About 80 Teamsters are losing their jobs because General Motors has switched to a nonunion carrier to deliver automobiles to dealerships from a railyard here. The workers, members of Teamsters Local 120, are auto transport drivers, yard drivers and mechanics formerly employed by Allied Systems Ltd.

Teamsters have been hauling cars for Allied and its predecessor companies for more than 30 years, said Glen Roseland, a driver steward for Local 120. About 110 union workers remain on the job at Allied, continuing to transport cars for other automakers, he said.

However, GM refused to renew its contract with Allied and instead hired Sierra Mountain Express, a nonunion hauler based in Carson City, Nev., said Louie Miller, recording secretary for Local 120. After three months of delays, Sierra Mountain Express took over the GM deliveries on Dec. 29, putting the drivers and other union employees on the street.

Miller said Local 120 is now spreading the word about GM's action and hoping that what happened elsewhere in the country happens here: Union drivers get the contract back because Sierra Mountain is unable to perform the work satisfactorily.

Bad blood remains
'Since the '95 strike, to GM we're enemy No. 1,' Miller said. 'And they have, since then, attempted to use what they call alternative methods of delivery, which means scabs. And that's what they've been trying to do at railheads like this.'

Sierra Mountain, which hires independent owner-operators, is one company GM is using, Miller said. Until now, most contracts have been at relatively small locations in the West, requiring 15 to 20 drivers, he said.

'They haven't had the guts to try at a plant, because we have a lot more control,' Miller said.

The Cottage Grove railhead is much larger. Allied has been shipping about 130,000 cars a year through the site, Roseland said, to dealers in the Twin Cities, elsewhere in Minnesota, and in parts of Iowa and the Dakotas.

Out-of-state drivers take good jobs: The GM business employed about 50 drivers, but Sierra Mountain Express, despite recruiting at job fairs, has been able to hire only about 15 drivers locally, Miller said. That means two things.

First, it forces Sierra Mountain to bring drivers in from out of state. 'It's not only hurting our men right here,' Miller said, 'it's also destroying Minnesota jobs at the same time.'

The jobs pay well, Roseland said, with drivers typically earning upwards of $65,000 plus full benefits. Sierra Mountain has promised its drivers the potential of $100,000 a year, he said. But, as owner-operators, they have to lease or buy their own truck. They also have to pay all expenses, Roseland said, including fuel. They lack insurance, paid vacations, and health and retirement benefits.

Deliveries back up
The driver shortage also means GM dealers and car buyers are getting worse service, Miller said.

'The dealers are not getting their units delivered,' Miller said, even though Sierra Mountain is running seven days a week. 'You can tell from the yard out here. It should be a ghost town this time of year, but it's jammed. They're running out of room because they can't keep up with it. They're self-destructing.'

Local 120 has sent letters to GM dealers notifying them of the change in carriers and asking for support. Local 120 members are also shadowing Sierra Mountain drivers and handing out informational leaflets at dealerships.

It was pressure from dealers and their customers, Miller said, that forced Ford to cancel a contract with Sierra Mountain in Omaha, Neb., and award the work back the union carriers.

Daily picketing
Meanwhile, Local 120 continues to picket the Cottage Grove railhead daily. Dozens of Auto Workers from the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and from the Carpenters union joined Teamsters on the picket line Jan. 13.

'What we're doing is keeping a high profile, letting the scabs that are coming in here know exactly that we're here, that we have a large presence,' Miller said. A court injunction has restricted activities at the site, so the Teamsters are not encouraging a larger show of union strength at this time, he said.

Local 120 has created pledge cards so union members can 'let their dealers know that they're aware of what's going on,' Miller said.

The Teamsters also expected to handbill the North American Auto Show in Detroit last week, to shed light on GM's actions.

'Our morale is high,' Roseland said, 'we're dug in and we're not going away. We just want to haul cars. That's what we do and we've done a good job.'

Ford plant not affected
The Teamsters dispute does not affect vehicles delivered to or from the Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant, said Bob Killeen Jr., of United Auto Workers Local 879.

Some vehicles are shipped by rail to the plant, Killeen said, mostly Fords, but some General Motors and DaimlerChrysler vehicles. Those are unloaded by UAW workers, he said, then picked up and transported by Teamsters. Ford Ranger trucks produced at the plant either are loaded onto rail cars by UAW members or onto auto carriers by Teamsters.

But the arrangement could change, said Louie Miller, of Teamsters Local 120. Ford has attempted to switch to nonunion carriers elsewhere in the country, he said. 'If they switched their rail traffic into [Cottage Grove] and tried to give it to a nonunion carrier, the same issue would come up.'

This article was written for the Jan. 24 issue of The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org