Teamsters step up fight for freight agreement

By Herb Kaye & Fred Gaboury

This article was reprinted from the February 7, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Feb. 12 marks the next date in the escalating campaign of the Teamsters union to win improvements in the National Master Freight Agreement covering 120,000 men - and a growing number of women - who drive the 18-wheelers that belong to the nation's largest motor freight carriers. The NMFA expires March 31 and negotiations have been underway since mid-December.

A leaflet prepared by Teamster headquarters in Washington urges rank and file Teamsters covered by the NMFA to participate in the Feb. 12 National Day of Action for Job Security in order to "send a strong message to management that freight Teamsters are standing united for more secure jobs."

Union demands include tighter limits on subcontracting, better job protection when companies change ownership, restrictions on the use of sleepers, stronger limits on the use of casuals and a more effective grievance procedure.

More than 40,000 rank and file union members responded to questionnaire early last fall asking for input in formulating contract demands. Ninety-seven percent of respondents said it was important for the Teamsters to "continue to focus on organizing freight workers at non- union companies." Eighty-nine percent said it was "important to negotiate restrictions on the use of sleepers" and 96 percent called for the contract to "require companies to use Teamster drivers for delivery work in the U.S."

In launching the "Help Fight for a Secure Future" campaign, Richard W. Nelson, director of the union's National Freight Department, told union members, "The major union companies are all making profits and they can afford to agree to our contract proposals. But that doesn't mean they will," he said.

Nelson called for "pressure on the companies:" to make them deal with the issues, adding: "That pressure doesn't come from negotiators at the bargaining table - it comes from Teamster members in every terminal across the country sticking together and getting involved in activities."

A pocket-sized booklet titled "Common Cents about the Freight Industry," prepared by the union's freight division, is even more explicit. "There are two keys to putting effective pressure on management, - Teamster unity and membership involvement."

The "Big 4" of the industry - Yellow Freight, Roadway, Consolidated and ABF - each reported significant profits for the first nine months of 1997, reaching a combined total of $97 million, an increase of 10 percent over 1996.

Chuck Mack, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7 in the San Francisco Bay area, told the World the union wants to "eliminate whatever kinds of two-tier wages that remain. And we want to improve the sleep time that drivers are allowed so they can spend more time at home with their families."

Asked whether he thought negotiations for the NMFA were endangered by the union's internal difficulties relating to the elections of top officers, Mack was quick to reject that prospect. "No. Not from what I've heard. Both sides have made clear that differences have been put aside in the interest of getting a good contract for the membership."

Brian Masterson, president of Local 375 in Buffalo, N.Y., told the World the local has been involved in the campaign for a decent contract from the beginning. "We participated in "Sticker Days," we've signed petitions.

Local 375, represents about 1,500 warehouse workers and delivery drivers. "One of our big concerns is casual work," Masterson said. "We don't want part-timers doing full time work. It takes 40 hours to make a living and we want to guarantee that."