Teamsters Strike 22 Trucking Companies : Labor: Walkout involving nearly 80,000 workers could affect freight shipments nationwide. Picket lines go up in Los Angeles County.

In a move that could disrupt freight shipments nationwide, the Teamsters launched a strike Tuesday night against 22 major trucking companies after both sides failed to agree on a labor contract covering nearly 80,000 workers.

The strike, while not expected to paralyze transportation, could be widely felt across the country by consumers, retailers and factories. The companies hit by the walkout, which began at 9 p.m. PDT, handle about half of the nation’s mid-size shipments over long distances.

Between 7,000 and 10,000 Teamsters in the Los Angeles area are expected to be involved in the strike, said Gregory Roth, secretary-treasurer of Teamster Local 208 in El Monte, whose members began walking picket lines outside several company truck terminals Tuesday night.

“No one wants to walk out,” Roth said. “But the employers have taken a take-it-or-leave-it attitude on some extremely serious issues.”

The Teamsters late Tuesday called off the strike against Carolina Freight Carriers Corp. after the Cherryville, N.C.-based firm broke ranks with the other trucking companies and negotiated a separate agreement with the union.

Industry observers said that a shutdown of the remaining 22 firms in the strike would leave many companies scrambling for space on other carriers.

But the potential significance of the strike was downplayed Tuesday by Robert A. Young III, chairman of Trucking Management, which represents the trucking firms in labor negotiations with the Teamsters.

“There are plenty of carriers out there that aren’t union carriers” that will pick up business, Young said. He added that trucking companies have sped up the delivery of customer shipments to beat the strike deadline and avoid delays. Also, he said, the Trucking Management companies control only about 18% of the nation’s total freight traffic moved by truck, train and plane.

Trucking industry officials said cross-country shipments could be most vulnerable to disruption since the affected companies dominate long-distance transport.

“If your shipment is going from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley, (the strike) will not have much effect,” said Joseph M. Nievez, vice president of non-union Qwikway Trucking in Los Angeles. “If you are going from here to Charlotte, you will have a problem.”

But Teamster President Ron Carey on Tuesday said the strike could spread beyond the initial 22 firms to other trucking companies that employ an additional 40,000 Teamsters under the same contract.

Arthur H. Bunte Jr., chief negotiator for the companies, called the strike decision “an act of irresponsible leadership that will destroy jobs, not protect them.”

He added that union leaders showed “they would rather risk the livelihoods of their members than negotiate a settlement that would have provided increased wages . . . and the job security that can only come from working for competitive companies.”

Talks between the Teamsters and trucking firms broke off last week after the companies submitted what they described as their final offer. The Teamsters rejected the offer, which included proposals to hire more part-time workers and shift more business to railroads, as one that would lead to lower starting wages and lost jobs.

Union members had already voted to authorize Teamster leaders to launch a strike if the talks failed.

The companies described the measures as necessary to compete successfully against fast-growing non-union carriers.

“We will do whatever it takes to finish this,” said Carey, who pointed out that the Teamster strike fund has been boosted to about $80 million to handle a lengthy walkout. “We have no other choice but to strike.”

Carey said Tuesday that the strike could be avoided only if the trucking firms addressed the union’s concerns regarding company proposals, primarily the one that would increase the use of part-time workers. But no compromise was reached.