Strike Against Auto Hauler to Be Suspended : Labor: Teamsters, whose action against Ryder began Sept. 7, say they have a tentative deal.

The Teamsters union Monday agreed to suspend a monthlong strike today against the car-hauling subsidiary of Ryder System Inc. after reaching a tentative deal with the industry during the weekend, a union spokesman said.

About 5,000 Teamster drivers and other workers have been on strike since Sept. 7 against Ryder Automotive Carrier Group Inc., the country’s largest hauler of new cars to dealerships from factories, ports and railheads.

The decision to suspend the strike came after a vote by officials of 70 Teamster locals overwhelmingly approved the tentative agreement and supporting the strike suspension, the union spokesman said.

The nationwide master agreement with 17 car-hauling companies must still be ratified by 12,000 Teamster members, a process that is expected to take about a month. The strike against Ryder will not be officially over until and unless that happens.

The strike halted the shipment of an estimated 500,000 new cars to dealerships across the country, the union said.

General Motors Corp., Ryder’s biggest customer, was hit especially hard by the work stoppage.

The union said the car-hauling industry agreed to its key bargaining goals, including an improved job security provision that bars the companies from using non-union affiliates to take away any current or future Teamster jobs.

“Double breasting,” a practice in which companies use non-union subsidiaries to handle some of their business, had been a key issue in the talks. The union sees the practice as a threat to job security.

The tentative agreement also limits the number of non-union employees to current levels and requires Ryder to reduce the number of its non-union employees, the union said.

The union said the proposed pact also meets its goals for pay and health and retirement benefits.

Ron Carey, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, lauded his members for “good timing and new tactics that put maximum pressure on the industry.”

The previous contract between the Teamsters and the industry expired May 21, and talks broke down Sept. 1 after union members rejected a previous “final offer” from the employers. The tentative agreement came early Saturday in talks that had resumed Thursday in Arlington, Va., near the union’s headquarters in Washington.