By Jeff Karoub | Business Writer The Associated Press June 9, 2008 :
Detroit - About 1,250 Teamsters-represented employees of Michigan-based car hauler Performance Transportation Services Inc. walked off their jobs Monday -- driving automakers to find other carriers to move vehicles from plants to dealer showrooms.
The walkout at 24 plant sites, ports and rail heads in 15 states began at 9 a.m. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says it's protesting an emergency 15 percent pay cut granted by a bankruptcy court judge and unfair labor practices.
"The strike is because PTS left the bargaining table," said Fred Zuckerman, co-chairman of the Teamsters' automobile transporters negotiating group. "This is an attempt to get back into bargaining."
PTS Chief Executive Jeff Cornish said the cuts are necessary to compete as the company reorganizes in Chapter 11 protection. He said the company is seeking a court injunction to bring the workers back.
Allen Park-based Performance Transportation Services delivers more than 4 million new and used cars annually with its fleet of 1,800 trucks for many North American automakers, including General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
The company and its subsidiaries have facilities in Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and California. It also has operations in Ontario, Canada.
California is not affected by the strike, said Teamsters spokeswoman Leigh Strope.
Cornish said Allied Holdings, one of PTS' largest competitors, filed for bankruptcy last year and imposed a 17.5 percent wage cut on its workers.
"All we were seeking was a level playing field to be able to compete," he said. "The union has given it to one company. ... Why not give it to another who's in the same situation?"
The Teamsters' contract expired May 31. Zuckerman said PTS withdrew from a master contract the Teamsters were negotiating with 14 car haulers to bargain independently but has not submitted any proposal to the union's national negotiating committee.
Cornish said PTS has replacement workers in certain spots to keep product moving, but he described such efforts to date as limited.
Don Bell, PTS' vice president of operations, said Canadian Teamsters are not striking, but the company's three Ontario facilities have been affected because drivers aren't crossing the border to honor the picket lines. As a result, about half of the Canadian drivers have been laid off, he said.
Ford spokesman Todd Nissen said the automaker has been monitoring the situation and has contingency plans that include using other haulers.
"It's not easy but you can redistribute the work ... make up here and there," he said.
Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Xavier Dominicis and GM spokesman Chris Lee also said their employers have plans to ensure product delivery.
Dominicis said Toyota has two private distributorships in southern U.S. that don't use PTS. For the remaining 40 states, the car hauler accounts for about a quarter of its business.
"We're taking the necessary actions to maintain our operations while allowing PTS' bankruptcy to work its way out," he said.
"We will take every measure available to us to make certain that the pipeline of our high-mpg (miles per gallon) vehicles will not be disrupted."
Mike Robinet, an auto analyst with CSM Worldwide, said a major walkout would have a greater effect on high-demand vehicles, but the industry slump has left many automakers with higher inventories and other "underutilized carriers." Still, he said, automakers can't dismiss any breaks in the "final link" to the customer.
"A slower industry means extra capacity -- the effect of a work stoppage would not be quite as strong as it would have been two years ago," he said. "Still, there'll be pain felt somewhere."
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