Local #174's Union News

Judge keeps Hostess Brands' union contacts intact
Posted: May 17, 2012
Source: Biz Journals
A U.S. Bankruptcy Judge has told Irving-based Hostess Brands Inc  that its labor contracts with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union will stay in place.

The company had sought to throw out its agreement as it struggles with its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization it the past couple years.

“We told our Hostess members all along that we would vigorously oppose the imposition of unjust working conditions since Hostess first filed bankruptcy, and we have done just that,” Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said in the release.

In a statement to sister publication, the Dallas Business Journal Tuesday, Hostess spokesman Erik Halvorson said the company would continue to try and reach a deal with the Teamsters.
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters, Allies Protest At Republic Services Shareholder Meeting
Posted: May 17, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamster members, environmental allies and supporters protested Republic Services’ lockout of its workers and excessive CEO death benefits at Republic’s annual shareholder meeting today.

Republic locked out 80 of its workers who are members of Teamsters Local 215 in Evansville, Ind., in an attempt to force the workers to give up their pensions. Local 215 had been in negotiations for a new contract with Republic since March 2. The workers and their union wanted to continue negotiations, but Republic locked them out instead.

“These workers put their bodies in harm’s way every day to protect the public health,” said Robert Morales, Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division Director. “It is offensive that the Republic’s CEO’s estate will get $23 million if he dies, and in the meantime the company wants to throw out the pension of the men and women who do the work that earns it millions.”Outside the shareholder meeting, workers held banners that read “Republic Trashes Workers” and a gold coffin that read “Republic Greed Kills Good Jobs.”

At the shareholder meeting, representatives from the Teamsters General Fund presented a shareholder resolution that would give shareholders the right to vote on executive compensation. The resolution received 41 percent support in today’s vote. ISS, the leading proxy voting advisory service, had recommended shareholders vote for the Teamsters’ proposal.

Republic has an estimated $23 million in benefits earmarked for the estate of CEO Donald Slager should he die or become disabled during employment. Shareholders did not have a voice in this decision.

Louis Malizia, assistant director of the Teamsters Capital Strategies Department, introduced the shareholder resolution on behalf of the Teamsters General Fund.

“Just like other severance-style agreements, shareholders should be given the right to vote on whether we feel that these executives were worthy of such exorbitant sums, and whether their performance at the company merits such compensation," Malizia said.

Republic Services/Allied Waste is America’s second largest solid waste and recycling company. In 2011, Republic earned $8.2 billion in revenues and declared profits of $589 million, up 15 percent per share from 2010.

Attending the shareholder meeting with the Teamsters was Monica Wilson, Director of the U.S. and Canada programs of the environmental coalition GAIA.

“Frontline communities where our members live and work are impacted across the country by decisions that Republic makes, by Republic’s landfills, and how they treat their workers,” Wilson said. “Locking out workers affects the safety on local streets when inexperienced workers drive 2-ton trucks on streets with which they’re not familiar. Republic doesn't even treat recycling drivers with the respect they deserve, by paying them less than garbage drivers. Communities and Republic’s sanitation and recycling workers deserve to be treated better than this.”

“This is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, even more dangerous than police or firefighters,” Morales continued. “It’s amazing to me that these workers can even make it to retirement age, and now this highly profitable company wants to rob these workers of their retirement security.”

The Teamsters represent approximately 9,000 employees at Republic Services and its subsidiaries at more than 150 facilities throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

For more information, visit   https://www.facebook.com/RepublicServicesTeamsters and follow https://twitter.com//repubteamsters

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Red Cross Strike In Lansing Enters Seventh Week
Posted: May 17, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamster employees of Red Cross in Lansing, who were forced to strike at the end of March, will continue their shutdown of blood drives until Red Cross management makes ample time available for bargaining to reach an agreement.

“Despite nearly seven weeks of cancelled blood drives across the state, Red Cross is only offering six hours of bargaining time to the Teamsters -- and not until June 19,” said Mike Parker, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 580 in Lansing. “This is an insult to the City Council of Lansing which passed a resolution in support of our members. By the time June 19 rolls around, our members will have been on strike 11 weeks.”

According to hospitals, blood plasma is currently being supplied by alternate sources. This is in direct contradiction to the statements the Red Cross has pushed out that the strike is “threatening” the area blood supply.

“We will bargain with Red Cross at any time for as long as it takes to reach an agreement,” Parker said. “But, all they will offer us is six hours. Our members are committed to retaining their collective bargaining rights as much as they are committed to providing caring service to donors who visit the blood drives. Forced out on strike by Red Cross, our members remain strong and proud.”

Teamsters have been on strike because Red Cross wants to take away their right to bargain over health care and wages. The union has offered money-saving alternatives, but Red Cross refuses anything less than having workers give up collective bargaining rights in order to implement their own wage and health care package.

In addition to the Teamster unit in Lansing, Teamsters in Cleveland, United Food and Commercial Workers Union members in Toledo and Office and Professional Employees International Union members in Lansing are also on strike against Red Cross.

