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Union green lights strike bid
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May 17, 1999: 6:09 p.m. ET
Carhaulers give their negotiating committee authorization to call strike
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Organized carhaulers gave their negotiating committee the green light Monday to call a strike if talks with major trucking companies stall.
The 5,705 to 251 vote by members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters who haul new cars and trucks to dealers does not mandate an immediate strike.
The current contract expires at midnight, May 31, and negotiations are ongoing between the Teamsters and carhaul owners.
A union spokesman said about 85 to 90 percent of new cars and trucks in the United States are transported by Teamsters.
About 12,000 drivers, yard workers, mechanics and office workers are covered under the national carhaul contract with 17 major carhaul companies.
The workers want improved pensions, better health and welfare benefits, improved dispatch rules, a reduction in excessive work hours and stronger job security protections.
"People are buying new cars in record numbers," Teamster General President James P. Hoffa, who co-chairs the carhaul committee, said in a prepared statement. "The industry is making big money. It's time the owners shared the profits with the people doing the hard work."
The union members said they are opposed to demands for a two-tier wage structure and a reduction of some trip rates, which they say would cut into take-home pay.
A Teamsters spokesman said the union had not determined if, in the event of a strike, it would target one, several or all of the 17 trucking companies.
Allied Holdings Inc. (AHI) is the parent company of several subsidiaries engaged in the automotive distribution business. Allied Automotive Group, through its subsidiaries, is the largest motor carrier in North America. Allied executives were not available for comment Monday evening.
Teamsters struck Ryder System Inc.'s auto transport unit for 32 days in 1995. Allied bought that unit in 1997.
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