The largest contingent was from Teamsters Local 120, which includes many truckers and warehouse workers in the Twin Cities area. Strikers were dispatched during the days before the action to take fliers to Teamsters-organized work sites. There were also small groups from the Service Employees International Union Local 284 and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 17, which have been involved in union-organizing efforts in the metropolitan area.

A small group of Northwest Airlines workers, members of International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1833, also participated. About a dozen members of this local had come to the picket lines the morning before in a day of solidarity with the strikers.

Airline workers collected $500 to contribute to the strikers and another $100 was donated by the IAM local.

In addition to several strikers and Teamsters officials, Bernard Brommer, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, and U.S. congressmen Bruce Vento and William Luther spoke.

Following the short rally scores of unionists hung around to talk and to confront the scab trucks that were returning to the terminal. A recent injunction has limited pickets to four in the driveway, but for a while on the day of the rally a lot more workers gathered in and around the driveway.

One of the goals of the action was to try to crack the total blackout of news coverage by the local media. One TV station and the Minneapolis Star Tribune did give brief coverage to the event.  
 

Overnite tries to violence-bait strikers

"The company is trying to blame the union for what happened, " reported Dennis Harris, a Memphis striker, in a December 5 telephone interview. "They are losing a lot of customers, so they're trying to make the union look bad. They thought the strikers would only last a few weeks. They didn't count on us being so determined. If they want to settle the strike, they're going to have to sign a contract."

"There is no evidence that this act is connected to the unfair labor practices strike at Overnite, as the company alleges," said Teamsters president James P. Hoffa in a December 1 news statement.

There have been numerous incidents of company-inspired violence against the strikers, the Teamsters reported in the same news release, including: Overnite employees carrying guns; knives pulled on union supporters; Overnite security running ambulatory pickets off the road; Overnite drivers driving out of gates at dangerous speeds; and scabs attacking strikers and inciting fistfights.

In late November someone fired a shot through the front door of the Teamsters Local 667 union hall in Memphis. The shotgun blast went through two doors and could have killed someone if they were behind the door, Harris said.

The FBI is investigating the shooting of the trucker, according to the December 3 Memphis Commercial Appeal. The company has also offered a $1 million reward for information about the shooting.  
 

Other Teamsters picket in Virginia to back union drive

Workers inside the Overnite terminal here have not yet been able to vote on union recognition and face victimization by the bosses if they take up picket signs against the nonunion carrier. Overnite is the sixth-largest freight company in the country and the largest nonunion carrier.

Two Militant supporters who are also members of the Machinists union in Washington, D.C., made a second visit to the Richmond picket lines on December 1, the coldest day of the year on record.

We found a warm welcome for the solidarity, coffee, and copies of the Militant we brought with us.

Jim Smith, an 11-year driver and the picket line spokesperson for Teamsters Local 592, said, "The company is trying all kinds of tactics as a result of losing 40 percent of their business. See those empty Overnite trailers lined up? Normally they would not be sitting in this lot. Now see those other trailers with different company names on them? Overnite has rented them so that they can go down the road with freight under a different name."

Smith also said that several area companies had suspended their use of Overnite trucks.

"Management is trying to single out people inside," he continued, "and make it look like there is no support for the union, but we're finding support is growing."

The Teamsters pickets were glad to hear that Militant supporters were on their way to distribute the paper with news on the Overnite fight to United Steelworkers of America (USWA) members at a nearby chemical plant to which Overnite delivers. At that plant gate, 13 USWA members bought the paper and several expressed interest in bringing up the Overnite strike at their next union meeting and discussing what kind of solidarity they could offer as they had done previously during the strike against the Newport News shipyard bosses.

Doug Jenness is a member of the USWA in Roseville, Minnesota. Susan LaMont is a member of the USWA in Birmingham, Alabama. Janice Lynn and Mary Martin are members of the IAM in Washington, D.C.  
 
 
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