
DATE: Sunday, August 10, 1997               TAG: 9708100081

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHAEL CLARK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   99 lines

UPS STRIKE TALKS SKID TO HALT LOCAL 822 VOWS TO BE OUT IN FORCE ON MONDAY

The Teamsters Local 822 in Norfolk held its regular monthly meeting Saturday, but the order of business was far from routine.

About 200 union members and their families gathered at the union meeting hall off North Military Highway in Norfolk for the closed-door session.

It was standing-room only as members discussed the local union's participation in the strike against United Parcel Service.

The two-hour meeting elicited a few loud bursts of applause and accompanying yells while spouses, children and some members played and paced in the small waiting area outside the meeting room.

The loudest noise from the room came halfway through the meeting when four UPS pilots, dressed in full brown-and-white uniforms, entered. The pilots, members of the International Pilots Association, are honoring the Teamsters' strike.

``It was a morale boost to see us here,'' Jim Skluzak said after the meeting. Skluzak, who flies a 747 for UPS, said the strike is hurting the 2,000 pilots.

``But I'm not crossing. I don't care what it costs me,'' he said.

Negotiations in Washington halted again Saturday afternoon, refocusing attention on the picket lines.

Local president David Vinson said maintaining the integrity of the picket lines is his biggest concern. Vinson said he is sure UPS hopes to see a host of Teamsters cross the lines Monday.

``We've heard a lot of people are strongly considering crossing,'' Vinson said. ``We're going to have a big display Monday. We'll be out in force, larger and louder.''

Of the 1,000 UPS employees in Hampton Roads, 700 are Teamsters. The group is the second-largest contingent within the 2,300-member Local 822. Gwaltney Inc. employs 1,100 members.

Randy Lint, Tidewater division manager for UPS, noted that ``less than a third'' of the company's Teamsters members turned out for the meeting. He said he believed most employees wanted a chance to vote on the contract.

Lint said UPS had delivered about 150,000 packages in Virginia this week, not counting Northern Virginia. About 3,500 pieces were being delivered daily in Hampton Roads, he said.

Virginia Gov. George F. Allen has sent a letter to President Clinton asking him to intervene to end the six-day United Parcel Service strike, saying it is threatening the jobs of employees at mail-order companies in the state that are unable to ship products to customers.

Besides the IPA pilots, other union members attended the meeting to show their support.

``We want to let the union know we're going to stick behind (them),''said Mario Lisi, a Teamster and full-time driver for Tarmac America Inc. ``We have to show strength, solidarity.''

Lisi said the 70 Tarmac drivers in Hampton Roads are preparing to send a letter to the company's local office in Norfolk stating that they will not cross union picket lines.

One day after the letter arrives, Tarmac drivers would then honor picket lines.

``We have to give 24 hours' notice or we'd get fired for insubordination, for not making a delivery.''

Tarmac is a principal supplier for highway work in Hampton Roads and one of the nation's leading suppliers of construction materials.

While there are three UPS facilities in Hampton Roads, Lisi said a picket line could be formed anywhere the international package delivery system operated.

``It could be at the mall,'' he said, referring to nearby Military Circle Mall. ``And we would honor it.''

Jerald Brewer, a Teamster who drives a vehicle-transport truck for Allied Systems Ltd. of Norfolk, made an individual show of support.

Brewer quietly entered the meeting hall with about $70 worth of groceries. Brewer, 36, brought in boxes of macaroni and cheese, corn, breakfast bars and juice. ``These guys aren't getting checks anymore,'' he said. ``It's just my way of helping a little.''

After the meeting, Vinson again gathered the union members outside the hall. Above his head, he held one of the packets of information UPS distributed with paychecks Thursday. The information detailed the company's contract proposal - the one rejected by national Teamsters negotiators.

As he prepared to light the envelope on fire, Vinson encouraged the members to return to the picket lines.

``Be loud like you've never been loud before,'' he said as he waved the flaming envelope in the air.

The group roared and Vinson threw the packet to the ground, where dozens of feet immediately stomped it and kicked it. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

Gov. George F. Allen...

BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Members of Teamsters Local 822 burn a copy of the latest proposal

UPS has put on the table after a rally at the local's headquarters

in Norfolk.

Photo

BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot

David Vinson, president of Local 822, encourages Teamsters Saturday

after a meeting in Norfolk. Part-time driver Helen Hutchins, second