Catherwood LibraryILR School

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced yesterday that they have reached a new master freight agreement with the Motor Freight Carriers Association (MFCA) covering 65,000 long-haul truck drivers nation-wide and widely influencing agreements with other companies, with seven weeks left in the current contract. The tentative agreement---including an average raise of eleven percent over the life of the five-year contract, and automatic cost of living adjustments to help workers keep up with inflation---was reached only three days after the Teamsters membership voted by an overwhelming margin to strike if there was no movement from the MFCA. The proposal also includes increased employer pension contributions, restrictions on sub-contracting, limits on ten-hour days, the regained right for the union to strike over deadlocked grievances, and at a time when many employers are forcing workers to pay more for health care (see WIT's for Jan. 14 and 20, 2003), maintained complete employer funding of health insurance.