
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 19, 1994                   TAG: 9404190155
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

UNION, TRUCKING INDUSTRY RETURN TO BARGAINING TABLE

As negotiators for the Teamsters and the trucking industry returned to the bargaining table Monday, there were signs the Clinton administration was preparing to intervene to end the nationwide freight strike if agreement isn't reached soon.

The two sides returned to the bargaining table Monday for the first time since the walkout began two weeks ago in a dispute over a new contract.

Sources said Teamster President Ron Carey would make a new contract offer that should quickly determine whether there was a basis for a settlement. Details were not disclosed, but the proposal was expected to deal with the industry's insistence on the greater use of part-time workers on the loading docks.

The 70,000 striking Teamster drivers haul intercity freight, carrying partial loads of goods and equipment from manufacturer to business. By the end of last week, there were reports that the strike was beginning to have an impact in some regions of the country.

The administration is particularly concerned about the shipment of goods to Alaska and Hawaii because the West Coast longshoremen are honoring the Teamster picket lines. Political leaders in the two states have expressed their concern to the White House.

Should the talks break down, sources said, the administration was prepared to act quickly to bring the government into the negotiations. Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Transportation Secretary Federico Pena would call on both sides to submit the dispute to federal mediation, sources said.

The government has no power under federal labor law to force an end to the walkout. But in the event agreement cannot be reached, the administration is expected to ask both sides to submit the dispute to mediation by Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service director John Calhoun Wells, who would try to hold them at the bargaining table until agreement was reached. The two sides already are meeting at the headquarters of the FMCS.

Since the start of the strike, two financially weak trucking companies have broken ranks with the industry and signed separate contracts with the union, agreeing to whatever terms are eventually reached with the struck companies. A third company simply closed its doors, throwing 1,500 Teamsters out of work.

The 19 remaining companies are represented at the bargaining table by Trucking Management Inc., which has been negotiating for the industry since the 1960s.

In recent years, as a result of trucking deregulation, the industry has become increasingly non-union, and more than 100,000 Teamster jobs have disappeared. The rise of non-union employers has put increasing pressure on both the union and companies to cut costs to become more competitive.

by CNB