Union negotiators who represent the truck drivers who deliver new vehicles to dealerships say they're close to a new contract with most of the country's largest trucking companies.
But the negotiations have been difficult in an industry that has been hampered by high fuel prices and a public that is buying fewer American-made vehicles. Two of the companies that make up a consortium that negotiates as a group have filed for bankruptcy in the last two years.
Several hundred workers are employed at companies that have depots in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Carhaulers pick up new vehicles at factories and rail yards.
The deal with the union and the National Automobile Transporters Labor Division, which negotiates for 11 companies, expired Sunday.
Earlier this week the Teamsters authorized a strike against one company, Allen Park, Mich.-based Performance Transportation Services, after the company withdrew from the negotiating consortium and received approval from a bankruptcy court judge to cut wages 15 percent. PTS has a facility in Carson.
Teamsters spokesman Galen Munroe declined to comment beyond a statement appearing on the union's Web site earlier this week that reported progress in the negotiations. The talks are "on track to reach a tentative carhaul agreement when talks resume next week in Cleveland."
A spokesman for the trucking companies did not return calls seeking comment.
Randy Cammack, secretary-treasurer of Rialto-based Teamsters Local 63, confirmed it's been a slow pace, but the two sides are close.
"It's difficult because the auto industry is in trouble," Cammack said. "The prospect of their being able to sell more America cars than they are right now is not good."
Cammack said future negotiations with other trucking companies are likely to be difficult because of fuel prices, but it's rising health care costs that are taking a bite out of cont r act packages. That might mean workers won't see big gains in wages and pensions, he said.
"The carhaulers are looking for more flexibility," Cammack said. "They're looking to find money in any part of the agreement they can. Our guys have been pretty reasonable, but we're not going to give away the store. We're saying, hey, there are some ways you can manage the business better."
The current economic conditions could create some intense scenarios in future labor negotiations. There are about 350,000 public- and private-sector workers in Southern California whose labor contracts expire this year, said Kent Wong, director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UCLA.
"Clearly there are challenges facing people in the trucking and airlines industries," Wong said. "It's taking a huge toll on the workers themselves."
According to the Bureau of National Affairs, which tracks specialized news for business and government, the average salary increase in collective bargaining deals this year is down from the first five months of 2007, but only slightly, from a 3.6 percent increase in the first year of a contract to 3.5 percent.
George Howard, who practices employment law for the San Diego office of Jones Day, said the weak economy means it's not a great environment for any employees, and unions negotiating contracts don't have much leverage.
"What unions might want is shorter contracts, hoping the economy will turn around," Howard said. "And employers might want to lock in longer deals."
Howard said the Teamsters have some clout in these talks because transporting cars is a specialty job and drivers can't be easily replaced.
"You're not going to put someone behind the wheel with eight or 10 cars behind you and expect him or her to drive it," Howard said.