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Slain Corrections Officer Jayme Biendl Honored During Police Week
Posted: May 16, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Hundreds of law enforcement officers and their families gathered for a ceremony in Washington, D.C. to honor fallen officers during this year’s National Police Week. Among them were the loved ones and colleagues of slain corrections officer Jayme Lee Biendl, a member of Local 117 whose name was added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

“It was a huge honor to be invited to come to Police Week,” said Paul Crosby, Biendl’s brother-in-law. Crosby was in D.C. with Biendl’s father, brother and sister, along with Sgt. Paul McDermott who worked with Biendl at the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) near Tukwila, Wash.

Biendl, an eight-year veteran of the Washington State Department of Corrections, was strangled and killed on January 29, 2011, by an inmate while monitoring the prison chapel at MCC. She joined thousands of other fallen officers whose names are etched in the granite wall of the memorial, adorned with hundreds of wreaths, flowers and pictures encircling the memorial’s park and reflecting pool.

“The ceremony was very moving and it really felt like we were part of something special,” Crosby said.

Unresolved Issues
Before her murder, Biendl had raised security concerns about poor surveillance equipment and working alone in the chapel. Her death finally forced the DOC to look at safety problems caused by cuts to staff and other correctional programs.

Tracey A. Thompson, Secretary-Treasurer of Tukwila-based Local 117, joined Crosby and the rest of the family in D.C. where President Obama honored the lives of fallen heroes like Biendl and shook hands with family members.

As bagpipes whined at the memorial site, Thompson said that while some safety improvements have since been made at MCC and other facilities, not enough has been done to remedy the dangerous conditions that contributed to Biendl’s death.

“They’re still using single-person posts in the chapel. We’re still fighting them on that” said Thompson. “They’ve installed alarms in the microphones and the first responders now have pepper-spray, but we still feel there is a lot more that needs to be done.”  

For her family, friends, and her brothers and sisters at Local 117, Biendl’s sacrifice was etched into their hearts long ago. Now it is forever written in stone in the nation’s capital, along with so many others who gave their lives in the name of public safety.  

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Smucker's in a Jam: Teamsters May Strike
Posted: May 16, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
More than 270 Teamsters who work at the J.M. Smucker Company announced today that they may strike the Orrville, Ohio jelly maker.

The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 436 in Cleveland, have been trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement for months, but Smucker’s is insisting on eliminating senior workers’ rights, which the company claims is necessary to operate their new plant.

“We have union members with 30 years of service and experience at Smucker’s and all of a sudden this company wants to strip them of their seniority in a layoff – that is simply unfair and wrong,” said Gary M. Tiboni, President of Teamsters Local 436.

He added that the company is building a $150 million, state-of-the art facility to make its jellies and jams. “There is no reason that a successful company like this should put the jobs of its most loyal, long-service employees at risk,” Tiboni said.

“I have been employed by Smucker’s since 1975. Our union has always worked with the company to make changes when the business changed. Now they are asking me to give up my seniority when they make changes,” said Kevin Wyler, Chief Steward.

The union and the company have had a labor contract for many years. The current agreement expired on May 5, 2012.

The union has offered to extend the current labor agreement for two years with no changes or raises, giving the company enough time to realize their operational needs in the new plant and the union a clear picture as to what works for both sides. But the company has rejected that proposal.

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Teamsters Fight Back at Republic
Posted: May 16, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
RAH mechanic Tom Popernack and Craig Moffatt, a Republic pilot who is President of Local 357, spoke at the recent Teamsters Unity Conference about the company's anti-worker actions. The Teamsters adopted a hard hitting resolution calling for a worker fight-back effort at Republic.

 

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Judge Denies Hostess's Bid To Scrap Teamsters Contract
Posted: May 15, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
A judge Monday denied Hostess Brands Inc.'s bid to shed deals with its biggest union, the Teamsters, sending the bakery company back to the drawing board as it tries to claw its way out of its second bankruptcy in recent years.

Just a week after clearing Hostess to reject labor deals with the second-biggest union in the case, Judge Robert Drain reversed course when considering whether Hostess could use bankruptcy to replace its current collective bargaining agreements with the Teamsters with a fresh proposal engineered last month.

The problem with Hostess's last offer to the union---which would have slashed benefits and ended the union employees' participation in its most risky pension plans---boiled down to a few concrete issues, Drain said: a 1% difference between the pretax earnings projected under the company's proposal as compared to the union's proposal, and Hostess's intention to only shift existing employees into more stable multiemployer pension plans. Drain said he wanted to see new hires too included in those more stable pension plans, and he urged the company to increase its proposed contributions to the pension plans to the levels suggested by the union, thus closing that 1% gap.

"I would, however, be receptive to a motion that makes a proposal along the lines that I've outlined," Drain said, adding he'd be happy to take up the issue again during a possible sequel to the last month's two-day long evidentiary trial---but even happier if the parties settled the dispute out of court.

