Deregulation led to cutthroat competition and the growth of new non-union carriers. By 1982, 183 unionized carriers had gone out of business and 30 percent of freight Teamsters were unemployed. The remaining unionized carriers responded by demanding big concessions in areas like wages, productivity, and the flexible workweek.
The IBT supported the employers’ demands. In July 1983, Teamster President Jackie Presser proposed a special freight “relief rider” that would cut wages by up to 35 percent and establish two-tier wages. TDU launched a national campaign to defeat the relief rider and save the National Master Freight Agreement. It worked. The membership rejected the concessionary rider by a vote of 94,086 to 13,082. Business Week called it “A real slap in the face for Jackie Presser.”
Teamsters for a Democratic Union - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
