The 10 workers welcomed the influx of support. Overnite sent out a hired cop, who climbed on top of a trailer and filmed the guests. The large picket line drew the attention of truckers from other companies driving by, who blew their horns in solidarity.

The event came after 600 Teamsters and their supporters rallied here January 12 at the Teamsters union hall. Participants in the rally included delegations from Teamsters locals in Omaha, Nebraska; Cincinnati, Ohio; Lexington, Kentucky; Wichita and Topeka, Kansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and one of the four Overnite workers who are on strike in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Workers at Overnite went on strike October 24 in a bitter fight to unionize the company. Teamster members around the country have joined the struggle on picket lines and at rallies, which have had an impact on the company's operations.

The strike is an important one for the labor movement, since Overnite is the sixth-largest U.S. trucking firm and the largest nonunion one. It is owned by Union Pacific Railroad, an enormous transportation company. Workers at the company have been organizing to win union recognition for more than 20 years.

Other unions represented at the rally included the International Association of Machinists, the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the firefighters union. Herb Johnson, secretary-treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO, addressed the rally. A number of state, county, and city politicians also spoke, including Missouri lieutenant-governor Roger Wilson.

A number of union officials spoke at the event, including Teamsters General President James Hoffa, who said, "We're not going to back down, we're not going to run out of money."

Dana Graf, an Overnite striker in Kansas City, told the rally, "The fight at Overnite is just now gearing up. I want to thank everyone for helping to fight the worst labor law violator that has ever faced the working man." A press release by the Teamsters said that more than 1,000 unfair labor practices complaints have been filed against Overnite.

"The Teamsters came out with a contract proposal that was fair, stated Tom Henley, a striker from St. Louis who has worked at Overnite for 13 years. "Overnite came out and said they couldn't afford it. And then they're spending $10-$15 million a years fighting us, and they can't afford it? There needs to be more rallies to let the general public know what's going on. This strike doesn't only affect truck drivers, it affects carpenters, miners, anybody who's got a union."

In Miami, some 50 strikers and their supporters rallied January 12 in front of Overnite's terminal, the first such rally in three months.

Supporters of the strike came from other Teamsters-organized companies such as UPS, Yellow Freight, Consolidated Freight, Roadway, and ABF. Members of the machinists union, transportation union, and plumbers union also joined the action. A Teamster member who works at Roadway said he came because, "this is our fight too."

The courts here have imposed an injunction on the strikers, limiting the number of pickets to nine from 6:00 a.m. in the morning until 6:00 p.m. at night, Monday to Friday. The justification for the ruling was supposed violence and threats on the part of the strikers. One shop steward, Carlos Alonso, is charged with threatening, intimidating, and using verbal threats against the company and the strikebreakers.

Thirty or so truck drivers and dock workers are on strike here. Sam Collins, who has worked at Overnite for nine years, said, "People think the strike is about money. But it's about the way they treat people; they would write you up for anything." The company uses any excuse to write up people and to fire them, striker Israel Morejon explained. From wearing union T-shirts and hats to being late even just a few minutes.

In the months leading up to the strike, "It was constant harassment and intimidation, " said Juan Pastrana. "We faced the choice of either staying inside and waiting to be fired or going on strike and seeing if they would sign a contract."

Two days later 250 people rallied in Atlanta to support the strikers at the Overnite terminal there. The picket line swelled to more than 100 people before the rally began. When trucks came in and out, picketers made room for the trucks while shouting at the drivers.

About 100 rally participants were in town from New England states for the Martin Luther King Day march in Atlanta on January 17. They included members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, USWA, Teamsters, and the Coalition of Black Trade unionists (CBTU).

Speakers at the rally included Linda Chavez-Thompson from the national AFL-CIO, and Bill Lucy from the CBTU. "Our fight is very strong. The rally made me feel good and strong. We need more support like this," said Jerry Wilson, a striker who worked for Overnite for nine years.

Union member Robert Peavy, a mechanic for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, said he arrived late "due to work, but I came to show my support. An injury to one is an injury to all. I hate to see the working class get beat down like this."

David Reeves is a striker with 27 years seniority. He said in an interview, "I loved the rally. We don't have enough information on the strike and we learned some today. We have support even though it does not show up every day."

In St. Louis, some 75 members of Teamster Locals 600 and 688 turned out to picket an "appreciation" dinner given by Overnite for scab truck drivers. Strikers from Overnite and Teamster members from many trucking terminals, including UPS and Airborne Express, lined the side of the parking lot and jeered at the scabs as they entered the banquet hall where the dinner was held. There were only about 20 cars in the parking lot.

Rollande Girard, a member of the International Association of Machinists Local 1126; Don Pane from Atlanta; and Alyson Kennedy from St. Louis contributed to this article.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home