A Hostess attorney said even if Drain authorized the company to ditch the Teamsters contracts, it wouldn't move forward with that rejection just yet, instead opting for further negotiations. Drain's decision earlier this month to let Hostess reject collective-bargaining agreements with 35 local affiliates of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union remains just a form of permission, as opposed to action, with no deals actually rejected and no strikes disrupting the company's business. During the hearing Monday, Drain commended the Teamsters union's "level of knowledge" about Hostess and the company's problems.

"It appears to me that the union has as good idea about what is necessary for the debtors to reorganize---except for the [multiemployer pension plan] issue---as the debtors do," he said.

But he noted that the multiemployer pension plan issue is a big one---the "sticking point" during the trial---and he was clear that he thinks the union is on the wrong side of that fight. Its desire to remain in plans that other companies are abandoning could drive away investors, Drain said, noting that it's simply "too much uncertainty for any entity" that might be willing to put in the money and work to turn the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread around.

"There is both a substantial legal and underlying economic risk of the debtors remaining in the [Teamsters' multiemployer pension plans] even under the new employer pool proposed by the union," Drain said.

Drain said he found all of the witnesses called by the union and the company during the trial---a group that included an economist, a union official and restructuring experts---to be credible and specifically praised Hostess's chief executive, Gregory Rayburn, who took to the stand after less than two months on the job.

"It appears to me that Mr. Rayburn has acted responsibly and affectively in stepping into the breach left by Mr. Driscoll," Drain said, referencing Brian Driscoll, the ex-CEO that abruptly resigned in March, leaving Rayburn, a restructuring expert and stranger to the baking industry, to take his place. Drain called the turnaround plan spearheaded by Rayburn "an improvement" on the one proposed by Hostess in February and commended him for rolling back pre-bankruptcy salary increases for management "that had the potential for truly poisoning the negotiations."

Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, filed for bankruptcy in January and soon sought to reject its collective bargaining agreements, saying it wouldn't be able to survive unless it shaved millions of dollars from its labor costs. The threat of liquidation has loomed large throughout the case, with both sides acknowledging that a strike by the unions---threatened if the company rejects the collective bargaining agreements---would spell the end of Hostess.

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Teamsters: Judge's Rejection Of NLRB Decision Undermines Workers' Right To Fair Vote For A Union
Posted: May 15,2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today called for restoration of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) reforms to protect workers’ rights.

A federal judge yesterday struck down the NLRB’s recently adopted regulations, which were designed to eliminate costly legal delays and make sure workers can exercise the basic right to vote to join a union. The reforms took effect on April 30.

The judge based his ruling on a technicality, saying the NLRB didn’t have a quorum when it approved the reforms last year. A Republican member of the board sat out the vote on the proposed reform, though he had publicly and stridently opposed it, and was in office when the regulations were adopted.

“This is just another attack on workers and the American middle class,” Hoffa said. “The decision lets anti-worker extremists game the system. It condones the NLRB member’s neglect of his duty. It gets in the way of the NLRB’s ability to do its job, which is to protect workers’ rights.”

“The board and the courts must reconsider this issue as soon as possible so that the board can do its job of protecting workers’ rights.”

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Buy these union-made Mother's Day gifts
Posted: May 11, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Crossposted from our good friends at American Rights at Work. They do great work promoting union-made goods:

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, which means it is time again to show your mom how much she means to you.

We know it’s almost impossible to find a gift that repays your mom for all her love, hard work, and dedication. But you can show her how much she means to you by getting a gift that’s fun, practical, and supports good, union jobs.

Check out these Mother’s Day gift ideas from our Union Shop. Is your mom into cooking? Check out these great products from All-Clad and Pyrex and add to her kitchen arsenal. Want to send up a toast to the best mom in the world? (Ed.’s note: Assume this is your own mom!) Fill up Libbey stemware with wine from union-grown grapes. You can pair that wine with a dessert of Ghirardelli chocolate, made by union members in San Francisco.

For the Mom who is less of a foodie and more of a bookworm, Union Shop has you covered! Give her a gift card from Powell’s Books – the largest union online book retailer. And if she’s more of a periodical reader, give the gift of a Consumer Reports subscription and support union journalism.

At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with a card that tells your mom how much she means to you. Luckily American Greetings has just the right words and they’re brought to you by Teamsters! Make sure you check the back of your card, though, to be sure it's made in America.

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Romney promises right-To-Work-For-Less
Posted: May 11, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation

Wow. This is right out of the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers' playbook. Romney says "people should have the right to join a union" and then lists ways he intends to attack and destroy unions. He talks about "freedom" but then lists ways he intends to let big government interfere with workers' right to form a union.

Just wow.

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Teamsters Fight for School Bus Workers' Rights at National Express Annual Meeting
Posted: May 10, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamster school bus drivers and representatives from the United States and Canada called on National Express Group (NEX), a large multinational corporation, to honor the human rights of its North American workers at the company’s annual meeting held in London.  

“We are here to call on National Express’s investors to insist this company do what is right and just. It’s time that this company honors the basic human rights of its hardworking employees by instituting a real freedom of association policy, rather than putting out a sham policy and blatantly violating all global human rights standards,” said Ken Hall, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer. 

