Teamsters at Hertz work incredibly hard to service vehicles for visitors to SeaTac airport.

Hertz, like a lot of big companies, relentlessly pushes production, pressuring workers to do more with less. They want their employees to work faster and more "efficiently", which is corporate code language for fewer staff on shift.

Hertz's obsession with production has been a major issue at the bargaining table. Teamsters have raised serious concerns about declining quality and customer service, an exhausted workforce, low morale, and unsafe working conditions.  

Hertz, apparently, does not care. Recently, at SeaTac Airport, the company violated the contract when it unilaterally changed its production standard. Instead of requiring a worker to wash 3.86 cars per hour, as codified in the contract, the company began grouping workers in teams of four, expecting that the group would work faster than is outlined in the negotiated agreement. 

"We have a three-year contract with a productivity standard, and Hertz tried to change it," said Khadar Egal, a shop steward who has been a Teamster for five years.

Abdullahi Abdi (r) and Khadar Egal (l) helped push back when the company unilaterally changed the production standard.

When Hertz notified the Union of its plans to change the standard, Union Representative Takele Gobena and the two shop stewards - Egal and Abdullahi Abdi - pushed back. "I told them straight up that any change to the standard would violate the contract, and we would fight them on it," Gobena said. 

Unsurprisingly, Hertz moved ahead anyway. But when the Union's legal team filed a grievance covering thirteen states under the Hertz master agreement, the company backed down. 

The two shop stewards were elated. "We reported it to our Union Representatives, and they responded right away. I appreciate what they have done," Egal said. "The Union helps protect our jobs and our rights. I love the Teamsters," added Abdi.

"We're not going to let Hertz bully our members," said Paul Dascher, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117. "Hertz needs to respect these workers and honor their commitments under the contract. If they try to change the standard again, we will fight them on it and hold them accountable."