Oak Harbor Freight Lines Retaliates
Against Returning Workers
Company's Unlawful Actions Could Incite New Strike
(February 27, 2009) Oak Harbor Freight Lines is attempting to fire thirteen workers, represented by the Teamsters, and illegally eliminate workers’ healthcare and pension plans after the union decided to end a five-month strike last week. Over 500 workers at Oak Harbor in Oregon, Idaho and Washington originally went on strike on September 22, 2008 to protest the company’s violations of federal labor laws. Prior to that, the Oak Harbor’s employees had never gone on strike.
The latest unlawful move by Oak Harbor could incite a new strike just as the company is attempting to recover from the 157-day strike that triggered widespread service disruptions and cost Oak Harbor more than half of its business.
“It was our hope that the company would take our offer to return-to-work as a positive step toward resolving our differences,” said Teamsters International Vice President Al Hobart. “But it is now clear that Oak Harbor’s owners and their union busting attorney are willing to sacrifice customers, ruin the lives of hard working union families and drive this company into the ground to get rid of the Teamsters.”
According to documents released by the company last week, Oak Harbor is preparing to illegally eliminate returning workers’ healthcare plan, switch returning workers to a substandard plan administered by the company and abolish workers’ retirement fund. The company will also immediately suspend, without pay, thirteen union supporters on suspicious grounds and reserve the right to terminate more employees for union activities.
“Retaliating against union supporters is just another sign that Oak Harbor is a rogue company that is being propped up by several merciless shippers and financial institutions, including KeyBank (NYSE: Key) and Burlington Coat Factory (NYSE: BCF),” Hobart said.
These actions are just the most recent in the company’s ongoing effort to deny workers a fair contract and break the Union.
In December 2008, the National Labor Relations Board found merit in the union’s charges alleging that Oak Harbor violated federal labor law and bargained in bad faith by creating a Drivers’ Committee to undermine the union, unlawfully soliciting grievances, and making unilateral changes in working conditions.
Additionally, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) recently published a report in which it concluded that Oak Harbor violated international labor rights standards. According to the report, Oak Harbor used “permanent striker replacements to undermine freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining of Oak Harbor and employed unethical and unlawful practices in the recruitment and employment of the replacement workers, including deceptive hiring practices, non-payment of wages and racial and gender discrimination in work assignment.”
In a response to these violations, Gap Inc. and several major customers have stopped using Oak Harbor. “The report by the International Labor Rights Forum and the failure of (Oak Harbor) management to work out a resolution with the Teamsters in a timely manner all contributed to our conclusion that our continued presence at Oak Harbor would not meaningfully contribute to a speedy resolution,” said Dan Henkle, Senior Vice President at Gap Inc.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
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KEYBANK FUNDS MISERY
PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN TARGETS KEYBANK BAILOUT SCANDAL
| Cleveland Teamsters passed out informational literature letting the public know about KeyBank’s behavior at one of the Bank’s branches in their city recently. |
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(February 26, 2009) The Teamsters Union is launching the “KeyBank Funds Misery” public information campaign today to highlight Cleveland-based KeyCorp.’s (NYSE: KEY) irresponsible use of taxpayer bailout money. KeyBank also has been financing Oak Harbor Freight Lines, a rogue company that has violated federal labor laws and international labor standards during a 157-day strike in the Pacific Northwest.
Oak Harbor, an Auburn, Wash., company, relies on KeyBank for its lines of credit, which has enabled executives to employ replacement workers for union members.
As part of the campaign, the Teamsters Union is unveiling a new Web site: www.KeyBankFundsMisery.com, where the public can find facts about KeyBank’s receipt of $2.5 billion through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) along with multiple examples of harmful misconduct.
The site highlights KeyBank’s student loan scandal, payment of IRS fines related to a questionable corporate tax shelter and lobbying of Congress to advance corporate bankers’ interests. The site also provides a forum for KeyBank customers and employees to tell their own stories, and to help them organize a KeyBank action. The site will be advertised on popular Web portals across the nation.
“KeyBank has a history of predatory student lending that has left students with an unfulfilled education and huge loans to pay off,” said Ira Rheingold, Executive Director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. “In repeated cases, KeyBank used various federal rules to avoid liability and leave innocent students with huge debt. Because of KeyBank’s abusive student lending past, we as consumers and taxpayers should not be rewarding them with a huge taxpayer bailout unless effective safeguards are in place to control KeyBank’s behavior.”
The Teamsters are also sponsoring a series of giant bus ads in KeyCorp’s hometown of Cleveland. The ads read, “KeyBank: Takes Our Money; Wastes Our Taxes; Hurts our Kids,” and prominently feature photos of children negatively affected by KeyCorp’s support of Oak Harbor Freight Lines.
“KeyBank is receiving $2.5 billion in TARP funds from taxpayers,” said Al Hobart, Teamsters International Vice President and President of Joint Council 28. “KeyBank was given this money under the condition that it act in the public interest. But its practices of predatory lending to students, lobbying and tax evasion, along with the financing of Oak Harbor Freight Lines, have had severely negative effects on American workers and their families."
The Teamsters Union has asked its local unions across the country to contact KeyCorp. immediately and begin the process of transferring their banking business.