The delegation traveled to the United Kingdom over serious concerns about National Express’s negative human rights and labor relations record at its North American subsidiaries, Durham School Services in the U.S. and Stock Transportation in Canada. 

Between 2001 and 2011, more than 200 unfair labor practice (ULP) charges were filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Durham School Services. In regard to 52 cases, the ULPs were of such serious nature that the NLRB was prepared to issue a formal complaint against the company. The ULPs raised concerns of unlawful terminations, surveillance, retribution and disparate treatment of its employees who supported unions. 

At the May 2011 annual shareholder meeting, National Express introduced a purported global “Workplace Rights Policy”, which was seemingly prompted by an upsurge in interest among U.S.-based workers to join a union and was implemented in a bid to preempt criticism of National Express Group’s questionable labor relations record in the U.S. 

A recent report, “National Express Group’s Diminution of Labor Rights in the U.S.,” concluded that the company’s policy enables it to continue its anti-worker behavior rather than appropriately protecting the human rights of its workers. The report was written by Professor John Logan, Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University College of Business. 

Linda Aguiar, a 25-year driver from Livermore, Calif., who recently voted with her co-workers to join Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., traveled to the United Kingdom to call on National Express to respect its workers’ rights.

Aguiar said the company had been taking wages from her and her co-workers for years, and when they stood together to demand justice and form a union, the so-called “Workplace Rights Policy” appeared as if it was being utilized to threaten and intimidate the workers, not protect them.

“Management posted a sign that said, ‘You could lose your wages and benefits in collective bargaining.’ Meanwhile, my co-workers and I had to go to court in a class action lawsuit over wage and hour violations by the company. We received a $7 million payment that covered 4,000 past and present Durham workers in California,” Aguiar said. 

Rosie Miranda and her Durham co-workers in San Jose, Calif., saw their pay and benefits reduced so much at their bus yard in the past year that Rosie, a driver, could not longer afford her home. She and her teenage son had to move into her mother’s small one bedroom apartment. Stories like Rosie’s are not uncommon at National Express.

“There is no reason why a profitable company like National Express should have workers living in poverty, struggling to get by, and afraid of getting fired for simply trying to form a union. We’re here to let everyone know that the Teamsters will not stand for such blatant and atrocious violations,” said Sebrina Isom, a Durham school bus driver and member of Teamsters Local 509 in Cayce, S.C.

The Teamsters were part of an international delegation joined by colleagues from Unite the Union, the International Transport Workers Federation and Transport Workers Union. The delegation delivered postcards that said, “National Express Violates Human Rights” to shareholders entering the annual meeting. The postcards told the stories of three National Express workers whose rights had been violated by the company.

For more information, visit http://www.durhamschoolservices101.com/ .

For information on the Teamsters Drive Up Standards campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry, go to http://www.driveupstandards.org/ . 

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Davis Wires Sued For Working Employees 12 Hours A Day Without Breaks
Posted: May 10, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Workers at the Davis Wire mill in Kent have joined a class-action lawsuit charging their employer with denying them their statutory right to take breaks at work. 

According to the complaint, which was filed in King County Superior Court on April 30, employees were “required to perform active work during the entirety of their shifts”, many of which spanned 12 hours or more, for a three-year period and “were not allowed meal periods of at least thirty minutes” during that time. The complaint also alleges that workers were “not provided with paid ten-minute rest periods” and were required to work off-the-clock, without compensation.

In accordance with Washington State Law, workers must be allowed a paid rest period of at least 10 minutes for each four hours worked and a 30-minute meal period if five or more hours are worked.

“This is a dangerous place and there have been serious accidents here – wire punctures, forklift accidents, and several missing fingers,” said machine operator Robert Bruner, one of the employees party to the suit.  “When people aren’t allowed to take their breaks, accidents are much more likely to occur.”

Davis Wire is one of four manufacturers in the Heico Wire Group.  Over the past two years, four workers have been killed in industrial accidents at Heico facilities across the country.

In addition to the employees’ wage-and-hour lawsuit, Teamsters Local 117, the Union that represents the workers, has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the NLRB citing eleven separate violations by the company.  Davis Wire is accused, among other violations, of intimidating workers by sending out bogus layoff notices and threatening to close down the facility in Kent. 

On February 29, the workers voted 55-1 to authorize a strike.  Workers have been without a contract since December 1 of last year. 

Davis Wire also operates plants in Irwindale and Pueblo, CA.  Some of the company’s major customers include Home Depot, Lowe’s, and several major construction companies.  Local 117 represents 85 workers at the Kent facility.

Both the lawsuit and the Unfair Labor Practice charges can be viewed on Local 117’s website at www.teamsters117.org .

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Mukilteo trucking company unfairly collecting millions in state contracts
Posted: May 9, 2012
Source: KING5.com

A Washington trucking company has collected nearly $40 million in state contracts since 2008 under a program intended to benefit disadvantaged businesses, despite the fact that several state employees, including investigators and auditors, raised serious concerns about whether the company should qualify for the program designed to help to firms owned by minorities and women.

