Teamsters: We Got Shaft on Car Haul

DETROIT (TheStreet) --The Teamsters were early backers of Barack Obama for president, but now the union says automakers that benefitted from an administration bailout are targeting union truck drivers who transport new cars.

Expiring contracts with unionized car-haul companies have enabled Chrysler to seek the low bidder to transport new cars from plants and rail yards to dealers, and GM is following the same course. Chrysler's contracts expired Oct. 1, while GM's contract expires Jan. 1.

The automakers say they need to reduce costs where possible in a competitive global auto market. The union has mounted an aggressive campaign against the shift.

"We are perplexed to the fact that the bailout money was intended to keep good-paying middle class American jobs, but the auto companies are taking the money and destroying good middle class jobs," says Fred Zuckerman, director of automobile transport industry for the Teamsters and president of Local 89 in Louisville, Ky. Kentucky is the third largest auto-production state.

"We supported Obama, no doubt about that," Zuckerman says. "Then he decided to bail out the industry. Now, the manufacturers want to put our guys out on the street and we have to change their minds."

About 4,800 Teamsters currently work in the car-haul industry, down from about 10,000 just two years ago. Then, union drivers hauled about 78% of the new cars produced in the U.S. by domestic and foreign manufacturers: Today, the union share is between 60% and 70%. Teamster drivers earn as much as $70,000 to $80,000 annually, working 60 to 70 hours a week.