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HOFFA ON MEXICAN TRUCKS AND HERSHEY
GENERAL PRESIDENT VOICES TEAMSTERS UNION’S PRAISE
FOR PROPOSAL TO BAN UNSAFE MEXICAN TRUCKS
IBT General President Jim Hoffa |
(February 25, 2009) Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa applauded the House Democratic leadership for including a ban on unsafe Mexican trucks in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill unveiled on February 23.
Though Congress shut down the Bush Administration’s Pilot Program to open the border in the 2008 appropriations, the Bush Administration ignored the ban, which expired at the end of the fiscal year.
“Shutting down the border is the right thing to do,” Hoffa said. “There’s no guarantee that trucks or drivers from Mexico are safe. Until there is, dangerous Mexican trucks should not be allowed to drive freely on our highways.”
Despite the bipartisan opposition to opening the border to the Cross-Border Trucking Pilot Program, the U.S. Department of Transportation said last year it will extend the program for another two years.
Section 136 of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill’s Transportation Title states, “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may be used, directly or indirectly, to establish, implement, continue, promote, or in any way permit a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexican-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico.”
TEAMSTER LEADER EXPRESSES IBT’S ANGER AT HERSHEY COMPANY FOR EXPORTING AMERICAN JOBS TO MEXICO
(February 25, 2009) Washington, D.C. – On February 20, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa denounced the Hershey Food Corporation’s (NYSE: HSY) closing of its plant in Reading, Pennsylvania, leaving nearly 300 workers out in the cold. Hershey’s plan to move the jobs to a Monterey, Mexico plant shows how unfair trade deals like NAFTA continue to harm American workers.
The plant’s closing continues a disturbing trend for a city that has already lost more than one-fourth of its good-paying manufacturing jobs since January 2001. Of the workers losing their jobs, 50 are Teamsters.
“That plant stood for decades in Reading, providing countless families with good wages and job security,” Hoffa said. “Members of this community helped build that company and this is how they are repaid. Hershey’s actions are unconscionable in this economic climate.”
The Hershey plant in Reading made York Peppermint Patties and 5th Avenue bars. To date, the company has shut down six plants with this most recent closing a stage in its plan to cut 1,500 U.S. jobs.
“Pennsylvania lost nearly 60,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2008 and the estimate for the month was well over 30,000 jobs lost,” Hoffa said. “When are we going to tell companies like Hershey that enough is enough?”
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND THE IBT
CHECK OUT THIS INFORMATIVE READING LINKED TO VIA THE TEAMSTERS UNION’S WEBSITE
(February 20, 2009) Every year in the United States, February is designated as Black History Month. Many events have taken place already and many more will follow. The IBT has had some very informative coverage of BHM on its official website. Some of it is printed below and a lot more is elsewhere, but you can follow the links to it. And you should. The contributions of Black Americans are many and varied, and Americans of all colors should know more about them.
The IBT discussed Black History Month in a February 9 commentary entered on the Teamster website. It is reprinted below for Local 174’s readers’ consideration.
BLACK HISTORY IS TEAMSTER HISTORY
(February 9, 2009) The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the history of black Americans and strengthens the hope that one day all Americans really will be judged by the content of their characters.
THIS YEAR IS TRULY SPECIAL
Celebrating Black History Month this year is truly special, not just for Obama’s victory, but for all the hardships, sacrifices, risks taken and victories won by countless others along the way who forged the path that made his victory possible. It is also a poignant celebration as many who fought so hard for equality and justice did not, like Dr. King, make it to the Promised Land. Memories fade and we forget that everyday rights and privileges, now shrugged off as small or commonplace, once required great struggle and were hailed as great victories when achieved.
The Teamsters Union salutes all those who have played a role, large or small in creating the unique and powerful history of Black Americans.
CELEBRATING BLACK TEAMSTERS
As part of Black History Month we also celebrate our own members and the great contributions they have made to the Teamsters. Black members are an integral part of the legacy we have created for working families over the last century. Whether serving as the first black milkman, a soldier defending freedom, a Rosie the Riveter on the home front in World War II, or traveling to Washington D.C to march with Dr. King or serve in a political action delegation, the experiences and achievements of our black members have made a difference and deserve to be recognized.
The contributions of black members to the success of the Teamsters Union are numerous, varied and as old as the union itself. Black team drivers attended the first Convention in 1903 and were active in all aspects of the union—including leadership, from the beginning. That commitment remains strong today.
Ferline Buie, International Trustee and member of the Teamsters General Executive Board, recalled her experiences in a 2006 interview with Teamster magazine:
“When I joined Local 922 in Washington, D.C in 1966, I didn’t expect to be a member for very long. I didn’t know much about the Teamsters, but as a young black woman, I did not think there was much in it for me,” she said. “After attending a few meetings, I was pleased to discover there was much more to the union than I thought. In fact, I began to think maybe I could be a local union officer.”
And that aspiration started her on a path she never imagined possible.
“I went to the president of the local at the time, a white man named Ed Monahan, and told him my ambition. To my surprise, he took me seriously,” Buie said. “He said my race and gender didn’t matter if I was consistent, loyal and as involved as possible in the union. It changed my life.”
