Jump to main content
IndustriALL logotype
Article placeholder image

Campaign Action Wins US Teamsters BMW Contract Extension

Add to favourites

Read this article in:

15 August, 2011


Union members of US affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) used a broadening corporate campaign to win reprieve over job losses at a BMW auto-parts warehouse in California. IBT Local 495 and North American bosses of German auto-maker BMW agreed on 9 August to a six-month extension of a collective agreement that was to expire 31 August.

BMW North America had given notice in June that it would terminate the agreement at a parts distribution warehouse in Ontario, California, then and outsource the 68 Teamster jobs to a third party logistics company. The IBT nationally then ramped up a pressure campaign on both sides of the Atlantic (see prior ICEM news article here) and there is little question that adverse publicity on the luxury auto producer caused management to re-consider.

Last week, just as dockworkers belonging to unions affiliated with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) organised informational pickets at nine ports in 10 countries on behalf of the California warehouse workers, BMW North America sat down with Local 495 in Southern California and agreed to extend the contract for six months to allow the two sides to work out a mutually acceptable solution that addresses long-term employment for Teamster members.

Dockworkers picket in Bremerhaven, Germany, on behalf of US Teamsters

“We sent a clear message to BMW with our campaign actions that outsourcing these jobs is unacceptable,” said Teamsters Joint Council 42 Public Affairs Director Ed Rendon. “We won’t be happy until we get a full agreement, but we’re highly optimistic this will happen and BMW will better run their business with our members” maintaining direct employment.

Added IBT Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox, “I am confident that BMW will honor its promises to find a solution to keep their long-time, dedicated workforce and ensure that these jobs remain good, middle-class jobs."

Teamster members and supporters protested at a 6-7 August weekend event called “Bimmerfest” in the state of Maryland where BMW enthusiasts annually turn out to celebrate ownership of the German car. Thousands of handbills were distributed and a Teamster-hired airplane flew overhead with a banner emblazoned “BMW: the Ultimate Misery,” the campaign’s slogan.

And on 8 August, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent a letter to BMW North America CEO Jim O’Donnell telling him that members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) were about to picket the Port of Los Angeles, and reminded him that the company received monetary assistance during the 2008-09 financial crisis from the US federal government.

The 68 Ontario warehouse workers themselves had spent their weekends handbilling BMW dealerships in California, Oregon, and Washington state, telling consumers about on BMW’s intended social dumping.

The Ontario, California, warehouse is one of six parts depots in the US, supplying and distributing BMW parts to auto dealerships and auto-supply outlets in the western region of the US.