Teamsters strike R.I. trucking company
4/25/07
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Time to tell the workers we will not negotiate, and will find replacements.

To me, this is the classic example of what happens after becoming unionized. The first time the contract comes up, the union will take on a strike, simply because they can and to show their new members that they will. I can't get into the idea of me having to pay people who are professional negotiators to do a job, and the best thing they can come up with is for me to stop working and attempt to cripple the very place that employs me.

I work in a place with a lot of just in time delivery work, and if we go on strike for a couple of days, the very first thing that happens is those customes find someone else to supply them. A bakery needs a load of flour in the silo's 2-3 times a day, and they simply can't shut down the bakery and do without for a week while we handle a labor problem.

I talked to a plant manager one time about what would happen if his in house trucking company were to unionize. At the time, we hauled 90% of their loads. And his comment was that the first thing he would do is cut us back to no more than 30% of the loads, because that is the most he could risk in the event of a strike. The other carriers could pick up the slack of that 30%, but if one company went down and took out 90% of his business, his customers would find other suppliers within days, if not overnight..

I have rarely heard of anyone making as much by striking as they lost during the time they were out on the strike. If I am paying people to negotiate, then that's what they had better do.

Very good points burk, I do agree with you on stop working is a idiotic way to resolve an issue but unfortunately most corporations will not even listen unless your talking money. Thus hitting them in the pocket book is the only way to get your point across sometimes. Corporation greed is getting a little out of hand nowadays when a CEO gets 2-5 million bonus and the working man does not get a pay increase or is denied medical benefits. Again "sometimes" hitting them in the pocket book is the only way to make the scum listen..

let me ask you this. Is there evidence that the CEO or manager of this particular company is getting that kind of money and that the argument about financially enriched CEO's holds any water i this particular case? if we go off of what is written in the story, this is a company with 18 employees, not a huge mega corporation with a CEO with a golden compensation package.

I know we hear all the time about companies where the CEO makes some ungodly sum, but I tend to suspect that there are a lot more of them get publicized than their proportion would call for. Most companies are relatively small, and the owner or whatever title they hold gets compensated once everyone else with their hand out get theirs.

My point here is that the people on strike will probably not acheive much more than cutting the business down and scaring their shippers into using someone else. There probably was no real need to strike, but the newly installed union feels it has to simpley to prover that they can and to make a point. That means to me that the strike was unneeded, and was a lousy negotiating tactic.

You hear how unions go on strike for months and get what they want BUT you never hear how many members lost cars, houses or other items they were buying The union bosses didnt lose anything.

"strike fund". that, and if you make enough money, you don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. I can live off my checking acct alone for a few months...

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TEAMSTERS LOCAL 200

the wife and I could get by on what she makes - and the strike fund would cover both of us for months and months without having to touch our checking / savings...


sure there are guys living like rock stars that would loose stuff - but the theory is that the strike is worth it in the long run.

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TEAMSTERS LOCAL 100


Faster than a 60 MPH bullet....

You have your eggs in a basket and can do well during a strike, but I really think the majority would be in trouble after 2 or 3 weeks. Once the snowball effect happens (paying bills) its hard to recover. Not everyone is married with two good incomes or maybe one is disabled and barely makes it week to week. Just my input.

gee Knighton - that is the first ciil post I have ever seen out of you...


yeah some would falter after awhile - but I dare not say "the majority"..


in issues that the teamsters have had strikes on - the workforce can afford to be idle a lot longer than the buisness owner - and that is leverage.

the type of union employment that I work on is on another level compared to some - and my coworkers are (for the most part) a tad brighter than the average joe when it comes to money - so only a few would be hurting after a few months of strike... (most issues are resolved by 10-30 hours of negotiations.)

BUT keep in mind that the teamsters have not had a freight strike in AGES (before I was born)



most all of us that are Teamsters fought our way out of the trenches of crappy driving jobs to finally land on a posh gig - and we will fight to keep it. (and fight to keep ourselves there).

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TEAMSTERS LOCAL 100


Faster than a 60 MPH bullet....