Today, in addition to her GEB responsibilities, Buie is also the President of both Local 922 and Joint Council 55.
TRADITIONS TO BUILD ON
The Teamsters Union has traditionally been ahead of other unions in terms of the treatment of minority members, calling for ”no color line” in the union as early as 1906. The union and began actively seeking to organize black men and women at the same time. Black members made up half of the executive board at the first New Orleans local in 1903 and black women helped establish one of the first “color free” contracts in the country in 1917 as Teamsters negotiated equal pay for black and white laundry women. That foundation of equality led black members to become strong advocates for civil rights and other social justice causes through the years.
General President James R. Hoffa was strongly opposed to segregation of any kind and chose to forfeit prospective members rather than abandon the principles of the union. At one point in the 1950s, he and Vice President Harold Gibbons traveled to New Orleans to lead an organizing campaign at a chemical plant but were stonewalled by white workers demanding a separate local for black workers. Hoffa refused, knowing they would lose the election because of the decision. Hoffa was angry about the loss but felt the union was better off without such racist members. “We don’t need ‘em,” he said. “Their way is not the Teamster way.”
Joe Nero, who became a member of Local 272 in New York City in 1941, remained a proud Teamster until his death in 2004 at the age of 103. He always maintained that unions were the best thing to happen to black workers.
“The Teamsters did me right and gave me a good life. They didn’t care if I was black or white,” he said. “Being in the union was the difference between a good life and a tough one. Always was, always will be.”
This does not mean it has been an easy road for minorities in the union. Black members made up a smaller segment of the union and often faced many of the same prejudices from individual fellow members on the job as they did in society at large. But they had the courage to stand fast and demand respect and dignity for themselves and their families. We are all richer for it.
Information, interviews and articles from the past related to Black History Month will be posted during February.
MORE FROM THE IBT SITE: BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESOURCE GUIDE
There is a wealth of information related to Black History Month online that is both interesting and informative. Take some time to check them out.
WEBSITES AVAILABLE
These are just a few of the websites that are worth viewing:
FILMS AVAILABLE
Many films related to Black History are also available and can be found on a number of sites, including www.laborheritage.org. Just a few of the titles worth checking out are listed are listed below. Retail sites such as Amazon.com carry many of the movies, as do movie rental services such as Netflix and Blockbuster. Many of the titles may also be available at your local public library.
- “10,000 Black Men Named George”
- “Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom”
- “At The River I Stand”
- “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin”
- “The Rosa Parks Story”
- “Malcolm X”
- “Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed”
- “When We Were Kings”
- “Tuskegee Airman”
- “A Woman Called Moses”
- “4 Little Girls”
- “Nightjohn”
- “The Power of One”
- “We Shall Not Be Moved”
- “Road to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad”
AND FINALLY…
Please check out this excellent website. It has a fount of knowledge about Black Americans and their contributions to the United States: www.biography.com/blackhistory/
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OAK HARBOR ULP STRIKE
WE HAVE OFFERED TO RETURN TO WORK AND WE AWAIT OAK HARBOR’S RESPONSE
There have been some developments, but the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike IS NOT OVER. |
(February 13, 2009) On February 12, 2009, Al Hobart from Joint Council 28, on behalf of the twelve striking Locals at Oak Harbor, delivered a letter to the Company making an unconditional offer to return to work. The offer was made after careful deliberation by the Locals involved, the Joint Council, and the International.
What triggered that offer? THE COMPANY HAS AGREED TO RESOLVE THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES AND THE NLRB HAS CONFIRMED STRIKERS ARE ENTITLED TO RETURN TO THEIR JOBS. On January 30, 2009, the National Labor Relations Board entered into a settlement with Oak Harbor which, over our objections, settled the Unfair Labor Practice charges we filed against the Company. John Payne, attorney for Oak Harbor, signed the settlement on January 28 on behalf of the Company. It was approved by the Regional Director. While we were not happy with all aspects of the settlement agreement, we are happy about the underlying decision — the NLRB has agreed we are on an Unfair Labor Practice Strike. Two important sentences from that settlement state the NLRB's position on the protected status of strikers:
STRIKE STATUS - The Parties acknowledge that Region 19's position is that the strike at all the Charged Party's terminals by the bargaining unit employees which commenced on September 22, 2008, and continues to date, has been at material times an unfair labor practice strike and that the Charged Party would therefore be obligated, pending the closing of these cases to reinstate qualified strikers, following their unconditional offer to return to work.
In a press release issued by the IBT, Al Hobart is quoted on some of our reasoning: "It is our hope that the company will see this offer as a positive step toward resolving our differences and addressing the challenge of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement that will not only provide Oak Harbor's workers with fair compensation and protections in the workplace, but secure a stable and capable workforce that will help the company compete and grow."
In addition, the NLRB settlement requires Oak Harbor to post at its places of business as well as mail to all strikers a "Notice to Employees." That Notice informs our members of their rights and contains a number of specific paragraphs stating what they did to violate the law, what they will not do in the future, and what they have to do. Some of the Notice reads as follows:
- WE WILL NOT use the Drivers Committee to find out what your grievances are.
