Every morning since the walkout began, this scene has been repeated. Dozens of scabs drive into the terminal in vehicles rented by Overnite management. Shortly afterward, some 10 or 15 scab-driven trucks wheel out of the terminal to be confronted by the strikers, members of Teamsters Local 120. A striker will then often follow the truck to its delivery locations.

To find out what happens, I tagged along behind Taylor. The truck headed west out of Blaine, a northern suburb of the Twin Cities, to the northwestern suburbs of Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove. At one point the driver seemed to be lost as he twisted around back streets, ending up in several dead-ends. But after about 40 minutes of this, it became apparent that he was trying to discourage us and maybe shake us. Finally, he pulled into his first stop, Hanson, a huge plant that makes prefabricated concrete pieces for bridges and other construction projects. It's organized by the Teamsters.

When the scab went to turn his shipping papers over to the receiving clerk, Taylor followed right along and gave the clerk a written notice explaining that he was receiving struck work and some facts about the Overnite strike. The clerk said he didn't know anything about the strike and would talk to the company president about it, but meanwhile he'd have to accept the shipment.

Outside Taylor talked to the fork lift operators who had pulled up to unload the order from the truck. They said they were in the Teamsters but didn't know anything about the strike. They were interested and expressed support before going ahead to unload the truck.

The next stop was Allegiance, a firm that specializes in transporting medical equipment and supplies. The drivers and warehouse workers there are unorganized, but the worker on the dock told Taylor he'd do what he could to slow the unloading process. Taylor stood outside in front of the truck, with a strike sign. A United Parcel Service driver pulled up, walked over, and asked what was going on. He said he didn't know about the strike but would do what he could to get support in his local. The UPS drivers are also in the Teamsters and were on strike two years ago.

At one point the scab asked Taylor why he was striking. The Teamster replied, "We're fighting to get a union, with a contract, so that we can have rights and better conditions. Now, we don't even get overtime pay for extra work." The scab said he was from Boston and that he'd been hired by a temp agency there. He said he knew about the strike before he hired on and he'd never been in a union.

The strikers make it clear that they aren't picketing the companies where struck work is delivered, but are picketing the trucks wherever they go. In the face of the blackout of any news coverage whatsoever about the strike in the Twin Cities area, strikers say that the roving pickets help to get the word out to other workers and unionists.

Doug Jenness is a member of the United Steelworkers of America.  
 
 
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