"Our Teamsters will not cross strike lines." Teamsters vow not to cross UAW picket lines if the union strikes auto companies at midnight
If, as is expected, the United Auto Workers (UAW) goes out on strike against the Detroit Three automakers at midnight tonight, they will do so with the full support of the Teamsters, which vowed not to cross any UAW picket lines.
Truck drivers who haul vehicles plan to stand with UAW membersĀ if they strike, which means not delivering vehicles for Ford Motor Co., General Motors or Stellantis-owned Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat, reported the Courier Journal on Thursday.
āThe International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including our members in the carhaul industry, stand in solidarity with the United Auto Workers to get the best contract possible from Americaās biggest automakers,ā stated Teamsters President Sean OāBrien in a release on the unionās website.
āYou can be sure there is no division in Americaās labor movement today,ā OāBrien said. āAnd you are urged to remember that Teamsters donāt cross picket lines.ā
"We are 100% supportive of UAW workers and Shawn Fain's positions," Kevin Moore, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 299, which representsĀ 5,000 members and most freight car haulers told the Courier Journal. "Our Teamsters will not cross strike lines."
As the UAWās contracts expire at 11:50 pm on Thursday (Detroit time), if there are no contracts negotiated, the UAW is planning ātargeted walkouts at strategic locations in several states in a play to both maximize the unionās strike fund and sow chaos at the companies,ā according to Bloomberg.
Dubbing it the āStand-Up Strike,ā UAW President Shawn Fain explained the strategy on a Facebook Live video Wednesday evening.
If there were no contracts in place, Fain explained, members would strike the auto companies, but would not all be walking off the job at once.
Rather, according to Fain, members at selected plants would be walking out, while others remained working and, the remaining plantsā memberships should be ready to strike on short notice.
āIt is unlike anything we have ever done,ā Fain explained to viewers.