The company in question -- Mukilteo-based Grady Excavating -- managed to win state designation as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) even after state investigators originally denied its application for DBE status.

[...] State investigators familiar with the case suspect Grady Excavating's ownership structure skirts the DBE program rules. On paper, it is owned and run by a woman, Kim Grady. But state investigators are suspicious that Kim's husband, Joe Grady, is the person who actually calls the shots. Joe Grady has years of experience in trucking and construction through his family's multi-million-dollar construction company, Mukilteo-based KLB Construction.
Read the complete source story here.

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Hostess warns 250 Washington employees of possible layoffs
Posted: May 9, 2012
Source: The Seattle Times
Hostess Brands warned its 250 employees in Washington state they could lose their jobs in 60 days, a spokesman for the state Employment Security Department said Tuesday. The maker of Twinkies and Wonder bread is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and trying to renegotiate its contracts with the Teamsters and bakery workers unions. Hostess's 111 employees in Seattle, 17 in Kent, and 56 in Pierce County could be laid off, according to a WARN notice it filed with ESD. Other affected sites are in Everett, Bellingham, Bremerton, Tumwater, Longview. Moses Lake, Yakima and Spokane.
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters respond to Hostess layoff notices
Posted: May 9, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Hostess management -- you know, the people who want to yank as much money as they can out of the company for themselves before they kick the workers to the curb -- sent layoff warnings to employees on Friday.

The Teamsters are not amused. A stinging reply was drafted by Ken Hall, general-secretary treasurer, and Dave Dudas, director of the Bakery and Laundry Conference. They said the Teamsters are,

“ready, willing and able to negotiate” consensual labor changes but vowed not to “let the company force a poorly defined or inequitable turnaround plan on its employees that, despite our concessions, is destined to put Hostess out of business once and for all.”

They pointed out that management wants to continue to underinvest in the company -- the same failed policy that caused the trouble in the first place:

First of all, Mr. Rayburn’s April 16th letter claimed the Company’s “Turnaround Plan” would allow Hostess to “invest in our future with new technologies, updated facilities, robust marketing and advertising and R&D.” That’s just wrong: the Company’s Turnaround Plan calls for investing 0.2% of sales in R&D, whereas the target for Hostess’ best competitors is around 1.5% – over 7 times more investment in R&D. The Turnaround Plan would also continue historical underspending on capital expenditures.

They go on to take apart the company's lies about their problems. You can read the whole thing here.
Read the complete source story here.

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Hoffa: Romney Shows His True Colors With Latest Attack on Working Americans
Posted: May 9, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa rebutted Mitt Romney's attack today on working families by noting he made his millions as a vulture capitalist who closed factories and sent jobs to China. 

Romney, the former Bain Capital President and CEO and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, again demonstrated how disconnected he is with the average American by belittling the value and contributions of one of the last advocates for working men and women, labor unions. In his remarks at Lansing Community College, Romney blamed unions for job loss, the decline of American industry and the demise of American companies. 

“Mitt Romney is the last person that should be pointing the finger at anyone for the decline of American businesses and job loss,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “This nonsense is coming from a man who made his millions dismantling companies and putting countless numbers of middle class workers out on the street. He is nothing more than a parrot, repeating whatever talking points that are put in front of him each day. This is not a man that should be in the White House as we continue down the path to economic recovery.” 

In his remarks, Romney also made clear his support for right-to-work for less laws that are solely designed to hamstring labor unions and help drive down wages and benefits for workers so that big business can increase profits on the backs of the middle class. 

“Right-to-work laws are not right for America’s workers,” Hoffa said. “In this time of rising health costs and dwindling wages and benefits, the last thing workers need is a president that wants to destroy the strong representation that unions provide. In Romney’s America, workers would not be able to bargain for better wages, stronger work rules or affordable health care. Is that really what the 99 percent needs right now? I don’t think so.” 

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Teamsters Applaud Barrett Victory
Posted: May 9, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today said Wisconsin voters are demanding change after a year of Gov. Scott Walker's job-killing policies. Hoffa’s statement followed the announcement that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett won the primary and will take on Gov. Scott Walker. 

“The working men and women of Wisconsin have endured so much already at the hands of Scott Walker and they are demanding change,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “Tom Barrett always cared about working families and the middle class when he was mayor of Milwaukee. I am confident he will still practice the same values and beliefs as the governor of Wisconsin.” 

Despite Walker’s claims that targeting unions and collective bargaining was a way to balance the Wisconsin’s budget, the state has actually lost thousands of jobs over the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, Wisconsin has the worst job-creation record of all 50 states because of Walker's austerity program. 

As Milwaukee mayor, Barrett fought to ensure that public employees had a voice in the workplace by implementing “meet and confer” language to require labor/management discussion and by extending protections to employees who lost their rights under a state act. 

“We were pleased to strongly endorse Tom Barrett because he pledged to fight to restore full collective bargaining rights for workers and bring new jobs to Wisconsin,” said Tony Cornelius, President of Teamsters Joint Council 39 in Wisconsin. Teamsters Joint Council 39 officially endorsed Barrett earlier this month. 

