Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said on Tuesday troubling issues were still on the table.

June 1, 1999
Web posted at: 4:35 a.m. EDT (0835 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN)--Negotiations between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the National Automobile Transporters Association are scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday in Arlington, Virginia.

Union negotiators have agreed to extend the current contract by 24 hours to 12:00 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

A strike deadline had been set for 12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday for as many as 12,800 Teamsters, who were expected to walk off the job.

Negotiations continued past midnight Monday night (Tuesday morning) as the National Automobile Transporters Association presented an economic proposal on issues including pensions, health insurance and pay.

"At the 11th hour they made a substantial economic offer which we're going to evaluate. We're going to come back with another economic offer, but there are still very troubling issues on the table," said Teamsters president James Hoffa.

Agreement on Mexican transport

The strike deadline extension follows a vote by both sides to stop the use of drivers from Mexico and Mexican trucks as of January 2000.

The Teamsters car hauling drivers want the trucking companies to cut their plans to hire part-time workers and establish a lower pay scale for part-time workers. They also are fighting for improvements to their pension plans.

National Automobile Transporters spokesman R. Ian Hunter said "The average driver now earns $68,000 a year in wages and benefits, a 33 percent increase since 1994. We continue to offer higher wages and benefits in the new contract."

As of early Tuesday morning Teamsters officials said their members' options included a strike, reaching an agreement or extending the deadline. If there is a strike, Teamsters officials say it could be a national strike or local strike affecting either all or some of the 17 trucking companies represented by the National Automobile Transporters Association.

Of the 16 million cars expected to be shipped to dealer showrooms this year, 95 percent of them are handled by Teamsters drivers.

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