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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.
WASHINGTON (AP) — – Automakers plan to urge Congress to support funding up to $50 billion in low-interest loans over three years to help them modernize their assembly plants and develop next-generation fuel-efficient vehicles.
Industry officials said the loans, which are twice the amount authorized in last year’s energy bill, are a top priority when Congress returns next month because of the declining fortunes of Detroit’s automakers and tightening credit markets.
More than 2,000 transportation equipment items will sell to highest
bidders around the world.
VANCOUVER, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
(NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world’s largest truck and industrial equipment
auctioneer, announced today that it will be selling approximately 1,000
specialized car carriers on behalf of the Trustee for Performance
Transportation Services, Inc. (PTS), as well as approximately 350 truck
August 19, 2008
Dear Carhaul Teamster:
As you know, Teamster carhaul members voted to reject the proposed 2008-2011 National Master
Automobile Transporters Agreement (NMATA) and all of its supplements.
In an effort to fully understand members’ concerns, the Teamsters National Automobile Transporters
Industry Negotiating Committee (TNATINC) is asking members who voted no to contact their
stewards or local union leaders in the coming days to relay concerns they may have about the
proposed agreement that was rejected. By doing so, the TNATINC will gather this input to gain a
better understanding as it prepares to resume negotiations with the employers.
The national committee is committed to resolving members’ issues so that the next tentative
agreement fully addresses our carhaulers’ concerns.
Throughout the contract negotiations, our number one goal was to preserve and protect our carhaul
members’ job security, and that remains our top priority.With members’ further input, we are
confident we can reach a tentative national agreement and supplements that you will support.
The national committee voted unanimously to support the tentative agreement that was presented
to you, as did leaders from carhaul local unions.We do not believe this was a concessionary contract.
We believe this contract took the necessary steps to protect your jobs and interests during these dire
economic times facing our industry and the country in general.We still believe the contract that’s
in place needs changes so that the employers under the NMATA can better compete with nonunion
carriers and obtain work in the foreign car market.
Now we are prepared to go back to the bargaining table, and we are hopeful we can resolve this
contract without going on strike.
I appreciate your continued support.
Fraternally,
Fred Zuckerman, Co-Chairman,
TNATINC
FZ/jpc
August 18, 2008: Teamster carhaulers who rejected the proposed national contract want a change in the union’s negotiating committee.
That committee unanimously endorsed what would have been the most concessionary carhaul contract in Teamster history.
One Teamster posted on thecarhauler.com, “There will be no Gold, Silver or Bronze medals awarded to each of those who tried to sell the sorry concessionary proposals to the members…but the employers are hoping to use them again.”
Negotiations Will Resume Soon
August 15, 2008 TEAMSTERS.ORG 
Information will be mailed to carhaul Teamsters next week about the next steps in the contract campaign.
After ballots were counted August 12, it was learned that carhaul members voted to reject the proposed 2008-2011 National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement and all of its supplements.
“We will begin negotiations in the near future and we are hopeful we can resolve this contract without going on strike,” said Fred Zuckerman, Director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division.
The Teamsters for a Democratic Union, which worked to defeat the proposed agreement, said it was rejected because it contained a “massive list of concessions, which would have gutted decades of hard-won contract protections.”
According to TDU Organizer Ken Paff, the biggest single objection by members to the proposed contract was the elimination of language that called for equalization of loads, which spread work among drivers from different locations. With the elimination of this provision, he said, locals will be played against one another for work.
According to a TDU flyer, the agreement would have required that when work is slow, drivers could be relocated to any other terminal with no option to take a layoff instead. If the driver were to decline, he would be out of work but not laid off.
Another provision would allow locals to negotiate lower mileage rates than provided in the contract, Paff said, allowing one local to negotiate a lower rate to gain work at one terminal at the expense of the other local
Another concession would have required drivers to be on five “tours” before returning home, Paff said. Proposed language would have provided that when an employee is dispatched from his home terminal he may be required to pull trips away from his home terminal but will be dispatched so he returns to his home terminal no later than the completion of a fifth tour. Paff said a driver who picked up a load in Michigan and took it to Missouri could then be routed to Dallas before going back to Missouri and then to Michigan, putting that driver on the road for at least a week.
By Michelle Amber
Teamster Leaders Will Identify Workers’ Concerns
August 12, 2008
Teamster carhaul members have voted to reject the proposed 2008-2011 National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement and all of its supplements.
Throughout the 2008-2011 contract negotiations, the union sought first and foremost to preserve and protect the members’ job security and job opportunities in an auto industry that is suffering from economic upheaval.
“The proposed agreement eliminated various restrictions so that our contracted employers could haul more cars, thereby providing additional job opportunities to our members and protecting their job security,” said Fred Zuckerman, Teamsters Carhaul Division Director. “However, our members have made it clear that they do not accept the proposal.”
“Now that the ballots have been counted and the contract has been rejected, we plan to speak to our members and our carhaul local union leaders to discuss the issues behind this defeat,” Zuckerman said. “We will get our members’ input on the issues that concern them. We understand that our members are worried and angry about the difficult economic conditions facing the auto and carhaul industries. We hope to resolve this contract without going on strike.”
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