U.S. Newswire, August 28, 2007, Tuesday

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U.S. Newswire

August 28, 2007 Tuesday 3:11 PM EST

SECTION: TRANSPORTATION EDITORS

HEADLINE: Workers Protest Cummins, Inc. at Trucking Show in Dallas

BODY:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Scores of Teamsters swept through the event hall at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas on Saturday to protest continuing labor abuses at diesel engine manufacturer Cummins, Inc. (NYSE: CMI). The show is one of the world's largest heavy-duty trucking events and drew an attendance estimated at more than 40,000.

Wearing bright red T-shirts and holding a banner reading "Cummins: Stop Every Abuse," workers passed out thousands of fliers decrying Cummins' sustained anti-worker operational strategy over the past 15 years and the trail of broken lives, uncertainty and worsening health care coverage that it leaves behind.

The Dallas protest took place against the backdrop of a growing demand by a coalition of concerned activists that Cummins live up to its reputation for social responsibility. A new Teamster-commissioned report by Lance Compa, one of Cornell University's senior lecturers in international human rights and labor law, finds that, across its U.S. distribution segment, Cummins has used corporate reorganization, followed by increasingly harsh treatment of workers, to weaken or eliminate unions over the past 15 years. The report challenges the socially responsible investment community to reconsider Cummins' current high ranking by Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) magazine. CRO, among others, publishes an annual list of "leading ethical performers" who are publicly traded. The Teamster report urges that Cummins either fix its labor abuses and honor workers' rights to union contracts and representation, or risk losing its valuable social responsibility ranking.

"Cummins is failing to live up to even minimal international human rights standards," wrote Compa.

Cummins, a global corporation based in Columbus, Indiana, posted $715 million in earnings on $11.362 billion in revenues in 2006. Teamsters represent hundreds of workers at dozens of Cummins facilities across the country.

Cummins' sustained union-busting campaign has involved 21 union decertification attempts and led to multiple strikes. Between 2006 and 2007 alone, breakdowns in labor relations at Cummins resulted in strikes in Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Spokane, Washington; South Charleston, South Carolina; and Louisville, Kentucky. The emotional and economic pressure of these strikes has created severe hardships for workers and their families. In one case, a Cummins worker in Portland, Oregon, who committed suicide, cited despair over the long strike in his last will and testament.

The report, titled "Every Abuse: Violations of International Labor Standards by Cummins" is available at: www.teamster.org/divisions/industrialtrades/cummins_compareportjuly2007.pdf

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Contact: David White of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-8730, dwhite@teamster.org