- WE WILL NOT use the Drivers Committee to remedy your grievances.
- WE WILL NOT use the Drivers Committee to promise and grant you extra benefits.
- WE WILL NOT use the Drivers Committee to bypass the Teamsters Local Union No. 174, affiliated with International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the Union) and bargain directly with you about your working conditions.
- WE WILL recognize the Local Teamsters Unions which are party to our Agreement which expired by its terms on October 31, 2007 … as your sole and exclusive representative of certain of our employees, and, upon request, bargain with those unions for purposes of negotiating your wages, hours and working conditions.
By federal mandate, Oak Harbor must continue the posting for a period of 60 days.
This does not mean that the Strike is over. Employees have worked without a contract since October 31, 2007. Contract negotiations have a long way to go. However, we hope this is a step towards a resolution, and we are ready to resume good faith bargaining.
The ball is now in Oak Harbor's court. We are waiting for the Company to respond to our offer to return.
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OAK HARBOR ULP STRIKE DEVELOPMENTS
PUBLIC SENTIMENT ACROSS THE U.S. IS FAVORING THE TEAMSTERS, NOT OHFL
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(February 9, 2009) The bad news is that the horrible Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Strike continues. In fact, in only a few more days, the Teamster picketers on the line in Auburn will enter their fifth month of walking the line. The OHFL owners continue to be defiant, despite the fact that public sentiment all over the United States is going increasingly in favor of the Teamsters and against them.
Garey Bolen talks about the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice
Strike at the MLKing County Labor Council and Harry Bridges Center co-sponsored
history program. Behind him, left to right, are fellow Teamsters Denise
Roseth, Tony Farris and Jerry Alexander. |
The good news is, many fellow Teamsters both active and retired, members from other Unions, community activists, religious groups, and just concerned general citizens have opened their hearts to the hardships of the Teamster picketers in Auburn. Everyone who learns the story of why the Teamsters are doing what they are doing, is shocked by the abhorrent behavior of the Oak Harbor owners toward their workers.
The anti-Oak Harbor Freight Lines feelings are deep all across this country, but they are deepest in the Northwest and in Auburn, Washington and the Greater Seattle Area. That is because people near the Auburn headquarters of OHFL are most familiar with the bullying tactics of the greedy Freight Company.
THE OHFL ULP STRIKE AND THE MLKING COUNTY LABOR COUNCIL
One prime example of the increasing awareness of the public about the Oak Harbor Freight Lines owners’ anti-union malevolence took place at the venerable Labor Temple in Downtown Seattle on Saturday, February 7, 2009. It involved a big educational event of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council and the University of Washington-based Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, a huge crowd of MLKCLC affiliated unions’ members and friends, music, informational booths, food and drink, and speeches. It also involved four Teamster representatives of the Oak Harbor ULP Strikers.
Bolen, Roseth, Farris and Alexander amidst the Labor Temple crowd listening
to a speech about the 1919 Seattle General Strike. |
The event was a program co-sponsored by the MLKLC and the Bridges Center “Celebrating Seattle’s Striking History.” The main Strike singled out for “celebration” was the 1919 Seattle General Strike. But right after the rousing musical performances and before the scholarly addresses began, the chief moderator of the event, MLKLC leader David Freiboth, asked the Teamsters to bring the crowd up-to-date on developments of the Oak Harbor ULP Strike.
The spokesman for the four Teamsters, Gary Bolen, outlined the facts of the Strike and the future outlook. The audience booed what Oak Harbor’s owners have done, cheered the courage of the Teamster Oak Harbor employees and their families, and many in the audience said they’d come help out the picketers however they could. The others with Bolen were Local 763 member Denise Roseth, and Local 174 members Tony Farris and Jerry Alexander. Bolen is a Local 174 Trustee and a chief OHFL ULP Strike coordinator. Roseth, Farris and Alexander have been stalwarts on and around the picketline.
MLKing County Labor Council head Dave Freiboth introduces the Teamsters at the Labor Temple event. |
By the way, the MLKLC-Harry Bridges Center program itself was very interesting. For those unfamiliar with the 1919 Seattle General Strike, here are some particulars about it:
The Seattle General Strike took place in February 1919, and was the first citywide labor action in America to be generally designated as a “general strike.” It was part of a disturbing era of post-World War I labor unrest. The Seattle Strike started in the City’s shipyards, and was created by widespread worker disappointment when the Federal Government tried to cut their union-negotiated wages and jobs after WWI. A trend of the U.S. Federal Government is to be pals with Labor during wars, and then enemies of the workers right after the war hostilities cease. It shouldn’t be that way, but is has been and continues to be the case. The Seattle General Strike only lasted a week, but its influence among workers was strong.
You can read about the 1919 Seattle General Strike on the following excellent multi-media website done under the auspices of Harry Bridges Center personnel: http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/.
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Two delicious cakes with the 100th Birthday logo and a photo of Local 174 members on Labor Day of 1917. |
GMM AND PRE-100TH BIRTHDAY LUNCH
DEALING WITH THE COMPLICATED PRESENT WHILE CELEBRATING THE PAST
AND LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(February 9, 2009)The large crowd attending the Sunday, February 8 Local 174 General Membership Meeting was very serious during the Meeting. They were angry about how the ongoing Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike is affecting the Teamster families directly involved in it — especially the Local 174 families. However the mood changed because the agenda included an enjoyable post-GMM event — which was a pre-celebration with food and drink of the Local’s upcoming 100th Birthday as an IBT affiliate.
