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The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC are trying to drive union car haulers out of business.
To protest what they call “union busting,” Teamsters members will be at dealerships across the country this weekend – including six in Indiana and two in Fort Wayne – distributing leaflets.
GM is demanding that unionized companies that truck vehicles from assembly plants to dealerships take a 26 percent cut in what they’re paid per load, said Fred Zuckerman, director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division. The move is intended to force the business away from union companies, such as Fort Wayne-based Allied Systems Inc., Zuckerman said.
“We can’t stand idly by and watch them destroy these middle-class jobs,” Zuckerman said.
Allied couldn’t be reached Friday afternoon, and officials at two other unionized car haulers were unavailable for comment.
But GM spokesman Greg Martin said his company isn’t trying to slash what it’s paying car haulers by 26 percent. A letter from GM to U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., said the company is negotiating with car haulers because their contracts are about to expire.
“While we’re working through these issues, we’re not going to engage in a tit-for-tat in the newspaper,” Martin said.
Teamsters drivers at Allied make an average of $17.84 an hour, Zuckerman said.
Allied and other car haulers already took cuts ranging from 26 percent to 60 percent from Chrysler on Oct. 1, Zuckerman said.
Chrysler couldn’t be reached late Friday for comment.
In a statement, Teamsters President Jim Hoffa said that Chrysler and GM received taxpayer money as the federal government ushered them through bankruptcy this year.
“The Teamsters want to remind these automakers that their taxpayer bailouts were intended to save American jobs,” the statement said. “Instead, they are out to destroy an industry that pays good wages and benefits at a time when we should be creating more of these kinds of jobs in this country.”