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Allied Waste appears on verge of locking out union workers
Posted: May 8, 2012
Source: Evansville Courier & Press
Teamsters Local 215 members have been reporting for work as usual at Allied Waste Services of Evansville, even though their employment contract expired April 26.

That may soon change — Allied Waste has announced that it will lock out its union employees at 9 p.m. Tuesday if the union does not accept the company's "last, best and final offer" of an employment contract.

Allied Waste is Evansville's contractor for recycling, trash and yard waste collections. Allied Waste also has customers in Vanderburgh County and in the neighboring counties of Warrick, Gibson, Posey and Henderson, Ky.

Allied Waste's general manager, Mark McKune, said the company has brought in employees from other parts of the company to learn the local routes over the past two weeks.
Read the complete source story here.

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Help Needed to Stamp Out Hunger
Posted: May 8, 2012
Source: MLKCLC
Stamp Out Hunger is coming up this Saturday, May 12th! The Letter Carriers are looking forward to another successful food drive.

They are still looking for volunteers at a handful of postal stations.  If you, your staff or volunteers, or friends and family might like to volunteer, please help out by registering at http://www.foodlifeline.org/help/volunteer/SOHVolunteers.html

Postal Station	Number of Volunteers Needed	Station Address	City	Zip
Columbia	5	3727 S. Alaska St.	Seattle	98118
East Union	8	1110 23rd Ave	Seattle	98122
Interbay	9	2010 15th Ave. W	Seattle	98119
Term Station	6	2420 4th Ave. S	Seattle	98134
University	5	4244 University Way NE	Seattle	98105
Westwood	14	2721 SW Trenton St.	Seattle	98126

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Watch for the blue bag in your mailbox for the nation’s largest one-day food drive, Stamp Out Hunger on Saturday, May 12th.  Fill your bag with healthy non-perishable food and leave it by your mailbox so your letter carrier, Food Lifeline and the Puget Sound Labor Agency can make sure it reaches hungry people in your community.

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Ed Schultz tells it like it is at Teamsters Unity Conference
Posted: May 8, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Ed Schultz closed the Teamsters Unity Conference with a rock 'em, sock 'em call to action against extremists who want to destroy the middle class.

Schultz has become a Teamster favorite because he speaks up for working people on his MSNBC program, "The Ed Show." He began by telling the 2,000 Teamsters,

I thought I'd let you see if I'm as big a son of a bitch as the right wing thinks I am.

He was introduced by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, who watches "The Ed Show" every night at 8 pm, EDT. Hoffa called him "the antithesis of Fox News and Bill O'Reilly" as well as "a big man with a big heart.

Schultz, who had just donated $20,000 to the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, delivered a passionate defense of public education.

Public education, why in the hell would they attack that? They want fewer teachers, fewer schools, bigger classes, a better dropout rate because they really do love cheap labor. That's what they want.

He urged the assembled Teamsters to get out and defeat Mitt Romney in November.
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters endorse Obama
Posted: May 7, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
The Teamsters Union today endorsed President Obama for re-election with the enthusiastic support of 1,500 members gathered at the annual Unity Conference.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa threw the question out to the assembled Teamsters:

Do we want to endorse Barack Obama for president?

The response: A resounding "yes" and a standing ovation.

The General Executive Board had given Hoffa the authority to endorse Obama last night. Several vice presidents spoke from the floor and urged him to make the endorsement as soon as possible.

International Vice President Rome Aloise said:

You've got to vote your pocketbook, you've got to vote the people who won't hurt us....We've got a war like we've never seen...we should endorse Obama, endorse him now, and get off our asses and work for him.

International Vice President John Coli:

If we think the war on workers is tough right now, put Mitt Romney in office and you'll see how tough it is...We have to do this, it's more critical than anything we do this fall.

Coli received a standing ovation when he said "We need to endorse him now."

International Vice President John Murphy:

If they want a war, let's give him a war.

Enthusiasm for Obama was equaled if not exceeded by dislike of Romney, described as a "vulture capitalist." Loud booing was the answer to Hoffa's question, "Does anybody want Mitt Romney." Said Hoffa,

We have leadership. We are the ones who are going to lead this battle to make sure we win this fall. 

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Obama phones Teamsters: 'I've got your back'
Posted: May 7, 2012:
Source: Teamster Nation
President Obama picked up the phone and called 2,000 Teamsters at Unity today, telling them America would look a lot different without them.

General President Hoffa gave Obama the news that the Teamsters had just endorsed his re-election:

They realize there's a war on workers and they realize there's only one person fighting that fight. That's you. Go get 'em, we endorse you all the way.  

Over the loudspeaker came the president's voice:

Thank you for the endorsement. ... America would look a lot different without the Teamsters. As we look to the next few years, the question is how are we going to reclaim security for the middle class after a decade in which the middle class has taken it on the chin. That starts with putting people back to work.

Obama recounted the challenges he faced when he took office:

We lost more jobs in the month I took office than we did in the previous 60 years. 