Much discussion of the ULP Strike took place during the GMM, followed by the formulation of plans to help the picketers and the Oak Harbor workers whose lives have been devastated by the Strike in any ways possible.
Local 174 Trustee Jeff Anderson, Sr., displays one of the special 100th
Birthday logo shirts that have been designed for our Centennial celebrating. |
No one complained about the food at the post-GMM lunch, because it was delicious. |
Other Local 174 business was also reviewed, and the GMM was adjourned — to be followed by the enjoyable and important first event in what will be a series of such events celebrating Local 174’s 100th Birthday.
Local 174 officially signed its Charter of Affiliation with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on February 19, 1909.
A delicious lunch was enjoyed by all GMM attendees and their family members. Commemorating a Century with the Teamsters Union can be a tasty experience. More events will follow. Stay tuned to the Website for scheduling information.
Also, check out the upcoming issue of the Local 174 Teamster Record newspaper, which will be coming to all 174 members shortly after the 100th Birthday of Local 174 has passed. It will be talking solely about historical matters that directly or indirectly affected Local 174 and its members throughout the past 10 decades. It will feature pictures of some of the members and their families at the February 8 post-GMM Centennial Lunch.
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LOCAL 174’S 100TH BIRTHDAY COMING UP FEBRUARY 19TH
STILL AROUND AFTER A CENTURY AND STRONGER THAN EVER IN 2009
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(February 4, 2009) Happy Birthday, all members of Local 174! The Local is currently celebrating the upcoming completion of our First Century as an affiliated Local Union in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Our Charter with the IBT was signed on February 19, 1909. A lot has happened during those ten decades.
Please join us at our upcoming Centennial Birthday Commemoration events, which will be taking place in upcoming days, weeks and months during this year. All Local 174 active and retired members, plus their families, are invited to all of the events.
FIRST EVENT A PRE-100TH BIRTHDAY LUNCH FEBRUARY 8
The first Centennial Commemoration event will be a pre-100th Birthday lunch to be held after our next Local 174 General Membership Meeting on Sunday, February 8, 2009, at the JC-28 Building in Tukwila.
The Initiates Meeting will be from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The GMM itself will be from 10 a.m. until about noon. Then, right after the GMM is over, we’ll have the lunch, at which we’ll eat, drink — and talk about the significance of our Century with the Teamsters Union.
OTHER EVENTS COMING UP
We’ll have other events as the year unfolds. Right now though, as Fate has it, we are simply too busy dealing with the demands of the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike to divert the necessary attention to having our anticipated ultimate Big 100th Birthday Bash.
But rest assured, that Bash will occur — later in the year when time permits. In the meantime, we’ll have several small commemoration outings, like the Febuary 8 post-GMM pre-100th Birthday lunch. Keep watching this Website for exact dates, times and locations all other future Centennial Commemoration events.
THINK ABOUT LOCAL 174’S LONGEVITY
Pause just for a moment to consider the achievement for a Local Union to have such longevity. An entire Century, and Local 174 is still around and is stronger than ever in 2009.
It has been a truly amazing run already, and it continues.
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OHFL ULP STRIKE DEVELOPMENT
IBT INTENSIFIES OFFENSIVE AGAINST KEYBANK, ONE OF THE CHIEF ENABLERS OF OAK HARBOR FREIGHT LINES
(February 2, 2009) The IBT has taken financial action against KeyBank, one of the Companies that is helping Oak Harbor Freight Lines in OHFL’s Unfair Labor Practices Strike against Teamster workers. In a January 29, 2009 announcement, the IBT announced its new strategic move against KeyBank and its parent Company KeyCorp. Following is the text of that IBT announcement.
TEAMSTERS BEGIN WITHDRAWING FUNDS FROM KEYBANK OVER STRIKE AT OAK HARBOR FREIGHT; PENSION AND WELFARE FUNDS BEING TRANSFERRED
Local 174 demonstrators during the 2008 Holiday Season pointed out politely and humorously to KeyBank that it was unwise of it to back OHFL during the Teamsters’ Unfair Labor Practice Strike against the Freight Company. Now, the IBT strategy against KeyBank is no longer polite and humorous. |
Teamster Local Unions across the country have informed KeyBank of Cleveland, Ohio, that they intend to end their financial relationship with the bank. KeyBank and its parent company, KeyCorp, are the primary lender for Oak Harbor Freight, based in Auburn, Washington, where more than 600 Teamster members have been on strike for the past four months.
In a letter addressed to Local Unions from Florida to Washington, Teamster President Jim Hoffa asked that they contact KeyCorp immediately and begin the process of transferring their business to a comparable service provider.
“KeyBank, which operates branches in several states, is playing a critical role in the ongoing dispute by providing funds that allow Oak Harbor Freight Lines to survive,” Hoffa said.
