June 17, 2008: A five-day strike by members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters against financially troubled Performance Transportation Services and its subsidiaries ended June 13 when the company announced it was closing immediately all remaining operations at its 24 trucking terminals and related facilities, a union representative said June 16.
IBT spokesman Galen Munroe said the union's picket lines came down late June 13, following a shutdown announcement from company President Jeff Cornish that PTS—which employed some 1,250 IBT-represented workers—"commenced winding down its operations." IBT does not expect the company to reopen for business, Munroe said.
Cornish's June 13 closure announcement to company employees followed all-day negotiations with the union June 12 to end the IBT strike, according to union and company statements. "Unfortunately, for reasons that we do not fully understand, the Teamsters concluded it was not in their interest to accept our offer," to end the strike through shared economic concessions by IBT-represented employees and management personnel, Cornish stated. IBT's statement also said that the company's primary lender had cut off credit to the company the week of June 9.
The IBT strike began June 9, following the imposition by PTS of a temporary 15 percent reduction in wages for IBT-represented employees (112 DLR A-10, 6/11/08). That temporary wage reduction by PTS had been authorized June 5 by a federal judge overseeing PTS' attempts to reorganize under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy law (109 DLR A-13, 6/6/08).
PTS spokeswoman Anita-Marie Laurie told BNA June 16 that the company is planning to close its doors permanently.
Laurie also said the future of the company could depend on a hearing scheduled for June 17 by Judge Michael J. Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York. Judge Kaplan June 12 ordered the hearing in response to a motion from a large creditor to decide whether the PTS case should be converted from a voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization to an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation (In re Performance Transp. Servs. Inc.,Bankr. W.D.N.Y., No. 07-04746-MJK, order 6/12/08).
Affected by the strike were PTS and its subsidiaries Leaseway Motorcar Transport Co., E. and L. Transport Co., Hadley Auto Transport LLC, and Transportation Releasing LLC. The companies operated 24 auto terminals in 14 states, including Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah.
IBT spokesman Munroe said June 16 that the union estimated that about 75 percent of the Teamsters-represented truck drivers and mechanics who lost their jobs as a result of the PTS closure will be able to find new jobs with other IBT-contracted companies. He said further measures would be taken in the near future to secure new jobs for the remaining 25 percent.
Multiemployer Carhaul Talks to Resume
Meanwhile, Munroe said contract negotiations are scheduled to resume June 18-19 in Detroit between the Teamsters and the association that bargains on behalf of other major carhaul carriers toward a new national master contract.
"We only have a few economic proposals left and we are very close to finishing" a new agreement to replace a contract that expired June 1, Fred Zuckerman, director of the Teamsters carhaul division, said in a June 13 statement.
Since June 1, about 7,750 IBT-represented carhaul employees have been working under the terms of the expired contract (107 DLR A-11, 6/4/08). Employers are represented in the talks by the National Automobile Transporters Labor Division (NATLD), which is negotiating on behalf of 10 companies that move new cars and trucks from auto plants and rail terminals to dealerships and other retail sites nationwide.
Major carhaul carriers that are members of NATLD include Allied Holding Inc., which is the largest employer in the group, as well as Active Truck Transport LLC, Cassens Transport Co., and Jack Cooper Transport Co.
Munroe said meetings with NATLD members would include negotiations on the terms under which former PTS employees would be employed by current NATLD members. The goal of such talks would be to preserve the seniority rights of former PTS employees, he said.