Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 22:27:09 -0500
From: Michael Novick <mnovick-AT-laedu.lalc.k12.ca.us>
Subject: AUT: UPS strike in Hayward CA


ON CALIFORNIA
The Battle of Hayward: A Dispatch
By PETER H. KING
=A0
Columnist for L.A. Times 8/10/97

HAYWARD--The battle of Hayward was fought by five men in short pants. Three
were striking United Parcel Service drivers. They crammed into a white
Chevy pickup early Thursday morning and, after roaming the industrial parks
and side streets of this Northern California town, tracked down a brown
delivery van driven by two UPS managers. Thus, the battle was engaged.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0All day long, the Teamsters would shadow the delivery truck. All day
long, the managers would attempt to shake the strikers, punching through
yellow lights, sneaking out back alleys. At delivery stops, the Teamsters
would wave picket signs and pass out pamphlets to startled receptionists
and dockhands.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0"We're the real drivers," Robert Alameda, a 35-year-old Teamster told
one secretary as she signed for a package. "They're the ones trying to take
away our jobs."
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0"Oh," she said, looking first at Alameda and then at the manager, both
of whom were wearing UPS brown. She didn't seem to know what to say, but
finally told each man to "have a nice day."
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0"Have a nice day," Alameda echoed, backing out of the office.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0"Have a nice day," the manager-turned-driver chipped in, refusing to
surrender an inch of public relations high ground.
* * *
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Nobody died in the battle of Hayward, although a magnolia tree lost a
few limbs when the management team, caught in a cul-de-sac, backed the
truck into it. "Tree!" the homeowner hollered in warning, too late. The
union members watched the mishap with glee. "Way to go, Ding Dong!" shouted
the pickup driver, 41-year-old David DeMotto.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0The strikers said the idea behind the tactic was to ratchet up
pressure on clients still using UPS since a nationwide strike by 185,000
workers began last Monday. As for management forces, they obviously wanted
to reestablish a presence on the street, as well as move some packages.
Each side had its moments.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0The Teamsters celebrated when a business owner refused to accept
delivery, citing the strike. The managers smiled smugly as a hospital
security guard chased away the strikers, shouting, "I wish I had your
$20-an-hour jobs!" From a firetruck, shouts of "scabs" and middle fingers
were hurled at the UPS van. At a small factory, someone flipped on
sprinklers just as a picket crossed the grass.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Along the way, the Teamsters sought to make their case, with detailed
talk of pension and health plan issues. In this highly visible strike,
however, what seems to resonate the most are union complaints about the
proliferation and treatment of part-time workers. It doesn't take a
subscription to the Wall Street Journal to grasp what has been happening
across the American workplace. The UPS Teamsters are fortunate that
delivery work can't be farmed out to the Third World, that computers can't
drive trucks.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0"I'm with you guys," a receptionist told one of the strikers. "There
are just not enough full-time jobs out there already."
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0She said this softly, and signed for the package.
* * *
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Sometimes at stops the warring parties would engage in edgy banter.
"How come he's making you do all the work?" DeMotto asked the junior member
of the management duo. "You want to stay away from my truck," the senior
supervisor growled. Neither manager seemed exactly thrilled by their return
to road duty. "I've got about 20 other things I'd rather be doing today,"
one admitted. Like his partner, he had exchanged his business suit for the
brown shirt, shorts and anklet socks of a driver--but still wore his black
dress shoes.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Later, while the van was being loaded at a computer software firm, the
lead manager approached the strikers with sodas. "Just an act of kindness,"
he said. They declined the drinks and grumbled among themselves that the
supervisor was just playing to the battle of Hayward's lone correspondent.
A few minutes later, the manager was back: "Just wanted you to know, they
called the cops on you."
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Soon the pickup was surrounded by squad cars. The UPS managers grinned
and waved happily as they sped away. Once freed of the cops, the strikers
roamed frantically for a half-hour. At last, amazingly, they spotted the
lumbering brown van in traffic. "Didn't I tell you?" DeMotto shouted,
slapping Alameda. "It's impossible to lose a UPS van. All day long, baby.
All day long."
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0And so it went, all day long. And at day's end, when the UPS van
returned to the dispatch center, the Teamsters were still on its tail, horn
blaring. The battle of Hayward was over. What it meant is hard to say. It
was just a tiny skirmish in an old, old war over what work is worth. It
might have seemed silly, fun even, if the stakes were not so high.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only.

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