Truck Driver Strikes of 1979
The 1970s was unquestionably a time of turmoil in the United States and when it came to labor disputes, the trucking industry was at the heart of it all on more than one occasion. There is little wonder that the intersection of rising fuel prices and the trucking industry was a volatile one: over 75 percent of the nation's goods were transported by truckers. As the saying goes, "If you got it, a trucker brought it.
However, bringing those goods to Americans became increasingly expensive for truckers in the 1970s due to turmoil in another part of the world - the Middle East. In October 1973, in the midst of the Arab-Israeli War, Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were not pleased with the United States government's decision to send more supplies to the Israeli Army. To show their displeasure, OPEC implemented an oil embargo against any country that supported Israel. The result was skyrocketing prices of oil, first doubling then quadrupling the price per barrel. The timing could not have been worse for a country that was becoming increasingly dependent on foreign oil. The implications were far-reaching, impacting not only the trucking industry, but the entire economy.
As the U.S. began to ration oil in response to the crisis, President Richard Nixon also led the push for a national 55 mph speed limit. This combination of events pushed many truckers to the brink of financial ruin. In December 1973, independent truckers initiated a strike with former trucker, Mike Parkhurst, leading the movement. The citizen's band (CB) radio, which became a symbol of the iconic 1970s trucker, was a useful tool in spreading the word to other independent truckers and organizing traffic jams to clog major transportation arteries. In 1976, the primary union for truck drivers, the Teamsters, called for a nationwide strike over disputes about wages. It ended after just three days when a new contract was ratified, allowing for a cost-of-living increase and a 30 percent wage hike that would be spread over the next three years. This was, of course, still the era when trucking and the airlines were under government regulation, similar to public utilities. Routes that existed and who could drive them (or in the case of airlines, fly them) were controlled by the government. By the end of the decade, both airline and trucking deregulation would become federal law.
As the decade drew to a close, in the early months of 1979, fuel prices again began to climb and the contract negotiated by Teamsters President Frank Fitzsimmons in 1976 was due to expire. In the background of the negotiations, progress toward deregulation - which had started in 1975 under President Gerald Ford - was gaining steam. This only served to complicate matters for Fitzsimmons as he tried to negotiate a new national contract for union drivers. He attempted to put pressure on some of the larger trucking companies with whipsaw strikes, or strikes targeted at select companies, and over 300,000 of the nation's truckers and warehouse employees stopped working. On April 2, many of the 500 companies targeted by Fitzsimmons responded to the strike with a lockout.
Some Teamster insiders blamed Alfred Kahn for throwing a wrench into the negotiations. Kahn, an economics professor at Cornell University, was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to oversee deregulation of the airlines the previous year. Now, with Kahn's attention on the trucking industry, reports were that he liked neither the Teamsters nor the trucking industry and was determined to, in a time of double-digit inflation, limit the wage increases that the truckers sought. Whether reports about Kahn were true or not, Americans quickly felt the effects of a work stoppage in the trucking industry.
The Chrysler Corporation temporarily closed nine of its 10 North American auto assembly plants. General Motors laid off 12,400 workers. Fresh food spoiled as it sat, waiting to be shipped to grocery stores, while retailers' shelves began to empty. People lined up for hours in some locations, waiting to fill up their gas tanks, assuming that the gas station had any gas to sell. Gas shortages and food shortages in a country where people were used to getting what they want, when they wanted it, raised tempers and concern for how they would cope if contract issues were not resolved. Ultimately, it was the layoffs in the auto industry that put the pressure on Fitzsimmons to lower his demands and the strike/lockout ended on April 11, 1979.
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However, it wasn't long before the U.S. had another truckers strike on its hands. This time, it was the independent truckers, again with Parkhurst taking the lead, along with Bill Hall of the Fraternal Association of Steel Haulers. Over 100,000 independent long-haul truckers stopped driving in the summer of 1979. The issue at the core of the protest was the soaring price of diesel fuel, which independent drivers said was depriving them of the chance to earn a living, although Parkhurst was also a strong advocate for deregulation. His view was that independent truckers were "slaves" to the system that controlled the trucking industry and he believed it was in the best interest of the industry and the truckers themselves to get an opportunity compete with the big companies.
The independent truckers strike that summer was far more disruptive than the Teamsters work stoppage. Some of the more disgruntled in the group parked their rigs in front of refineries and distribution centers, disrupting the shipment of gasoline. Some pulled their trucks right up to the pumps at gas stations to block the motorists. The state of Florida lost millions of dollars as the strike came in the heart of watermelon season and the governor was forced to call in National Guard troops to transport gas from Port Everglades, a major fuel depot. If you had the misfortune to plan a long-distance move during the strike, you may have found your furniture still in another state, waiting to join you in your new home.
As the strike wore on, the ramifications became more serious than rotting watermelon, lost furniture, and gas shortages. The CBs that were used to organize strikers in 1973 were now used to issue death threats to those who refused to honor the strike. Tempers flared and violence broke out in over 20 states. In Ohio, the National Guard patrolled highway overpasses to protect the truckers who were still on the road and their windshields became targets for flying rocks. Alabama Governor Fob James suggested that truckers arm themselves for protection after Robert Tate, a non-striking trucker from Birmingham, was murdered on June 20. Two striking truckers shot at Tate from an overpass on U.S. 72 near Tuscumbia, Alabama. A bullet severed his femoral artery in his left leg and he bled to death in the cab of his truck before help arrived. .
In some cities, as angry motorists waited for hours in gas lines for gas that was now up to 80 cents a gallon, double what it had been a year before, strikers egged them on and urged them to join their cause. The cause of the independent truckers was not just fuel costs. They were battling a system that, at times, had seemingly petty regulations, such as permitting any driver to haul raisins but only specific companies were authorized to transport raisins covered with chocolate. Time magazine reported in July 1979, "The independent truckers are trying to blow apart a time-honored system, and that drives the Teamsters, the trucking industry and various politicians and lobbyists right up the wall..." Many independent truckers believed that deregulation was at least part of the solution to their financial crisis.
Support for the strike ultimately faded as President Carter instituted measures in June to hold down the costs of diesel fuel and many strikers could no longer afford not to work. Major changes came to the trucking industry in the 1980s with deregulation. Neither the Teamsters nor independent drivers were major players in the trucking industry anymore, but they are both still part of an important – and volatile – era in trucking history.
By Amy Lively
