WASHINGTON -- On March 8, 2001, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled once again that Overnite, the trucking subsidiary of Union Pacific Corporation, violated the law by refusing to bargain with the Teamsters at its terminals in Detroit (Romulus), MI, Buffalo (Tonawanda), NY, and Bowling Green and Lexington, KY.

Overnite claimed that it did not have to respect the collective bargaining rights of the workers at the four terminals because the workers began a strike against the company on October 24, 1999. The Labor Board granted a motion for Summary Judgment to compel Overnite to negotiate with the four terminals. Overnite had appealed certification of the terminals. The Board, after careful consideration, denied Overnite's motion and granted the Summary Judgment against the company to compel it to comply with the certification. Overnite must allow the four terminals to sit at the bargaining table or appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The Teamsters represent approximately 3,500 UP/Overnite workers at thirty- seven (37) UP/Overnite terminals across the country. Overnite falsely claims that only 2,000 some workers at twenty-two (22) terminals are represented by the Teamsters. Overnite arrives at this figure because those are the terminals that have made it through Overnite's endless appeals. Overnite appeals each victory to the Regional Director of the NLRB, then to the full NLRB in Washington DC, and then to the US Court of Appeals.

For example, workers at Overnite's Detroit terminal won their election with 63 percent of the vote on March 15, 1995. Overnite challenged the results of the election. On September 8, 1999, after a lengthy appeals process, the NLRB certified the Detroit workers 1995 election victory for Teamster representation. Nonetheless, Overnite still refused to allow the Detroit terminal to participate in contract negotiations. The NLRB General Counsel issued a Summary Judgment. Overnite appealed to the full NLRB and lost. Now, it is anticipated that Overnite will appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals process will take another two years. Therefore, the Detroit workers, who voted overwhelmingly for Teamster representation, will have their certification delayed for almost seven years because of Overnite's legal tactics to stall the process. Overnite's "appeals scheme" to deny its workers' basic bargaining rights is well documented. For example, workers at Overnite's Bedford Park terminal in Chicago won their right to engage in collective bargaining in 1982 -- nineteen years ago -- and are still without a contract because Overnite refuses to bargain in good faith.

Overnite strategy is simple -- spend millions of dollars to stall, delay, demoralize, and defeat the workers' desire for union representation. In short, to create a self-fulfilling prophecy that proves to their workers that seeking collective bargaining rights with Overnite is futile.

UP/Overnite's record as one of the nation's worst labor scofflaws continues to grow despite the company's protestations of innocence. Last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in its opinion that, "[T]here is no question that Overnite was guilty of a litany of serious and pervasive misconduct and violations of the [National Labor Relations] Act."