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HISTORIC CARHAUL ORGANIZING VICTORY
In a major organizing victory in a core Teamster industry—carhaul—a group of about 240 drivers, owner-operators and shop employees at Selland Auto Transport voted this past winter to join the Teamsters Union.
The workers joined local unions in California, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Utah. Ballots were counted in mid-December at the National Labor Relations Board in Seattle after a vote-by-mail election.
“It feels great to be a Teamster,” said Tim Vires, a driver in Portland, Ore. “Organizing with the Teamsters and negotiating a contract is the only way we can get the company to provide us with what is important and not be able to take it away later.”
“The workers at Selland have made history,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “This victory is historic because it is the first large carhaul organizing victory in decades. The Teamsters have been organizing in freight and now with this carhaul victory at Selland, we are growing our core industries.”
Growing Carhaul
Carhaul Division Director Kevin Moore said the victory boosts membership in the West, a key goal.
“Organizing is always our priority and growing our carhaul membership in the West is especially important,” Moore said. “The drivers and mechanics at Selland know that the only way to be treated fairly is to negotiate a strong Teamster contract, and that is what we will achieve.”
Despite the company’s vicious anti-worker, anti-union campaign over the six months leading up to the election, the workers remained strong and united. The Selland workers are seeking fairness.
Currently, Selland workers are getting paid about 70 percent of what they should be receiving in terms of overall compensation—wages and health, welfare and retirement benefits—for carhaul professionals in the Western states. For example, some Selland workers pay more than $600 per month in premiums for health insurance benefits that pale in comparison to coverage provided for comparable Teamster carhaulers with no out-of-pocket premium costs. At press time, contract negotiations were ongoing.