were just made available. Check it out at http://www.teamster.org Read it and weep

UPDATE 7/03/08 Thecarhauler is running a poll and it is 80% against this contract

Leaders from local unions that represent
carhaul members will meet July 2 in Detroit
to review the tentative national agreement
that was reached June 19.
If the local leaders endorse the three-year
tentative agreement, it will pave the way for carhaul
members to vote on whether to approve the agreement.
Ballots are tentatively scheduled to be mailed
to members on July 10.

For updates, visit www.teamster.org.carhaulupdatenews_3

The union members posting on The Carhauler don’t sound impressed!