Teamsters agree to 21 pc pay rise
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• The Teamsters Union has announced that its members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new national contract that provides a wage increase of 95 cents an hour for 400,000 drivers over the next 33 months.
The vote follows a quiz earlier this year of union members of their preferences for alternative proposals (CM June 8).
However, one supplement of the contract — the part covering the iron and steel workers — failed to receive a favourable vote. The Teamsters' president, Frank Fitzsimmons, said the national negotiating committee will meet employers to discuss the iron and steel supplement.
Mr Fitzsimmons announced approval of the freight agreement in telegrams to all local unions. He also warned that "any strike, work stoppage, slow down or interference with the operations in iron and steel, or any other operation covered by the national master freight agreement, is unauthorized......
The Teamsters said the vote ratifying the national agreement was 120,741 to 51,876. The iron and steel supplement was defeated 3993 to 3539.
Industry sources estimated that the pact raises wages and benefits by 21 per cent over the life of the contract, with a 7.2 per cent boost in each of the first two years and a 6.6 per cent jump the third year.
Some 300,000 city truck drivers who now average $6.15 an hour will receive hourly increases of 35 cents the first year and 30 cents per hour in each of the remaining two years.
The contract also provides increases totalling 2 cents per mile over the three years for the 100,000 long-distance truck drivers who are paid by the mile.
Those drivers now average an estimated $ 18,000 a year and mileage pay averages about 12.5 cents per mile.