Teamsters started bargaining for a new contract with Oak Harbor in October 2007 and so far the Union Negotiators have met with Management over 25 times. Union members went on strike on September 22, 2008 to protest Oak Harbor’s violations of American Labor Laws. This is the first strike in the five decades that Teamsters have represented employees of Oak Harbor Freight.
It is estimated that Local Teamster Unions and Sister Unions maintain approximately $18 billion in assets through KeyCorp and its subsidiaries.
“KeyBank doesn’t want to help Washington families,” said Al Hobart, International Vice President for the Western Region. “Our members have been forced to strike because Oak Harbor, the Company they’ve devoted their lives to, has committed numerous Unfair Labor Practices and by their actions have shown their lack of social conscience toward their employees.”
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ARTICLE 22.3 JOBS TO BE GUARANTEED
FOR TEAMSTERS LOCAL 174 MEMBERS
UPS members studied and discussed the Article 22.3 Jobs in Local 174’s Jurisdiction Tentative Agreement at an Informational Meeting held on Sunday, January 11th at JC-28 Headquarters in Tukwila. |
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(January 30, 2009) Ballots were counted Friday, January 30, 2009 regarding the Tentative Agreement reached between Teamsters Local 174 and UPS. The Agreement was approved by an 89% margin.
The Agreement calls for a minimum of 160 full-time Article 22.3 jobs, with an additional number of jobs to be created above the 160 to ensure that anyone whose 22.3 job was eliminated, sending them back to part-time status, would be reinstated with a new 22.3 job.
No other Local Union across the Country has reached an Agreement of this kind. “At a time when many Local Unions in the West and all across the Country are losing full-time 22.3 jobs, we will be creating and guaranteeing jobs in Local 174’s jurisdiction.” Said Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks.
A loud round of applause was heard from the members who counted the ballots, and those who observed the count, when Secretary-Treasurer Hicks announced the outcome of the vote.
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BLS REPORT SHOWS REMARKABLE UNION GAINS
GROWTH IN SPITE OF DISASTROUS OVERALL DECLINE IN EMPLOYMENT IN 2008 — INCLUDING
THE 900,000 NON-UNION SECTOR JOBS LOST
This picture was reprinted from the IBT Website’s Organizing section. The Teamsters Union has been doing very well during the past two years in its organizing efforts, despite the bad economic times the U.S. and the World are experiencing. |
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(January 28, 2009) New data was released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed a remarkable situation, given the state of affairs between the Bush Administration and the Labor Movement during the past eight years. It showed that unions are making a comeback under very difficult conditions.
One key point — Union membership rose from 12.1% to 12.4% last year, continuing a second straight year of growth. The number of all workers covered by collective bargaining agreements, including those who choose not to be union members, also grew in 2008, from 13.3% to 13.7%, bringing an additional 518,000 workers under union contracts in 2008.
This growth was in spite of the disastrous overall decline in employment in 2008 — including a loss of 900,000 jobs in the non-union sector. This is also the first time in the 30 years of this data release by the BLS that union density rose two years in a row.
Also, it is important to note that the overall increase reflects higher rates of union density in particular sectors and it was not driven by higher growth in sectors already having a strong union presence.
Union density increased in nine of 13 major industry sectors, led by construction, public administration and education/health. In manufacturing, employment in the union sector rose by 17,000 jobs while the non-union sector lost over 217,000 jobs.
Following is the full report from the BLS.
ECONOMIC NEWS RELEASE FROM THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
UNION MEMBERS SUMMARY — JANUARY 28, 2009
UNION MEMBERS IN 2008
As the graph above shows, unions are on the rebound. |
In 2008, union members accounted for 12.4 percent of employed wage and salary workers, up from 12.1% a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of workers belonging to a union rose by 428,000 to 16.1 million. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1%, and there were 17.7 million union workers.
The data on union membership were collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian non-institutional population age 16 and over.
Some highlights from the 2008 data are:
- Government workers were nearly five times more likely to belong to a union than were private sector employees.
- Workers in education, training, and library occupations had the highest unionization rate at 38.7 percent
- Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic workers.
- Among states, New York had the highest union membership rate (24.9%) and North Carolina had the lowest rate (3.5%).
MEMBERSHIP BY INDUSTRY AND OCCUPATION
The union membership rate for public sector workers (36.8%) was substantially higher than the rate for private industry workers (7.6%). Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate, 42.2%. This group includes many workers in several heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers, police officers, and fire fighters. Private sector industries with high unionization rates include transportation and utilities (22.2%), telecommunications (19.3%), and construction (15.6%). In 2008, unionization rates were relatively low in financial activities (1.8%) and professional and business services (2.1%).
Among occupational groups, education, training, and library occupations (38.7%) and protective service occupations (35.4%) had the highest unionization rates in 2008. Sales and related occupations (3.3%) and farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (4.3%) had the lowest unionization rates.
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF UNION MEMBERS
The union membership rate was higher for men (13.4%) than for women (11.4%) in 2008. The gap between their rates has narrowed considerably since 1983, when the rate for men was about 10 percentage points higher than the rate for women.
Between 1983 and 2008, the union membership rate for men declined by 11.3 percentage points, while the rate for women declined by 3.2 percentage points.
