FORT WORTH, Texas — Some 45 members of Teamsters Local 745 set up strike picket lines at the Hertz car rental facility at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Jan. 18 after the company refused to offer a new contract with better wages and conditions. New hires today start at $14.50 an hour and workers can be forced to work unlimited overtime.
“Hertz Teamsters are done with the disrespect,” Brent Taylor, secretary-treasurer of Local 745 and southern region international vice president, told the media.
“I’ve worked at Hertz for 15 years and only make $18 an hour. Inflation keeps going up, but our wages are stagnant,” striker Rashid Ahmad told the Militant on the picket line. “I have three kids, a mortgage and a car loan. I can’t make it.”
“We are out here for a fair contract and competitive wage,” Tiffany Furnace said. “I only make $16.50 an hour.” Strikers said that the company is using web check-in and AI to try and replace union jobs.
Hertz also owns Dollar and Thrifty car rentals. “During COVID-19 we did the jobs of all three companies and they gave us nothing in return,” Tracy Milian said.
“We organized the Teamsters union here in 2009,” Mark Milian, who has worked for Hertz for 36 years, said. “We are out here for more benefits and wages. And we’re trying to get Martin Luther King Day as a holiday.”
The Teamsters organize more than 4,000 Hertz workers across the country. Members of Teamsters Local 769 in Florida went on strike at the West Palm Beach International Airport Feb. 1. Ten days later, more than 100 Teamsters walked out at Hertz at the Miami International Airport.