Teamsters Call Off Strike at Studios

About 130 Teamster workers at Universal Studios showed up for work Tuesday as a threatened strike failed to occur.

Late last week, members of Teamsters Local 399, who work as tram bus drivers and mechanics at Universal, said they would begin a strike Tuesday after rejecting the company’s new four-year contract.

But a Universal spokesman said Tuesday the Teamsters decided to come to work after the union said it was reconsidering the contract offer, and that a new vote would probably occur within two weeks.

Last week, workers voted 49 to 41 against Universal’s offer, and union officials said the key issue seemed to be a $4-an-hour differential in top pay for drivers because of an old multitiered wage scale.

Teamster attorney Joe Kaplon said Universal had since agreed to shift some funds in the latest contract offer to narrow the pay differential for the various tiers of employees, though the total cost of the contract would remain the same.

The old contract expired May 10.