Roll Call: Teamsters Protest Moves By GM, Chrysler

The Teamsters union is protesting moves by Chrysler and General Motors to cut labor costs among companies that haul vehicles from factories to dealers.

The union claims the two big auto companies, which received federal bailouts, are trying to shift the car-hauling work to nonunion drivers. The automakers are asking for savings of about 25 percent from the car-hauling business.

“These are the toughest and most dangerous jobs in the trucking industry,” Teamster Carhaul Division Director Fred Zuckerman said.

The Teamsters planned to distribute leaflets across the country at GM and Chrysler dealerships warning consumers that cars may be delivered by inexperienced drivers.

According to the Detroit News, Chrysler distributed a fact sheet on Capitol Hill saying the changes would cut $111 million in annual hauling costs and improve transit delivery time by 23 percent.

The article, written by Matthew Murray, Anna Palmer and Bennett, originally appeared in The Roll Call on October 19, 2009.