Carhaulers, Union Reach Pact

The Teamsters union negotiating team, led by general president James P. Hoffa in his first appearance at the bargaining table, came to terms with the unionized autohaulers last week, avoiding a job walkout that would have disrupted new car deliveries across the country.

While the Teamsters are claiming a slam dunk victory, the tentative four-year contract clearly represents compromise on both sides.

The union managed to avoid the 30% pay cut for new drivers originally sought by management. However, it failed to wring any pay increase out of management for the first year of the contract, settling instead for a one-time $1,500 bonus.

The autohauler talks began in February, a month before Hoffa assumed control of the Teamsters. Many industry observers have been watching to see how Hoffa performed in his first test.

“This contract serves notice, the Teamsters are back,” Hoffa said after the four-year agreement was struck June 2. “We, basically, delivered for the membership.”

While the Teamster leader gives his negotiators high marks, others were unimpressed by the results.

Ken Paff, national organizer for Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a faction that opposed Hoffa in the recent election, said Hoffa “flunked” his own test by giving away too much at a time the automobile industry is booming.

“The main thing was that we avoided a strike,” said R. Ian Hunter, executive director of the National Automobile Transporters Labor Division, the group representing the 17 companies at the bargaining table.

For the full story, see the June 7 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.