Since 2010, his administration created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs -- many of them in the auto industry.

The president told the Teamsters that America needs to restore some basic values that made this country great, beginning with rewarding work instead of speculation.

We're not going back to that 'you're on your own' economy.

Hoffa replied,

We have boots on the ground, justice in your hearts and we're going to win in November. We've got your back.

Obama replied,

I've got yours. I could not be prouder to have your endorsement.

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Occupy's Lockout: Sotheby's Struggle Enters Tenth Month
Posted: May 7, 2012
Source: In These Times
Sotheby’s New York auction house made international headlines last week, selling Edvard Much's painting “The Scream” for a record $119.9 million. But few stories mentioned what was happening outside the auction: picketing by 150 artists, activists, and locked-out art handlers. 

“Tonight, the irony persists,” said Sotheby’s worker Julian Tysh. “Sotheby’s is selling a copy of the scream – an artful interpretation of human anguish and suffering – and they’re going to profit tremendously tonight, while at the same time they continue to create anguish and suffering among their own workforce.”

Tysh and 41 of his co-workers have been locked out since August 1, a month before Occupy Wall Street first occupied Zuccotti Park.  Among labor stuggles, the lockout has drawn some of the earliest, and longest-running, Occupy support. Occupy's involvement has inspired workers, upped the pressure on Sotheby’s, and amplified media attention  – though it hasn’t yet yielded a victory.

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Hoffa on fire at Unity
Posted: May 6, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Teamster members have elected James P. Hoffa as general president more than they've elected any other president. He showed no signs of slowing down at the Unity Conference today, just hours before being sworn in again as the union's leader tonight.

Hoffa, as passionate as ever, called on the 1,500 Teamsters present to stand shoulder to shoulder in the war against workers:

Teamsters are best when we're together.

He described the forces arrayed against working families: the billionaires and millionaires, including one casino owner who donated $10 million to Newt Gingrich's campaign. "That was a bad bet," Hoffa quipped.

He excoriated corporate-backed politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are trying to destroy workers. He vowed that organized labor would recall Walker in June and anti-worker members of Congress in November.

He had special scorn for anti-union media outlets and for Mitt Romney. Hoffa told the story of a sister in Ohio who confessed to him that she'd voted for John Kasich. She realized she'd made a mistake when Kasich forced through SB5, stripping collective bargaining rights from government workers. (You will recall Ohioans overwhelmingly vetoed that heinous bill on the November ballot.) Hoffa asked her how she could have done that. "She said, "I listened to Fox News."

"Turn off Fox News," Hoffa said to a cheering audience. "Turn off Bill O'Reilly. Turn off Glenn Beck!"

Romney fared no better. The multimillionaire, said Hoffa, sides with his rich friends against workers. He described how Romney sent jobs to China and shut down factories as CEO of Bain Capital.

He has a Swiss bank account. What president has a Swiss bank account?...

There's something wrong when Romney pays 14% taxes and Teamsters pay 30%.

More tomorrow.

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Obama message to Teamsters at Unity Conference.
Posted: May 6, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Teamsters were treated to a video greeting from President Obama at Unity.

The president thanked General President Jim Hoffa for his leadership. And to everyone else in the room:

I want to thank all of you for keeping up the fight every day for working men and women.

"Too many of your brothers and sisters are looking for work," he said. "We can't settle for an economy where a few people do well, and everyone else struggles to get by."

Obama called the November election a make-or-break moment for America. He listed his accomplishments, including saving the auto industry. And he said his administration is fighting back against the war on unions. Union values are American values, and we have to reclaim them, he said.

If you stand with me, I promise I'll stand with you.

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Cordray shows Teamsters he gets solidarity
Posted: May 6, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
The Teamsters' good friend Rob Cordray is the new director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was created recently by Congress to make sure the recent financial meltdown doesn't happen again.

Our Ohio brothers and sisters worked hard for Cordray's election as Ohio attorney general. In that post,  he did a great job attacking misclassification,  calling it "payroll abuse." And when President Obama nominated him to run the CFPB, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had his back. Said Cordray today at the Teamsters Unity Conference,

Teamsters' leadership was strongly supportive of the effort in Congress to create a new consumer bureau.

We are grateful for your effective backing of our efforts.

You may also know my nomination to be director was held up for 6 months...I wouldn't be in office without the strong support of President Hoffa. 

Cordray got a warm Teamster welcome at Unity. He pledged to do everything he can to prevent another financial collapse.
Read complete soruce story here.

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Setting the Record Straight: Hostess May 4th Update
Posted: May 6, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Let us set the record straight on the latest communications from Hostess' new CEO Gregory Rayburn and provide an update on where things stand, including with respect to the WARN Act notice sent out today.

