Opinion ID: 717843
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: AutoZone Chairman and C.E.O. J.R. Hyde's Speech

Text: 20 On February 19, 1993, about two weeks before the election, AutoZone Chairman and C.E.O. J.R. Hyde made a speech to the Greenville Distribution Center employees. In his speech, he emphasized that the election was serious business and that AutoZone was totally opposed to the Teamsters getting in here. Hyde further stated that although AutoZone was completely non-union, he had a long history of dealing with the Teamsters. In fact, he stated in every instance where the Teamsters have made us lock horns with them, it has been the employees who have suffered most. He stated that the employees had good sense if the Teamsters strike record scared them. He described strikes he allegedly experienced at three other AutoZone distribution centers, stating with emphasis that the Union strikes 100 percent of the time. Hyde added that [c]onsidering the record, [he] would be awfully concerned about what's going to happen [at Greenville] after March 5th [, the election date,] if the [Union were to] win. In a reference to alleged strikes at the three other facilities, he stated, I do not want any of you or any of us to run the risk of [the Union] making this [distribution center] number 4 on their strike list against us. Hyde continued: 21 Nobody wins a strike. At each of the cases I mentioned, both the company and [the Union] survived the strike and are still around. [The Distribution Center at] Nashville is still operating today full bore. So is Sikeston and so is Memphis. The only part of the equation not still there are the employees who allowed the Teamsters to call them out on strike. As Rick and Dennis told you, the 185 strikers at our Nashville warehouse who walked out on an illegal wildcat strike were all fired. Those 185 employees did not get to vote. Not one of them has ever gotten his job back. The strikers in Memphis and Sikeston were all replaced, and none of them have gotten their jobs back to this day. In fact, there is no union today in the Nashville [distribution center], the Sikeston [distribution center], or the Memphis [distribution center]. 22 In addition, describing his attitude toward the Union, collective bargaining, and strikes, Hyde stated: 23 [The Union's] record with me and your management team is just about as bad as you can get. Maybe it's because I take a no-nonsense business approach to dealing with them, and I never suck up to them or try to become pals with [the Union] bosses. I've always dealt fairly and legally with them, but neither do I quake and shake when the word union is mentioned. 24 I don't make many bets but I will bet you this--[union representatives] Mr. Barry, Mr. Wood and Local 28 have never dealt with anyone like us. If [the Union] want[s] to play hardball, we can do the same. 25 Don't misunderstand: AutoZone and I don't want a strike; we don't want trouble. But, if [the Union] make[s] demands on us which I am unwilling to accept, I will say, NO. I guarantee you and Mr. Barry that if I say, NO, I will mean it and I am ready. If you or he believe for one second that a picket line or a strike at this [distribution center] will make me give one inch--you're dead wrong. And if the organizers think a strike or picket, anywhere else--including the stores--will make me give one inch--then they are dead wrong. 26 I know, as sure as I'm standing here, that if I let anyone--here or anywhere else in this company--think [the Union] is in charge, I might as well close the doors, put a lock on the gate, and throw away the key. I will not let [the Union], with [its] record and [its] own agenda, destroy what you and I have built. 27