In 2008, black workers were more likely to be union members (14.5%) than workers who were white (12.2%), Asian (10.6%), or Hispanic (10.6%). Black men had the highest union membership rate (15.9%), while Asian men had the lowest rate (9.6%).
By age, union membership rates were highest among workers 55 to 64 years old (16.6%) and 45 to 54 years old (16.0%). The lowest union membership rates occurred among those ages 16 to 24 (5.0%). Full-time workers were about twice as likely as part-time workers to be union members, 13.7% compared with 6.7%.
UNION REPRESENTATION OF NONMEMBERS
About 1.7 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union on their main job in 2008, while not being union members themselves. About half of these workers were employed in government.
EARNINGS
In 2008, among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $886 while those who were not represented by unions had median weekly earnings of $691.
The difference reflects a variety of influences in addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, firm size, or geographic region.
UNION MEMBERSHIP BY STATE
In 2008, 29 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of the U.S. average, 12.4 percent, while 20 states had higher rates, and 1 state had the same rate. All states in the East North Central, Middle Atlantic, and Pacific divisions reported union membership rates at or above the national average, and all states in the East South Central and West South Central divisions had rates below it. Union membership rates rose over the year in 26 states and the District of Columbia, declined in 20 states, and were unchanged in 4 states.
Six states had union membership rates below 5.0% in 2008, with North Carolina having the lowest rate (3.5%). The next lowest rates were recorded in Georgia (3.7%), South Carolina (3.9%), Virginia (4.1%), Texas (4.5%), and Louisiana (4.6%). Three states had union membership rates over 20.0% in 2008 — New York (24.9%), Hawaii (24.3%), and Alaska (23.5%).
The largest numbers of union members lived in California (2.7 million) and New York (2.0 million). About half (8.0 million) of the 16.1 million union members in the U.S. lived in just 6 states (California, 2.7 million; New York, 2.0 million; Illinois, 0.9 million; Pennsylvania, 0.8 million; Michigan, 0.8 million; and Ohio, 0.7 million), though these states accounted for only one-third of wage and salary employment nationally.
State union membership levels depend on both the employment level
and union membership rate. Texas, with 449,000 union members in 2008, had less than one-quarter as many union members as New York, despite having over 1.8 million more wage and salary employees. Similarly, North Carolina and Hawaii had a comparable number of union members (132,000 and 136,000, respectively), though North Carolina's wage and salary employment level, at 3.8 million, was almost seven times that of Hawaii at 562,000.
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OAK HARBOR ULP STRIKE REPORT
THE COMPANY REFUSES TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH WITH THE TEAMSTERS,
BUT IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIGURE OUT WHY
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(January 26, 2009) The Oak Harbor ULP Strike is in an unfortunate holding pattern. The Teamster negotiators are up against a stubborn Company that seems unable to grasp the reality of the situation. It should start grasping it fairly soon, as it is bleeding greenbacks at a high rate.
Following are some recent comments by Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks and Joint Council 28 President/International Western Region Vice President Al Hobart — and a legal report we printed once before that deserves reconsideration, as it sheds increasing light on what is going on behind the lines, in the trenches, and in court.
Hicks: Proud of the Brave Teamster Picketers
In a recent statement that was printed in the Joint Council 28 Washington Teamster newspaper about the ongoing Oak Harbor Freight situation, Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks said:
“I and the rest of the E-Board are very proud of our brave Local 174 picketers in the long, frustrating Unfair Labor Practice Strike against Oak Harbor Freight Lines. The Strike began September 22, 2008 — and it continues with no end in sight yet. Morale is very high on the line in Auburn near the headquarters of OHFL, though. We are picketing and leafletting daily along with our Brothers and Sisters from Local 763, Local 231 and Local 252.
“This is a vitally important struggle between the entire Teamsters Union and a Company that wants to go non-union after being a Union Shop for many years before. The negotiations of the IBT and OHFL have gone on for over a year. The Contract expired on October 31, 2007. About 600 members are in the multi-state, multi-Local Union bargaining unit.
“Also signatory to the OHFL Agreement are Teamster Locals 81, 231, 252, 324, 483, 589, 690, 760, 839 and 962; Alaska/Washington/Northern Idaho JC-28 and Oregon JC-37. Local 174 has approximately 200 OHFL members, and Local 763 has approximately seventy. We are following the OHFL ULP Strike news closely on this Local 174 Website and on the IBT’s special Website at “www.oakharborteamsters.com” if you want detailed information.”
Hicks wrote in his column in the latest Local 174 Teamster Record newspaper:
“Last year was consumed by attempting to bargain a Successor Agreement with Oak Harbor Freight Lines — the result of which is an Unfair Labor Practice Strike that just passed its 106th day as this column was written on January 6. The members are determined to and will prevail in this righteous battle.”
Hobart: He’ll Let People Know When Things Happen
In the JC-28 Washington Teamster newspaper, JC-28 President/International VP Hobart wrote this about the Oak Harbor Freight ULP Strike:
“The Oak Harbor Unfair Labor Practices Strike is the most aggressive and hostile effort that an Employer with a Collective Bargaining Agreement with a Joint Council 28 Local has engaged in, in recent history. This Employer, Oak Harbor Freight Lines — owners David and Edward Vander Pol — has not only shown contempt for the Teamster men and women that helped make Oak Harbor Freight Lines the most prosperous freight operation on the West Coast. But it has misled customers of Oak Harbor in various claims related to business operations during the Strike.”