First of all, Mr. Rayburn's April 16th letter claimed the Company's "Turnaround Plan" would allow Hostess to "invest in our future with new technologies, updated facilities, robust marketing and advertising and R&D." That's just wrong: the Company's Turnaround Plan calls for investing 0.2% of sales in R&D, whereas the target for Hostess' best competitors is around 1.5% – over 7 times more investment in R&D. The Turnaround Plan would also continue historical underspending on capital expenditures. And the Company still has not provided a proposed post‐bankruptcy capital structure or any acceptable commitments on the maximum level of allowed debt, despite 1) dozens of requests and two highly specific Teamster proposals, and 2) the fact that Hostess has more debt today than when it first filed bankruptcy in 2004.

We don't have to remind you what happened the last time Hostess emerged from bankruptcy with stifling debt and a business plan that shortchanged research and development and capital expenditures. The Company is willfully disregarding its own recent history, and this is most definitely a tragic development.

Mr. Rayburn also furnished Hostess employees with a "Fact Sheet" as well as a document that "answers employee questions" about the Company's proposed changes to union health benefits, pension benefits and current work rules. To truly set the record straight, we are noting the following glaring inaccuracies:


Cost Structure

Hostess Myth: The Company has an uncompetitive cost structure due in large part to its higher labor costs.

Facts: As a result of the concessions granted in the last bankruptcy that it squandered, Hostess' labor costs are below its unionized competitors, including Bimbo. Despite these concessions, Hostess is still losing money. In order to help keep the Company in business, in our latest proposal, the Teamsters Union has tentatively agreed to another $150 million (based on the Company's estimates) in labor concessions and operational changes.


Healthcare

Hostess Myth: Hostess must revise and/or discontinue participating in its current Taft‐Hartley healthcare plans in order to remain competitive, attract new financing required to exit Chapter 11 and make investment in facilities and equipment.

Facts: The IBT's Taft‐Hartley healthcare plans are in no way an impediment to Hostess' emergence from bankruptcy or ability to attract the new money it needs to invest in the Company's future. Nor are they a core reason why Hostess is currently uncompetitive. The reasons Hostess is again in bankruptcy have much more to do with poor management, planning and execution than with its healthcare costs or structure.

As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, our advisors produced a 30‐page report (redacted version available here: http://bit.ly/JZ3QmT that went through these mistakes with details that were never rebutted by any of the Company's advisors or the Company itself.

Even so, the IBT has tentatively agreed for employees to contribute more towards employees' healthcare – enough to reduce the Company's healthcare expenses to competitive levels – while remaining in the Taft‐Hartley plans. The Company itself has signaled it is willing to allow employees to remain in their Taft‐Hartley plans so long as savings are achieved.
Read the complete PDF document here.

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Sotheby's 'The Scream' Sale Intensifies Criticism Of Art Handlers' Lockout
Posted: May 4, 2012
Source: Huffington Post
On Wednesday, Sotheby's set a record: a pastel version of Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" sold for a record $119.9 million, the most ever for a work of art at auction.

But on the street outside, Occupy Wall Street protesters and Teamsters Local 814 members were protesting. For nine months, Sotheby's has locked out the art handlers who move paintings in and out of the its auction house because it wants to negotiate a contract that reduces union members' work hours and increases the use of temporary workers.

Now, in the wake of the record Munch sale, both art world figures and the union that represents the art handlers are sharpening their rhetoric against the profitable auctioneer.

"What's the one percent up to this week?" asked Julian Tysh, a 31-year-old handler who had worked for the company for about six years before he got locked out. "What are they up to? They're gathering in an auction room to exchange millions and millions of dollars in investments through art."

"And what's the 99 percent doing?" he continued. "They're gathering in the streets to say that the same kind of corporate greed you're seeing at Sotheby's is what's destroying the economy and turning us into a third world country."

The final sale price for the Munch painting included $12.9 million in commission fees for the art house. Teamsters Local 814, which represents the handlers, says the yearly contract for all 42 union members would cost the company $3.3 million. The union also represents handlers at competing auction house Christie's.
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Mexico to Lower Weight Limits Following Driver Protests
Posted: May 3, 2012
Source: Trucking Info
Following two deadly truck crashes and national protests by Mexican truck drivers, the Mexican government is agreeing to tighten inspections and lower maximums allowed weights for double-trailer trucks, reports the Associated Press.

Mexico's Communications and Transport Department said in a statement it is decreasing maximum weights by 4.5 tons and restricting double trailers to 15.5 mile runs on secondary roads. Also, all double-trailers will have to be inspected within two months.

The department said it will also increase its inspection force by 14% and increase weigh-in scales from 63 to 88.

The driver protests were sparked by two deadly truck crashes, both with double trailers, that killed a total of 49 people. Drivers were protesting a rule that bans semis hauling double trailers from Mexico's secondary roads unless the trucking company qualifies for and applies for a "connectivity permit."

Truckers say the fact that some double-trailers are allowed on back roads with these permits leads other drivers who don't qualify for permits to do the same. If caught without a permit, they simply pay bribes to corrupt police officials.

Prior to these new rules, Mexico allowed trucks on two-lane roads with loads of as much as 80 metric tons and lengths of more than 100 feet, compared to a U.S. restrictions of 80,000 pounds (40 tons) on Interstate highways.

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