Teamster carhaul members employed at Performance Transportation Services Inc. went on strike against the company at 9 a.m. eastern time Monday.


The nationwide strike affects 24 terminals and about 1,250 Teamster employees at the PTS' companies: Leaseway Motorcar Transport Co., E&L Transport Co., Hadley Auto Transport and Transportation Releasing.

"We are on strike to enforce our bargaining table demands," said Fred Zuckerman, director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division.

The strike is related only to PTS, which pulled out of negotiations on the master carhauler agreement at the last minute, saying its interests had become too different from the other carhaul companies in the master carhaul group. (The carhaul contract negotiations are still under way.)

Last week, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge approved a PTS request for 15-percent wage cut. "We remain vigorously opposed to PTS' wage cuts because they undermine the entire Teamster-represented carhaul industry," said Fred Zuckerman, Teamsters Carhaul Division Director and lead negotiator for the carhaul division of the Teamsters union.

According to published reports, Performance Transportation's lawyers on June 7 asked for an injunction against a Teamsters strike. The Teamsters said in a court filing that the union's right to strike is protected by federal labor law.

The Teamsters represent about 1,250 workers at PTS. PTS employees haul vehicles for Ford, General Motors, Toyota and other manufacturers.

The terminals are located in Newark and Port Newark in New Jersey; Lordstown and Lorain, in Ohio; Canton, Lansing and Pontiac, in Michigan; Lewiston and Selkirk, in New York; Chicago; Charlton and Worcester, in Massachusetts; Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, in Texas; Aston, Pennsylvania; Georgetown, Kentucky; Princeton, Indiana; El Mirage, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Salt Lake City, Utah; Wilmington, Delaware; and Cottage Grove, Minnesota.