Teamsters hit the bricks
Why the Overnite strike is so important for labor
By Milt
Neidenberg
Retired Teamster
Teamsters and dock workers--8,200-strong--walked off their
jobs at Overnite Transportation on Oct. 24. The
package-delivery firm is the most powerful and largest
non-union trucking corporation in the country.
The Teamsters have been organizing drivers at the company
for years--and the union has won a series of representation
elections. But the company refuses to recognize the votes or
negotiate a contract. So workers struck to demand union
recognition.
The strike quickly spread. Teamster spokesperson Dave
Cameron reported that within a few days the strike expanded
from a single terminal in Memphis to all 166 Overnite
terminals.
Cameron said that Teamster members would be following
Overnite's scab drivers from the terminals to their
destinations. There the union members will picket the sites as
the scabs unload.
The objective is to persuade customers to look elsewhere for
their transportation needs.
Company profited from gov't
intervention in union
The Teamster fight to organize Overnite began in 1994. At
that time the union won elections at 37 terminals that
represented over 3,600 workers. However, in September the
company broke off negotiations.
Overnite has taken advantage of the government's
intervention in the internal life of the Teamsters, which goes
on relentlessly to this day. The Teamsters have long had one of
the biggest and strongest unions in the country. It has been
subjected to the most extreme government interference.
For example, a so-called Independent Review Board was formed
as the government mechanism to control the internal life of the
union. The IRB and the courts have served Corporate America
well.
Overnite has also gained by these attacks aimed at weakening
the Teamsters. The company has been able to defeat the
Teamsters in the last seven out of nine elections.
The company and the Teamsters dispute the strength of the
current strike. But it is clear that Overnite has taken
advantage of an anti-union climate created by the government to
intimidate and fire organizers and workers who sign union
cards--in addition to carrying out other unfair labor
practices.
And there are other powerful forces standing behind the
Overnite management.
Overnite may have to rely on the courts if the corporation
feels that the strike continues to be strong. Management will
allege union violence in order to demand injunctive relief.
This is a traditional remedy for Corporate America that the
courts have obligingly provided for decades, particularly in
critical strikes and struggles such as Overnite.
The National Labor Relations Board--which had originally
been created to defend workers' rights during the labor upsurge
of the 1930s--has done little to protect the Overnite
activists.
Overnite is an important component of Corporate America. The
corporation controls 75 percent of the freight that combines
the cargo of different companies in one truck. As a result, the
truck trailers get longer and longer. This dramatic increase in
freight puts tremendous strain on the drivers.
Higher production and profits are the driving forces of this
corporate giant.
Overnite is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad--which
merged with the Southern Pacific in 1996 and earlier bought out
Missouri Pacific Corporation. The UP/sP mega-merger resulted in
the monopolized control of tens of thousands of railroad
miles.
UP/sP's perspective is to link up railroads with trucking in
order to control a major section of the strategic
transportation industry. The corporation would like to extend
its monopoly influence to many ports where international and
domestic ships unload containers.
Recently, UP/sP canceled a union contractor that hired
Teamsters at the Port of Los Angeles. The International
Longshore and Warehouse Union has joined the Teamsters to fight
back against this union busting.
As in many other mega-mergers, the goal is to lay off and
downsize the workforce. Overnite has already threatened to shut
down a number of terminals.
Organize the unorganized!
The Overnite strike raises issues vital to the entire labor
movement. And the importance of this strike makes it imperative
that the labor movement in turn close ranks to support the
heroic rank-and-file Teamsters.
The right to organize a union is at the heart of the
Overnite strike. And organizing the unorganized has been the
hallmark of the AFL-CIO since President John Sweeney took
office in 1995.
The Overnite strike comes at a time when corporate financial
empires have accelerated their interlocking connections within
Corporate America. Restructuring by finance capital is
calculated to try and crush the labor movement at a time when
the AFL-CIO is growing and gaining influence among the
unorganized.
No empty rhetoric from capitalist politicians seeking labor
support in the election changes the fact that this ruling class
development moves relentlessly ahead.
This poses a crisis for the entire labor movement.
And it presents particular challenges to the Teamsters
union.
Will Teamsters President James Hoffa, who has taken over
direction of the strike, have the vision to employ the strategy
and tactics necessary to win a victory in this enormous and
difficult struggle?
Does Hoffa have the will to cease his attacks on those
Teamsters who supported former union President Ron Carey and
the thousands of members who worked for Tom Leedham in the
recent Teamsters presidential election?
Thirteen hundred International Beef Products
workers--primarily immigrants and women of color--didn't get
the International's support during their recent strike.
Recently Hoffa put the local union under a trusteeship. His
move followed a rank-and-file decision to vote into office
leaders who had led a valiant strike against the largest meat
corporation in the country.
These workers are a microcosm of the future Teamster
membership--which will include even more immigrants and women
workers and lower-paid, service-oriented members. Hoffa should
withdraw the trusteeship.
Hoffa has an excellent opportunity to reorganize, unify and
rally the powerful 1.2 million Teamsters to support the
Overnite strike.
The Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Hoffa's main opponents
inside the union, have called the Overnite struggle "one of the
labor movement's most important organizing campaigns in the
decade." They concluded that "all Teamsters have a big stake in
the outcome." (Convoy Dispatch #180)
TDU is holding its annual convention on Nov. 5-7. Hopefully
TDU leaders will appeal to their thousands of members to get
behind the strike.
Hoffa should welcome such a call and give it a positive
response.
UPS strike showed potential
The August 1997 United Parcel Service strike is an excellent
blueprint to follow. Led by former Teamster President Ron
Carey, it brought UPS management to their knees as the labor
movement and its allies joined to bring the strike to a
successful conclusion.
Will AFL-CIO President Sweeney and the Executive Council see
the significance of this Overnite strike and mobilize the labor
movement's affiliates, resources, allies and rank and file to
effectively fight this giant corporation?
At the recent AFL-CIO Biennial Convention, the Executive
Council formally approved a strategy called the New Alliance.
It formed the "Committee 2000," which has visited many state
federations, labor councils and local unions and held hundreds
of discussions designed to prepare the millions in the AFL-CIO
and their allies for struggles in the coming period.
The goal is to unite the AFL-CIO on every level--from the
local union to the top International officials. The appeal
states the "mission is to improve the lives of working
families--to bring economic justice to the workplace and social
justice to our nation." "
If there ever was a time to put this program into action, it
is now. This is what the Overnite strike is all about.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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