He continued, “The Union Negotiating Team has made every effort to reach agreement, but as this goes to print, it is apparent the Vander Pols are intent on victory in getting rid of the Union contract, even at the cost of families and business. The Union will continue to be available and proactive in trying to reach agreement. The Teamster Oak Harbor families continue to reflect determination and fortitude in holding Oak Harbor to a fair contract or continuing the fight.”
Back on December 30 of 2008, he had sent this message to all key negotiators on the Union Negotiating Committee, which he chairs:
“The National Labor Relations Board has ruled the Union's initial charges of Unfair Labor Practices by Oak Harbor Freight Lines have merit and that the strike by the Teamsters is an Unfair Labor Practice Strike. The Company has until the close of business on December 31, 2008, to agree to a settlement or the National Labor Relations Board will issue a Complaint against Oak Harbor Freight Lines and take the case to trial.
“The Board has not yet ruled on charges regarding surface bargaining filed by the Union but it is expected to do so in the near future. The Federal Mediator is attempting to schedule a meeting between the parties. I will keep you advised…”
Legal Proceedings: Things Are Favoring Teamsters
In so many words, Hicks and Hobart have been saying that the Bargaining Table is set — now it is just a case of waiting until Oak Harbor Freight Lines sits down with the Teamsters at the Table. The January 9 legal report prepared by Local 174 and reprinted again here, gives several reasons why OHFL ought to negotiate:
“Note: This update corrects the inaccurate statements recently posted by Oak Harbor on its Website (on or about January 5, 2009) with respect to ongoing Strike developments.
“The National Labor Relations Board has determined that several Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges filed by the Teamsters against Oak Harbor Freight Lines have merit. The Board has communicated its intention to prosecute these charges by issuing a formal Complaint against Oak Harbor by the end of the month.
“The Complaint is the equivalent of an ‘indictment’ or a statement of charges against Oak Harbor Freight Lines for multiple violations of federal labor law. The Labor Board will only issue a Complaint when, after extensive investigation and review, it determines that ULP charges have merit and are supported by credible evidence. The Complaint will also contain a ‘Notice of Hearing’ setting a date for a formal trial. At trial, Oak Harbor and its attorney(s) will have to defend against the charges. The Complaint is expected to seek relief in the form of a determination of wrongdoing, a notice posting, and reinstatement, upon application, of all striking workers.
“As a result of this development, Oak Harbor has issued a statement that attempts to minimize what is clearly a victory for striking employees and their Union. In addition, the Company's account makes several inaccurate statements that require correction. First, the Teamsters did not withdraw any charges because they "were proved to be false." Second, the impact of the case is not confined to the Auburn, WA terminal. Finally, Oak Harbor has clearly not bargained "in good faith" with the Teamsters; in fact, a charge of bad faith bargaining is one of the ULPs currently under investigation. We believe that the Labor Board will find merit to the bad-faith bargaining charge in the near future as well.
“We hope that Oak Harbor's ‘Update’ will not further mislead its employees, its customers, and the public at large. Once the Labor Board issues the Complaint, we will make the document widely available for your review. Please keep checking our Website and/or the Union Hall for the status of this important matter.”
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OBAMA CHOOSES LIEBMAN TO HEAD NLRB
NIGHTMARISH NLRB RECORD OF THE BUSH ERA WAS DAMAGING
BUT PROGRESS FOR WORKERS WILL BE MADE UNDER NEW CHAIR
TIMES A-CHANGING
 Wilma B. Liebman, pictured here, was designated Chairman of the NLRB by President Obama on January 20, 2009. She has served on the Board since November 14, 1997. She was first appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term that expired on December 16, 2002. She was reappointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate to a second term that expired on August 27, 2006 and to a third term that will expire on August 27, 2011.
Prior to joining the NLRB, Ms. Liebman served for two years as Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). She acted as the chief operations officer of this federal agency, overseeing arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, international affairs and labor-management cooperation grants programs. In addition, Ms. Liebman advised the FMCS Director on issues involving major labor disputes and participated in significant negotiations as needed.
From 1994-1996, Ms. Liebman served as Special Assistant to the Director of FMCS. In this role, she was a key member of the Mediator Task Force on the Future of FMCS, an 18-member employee group charged with articulating a vision and recommendations to lead the Agency into the 21st century.
Prior to joining FMCS in January 1994, Ms. Liebman was Labor Counsel for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen from 1990 through 1993. She served as Legal Counsel to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for nine years and as staff attorney with the NLRB from 1974 to 1980.
Ms. Liebman is an elected member of the Executive Board of the Industrial Relations Research Association and of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Inc.
A native of Philadelphia, PA, Ms. Liebman holds a B.A. from Barnard College in New York City and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law Center.
(Details from NLRB Official Website.) |
(January 23, 2009) On behalf of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, its General President Jim Hoffa today officially hailed the designation of Wilma Liebman by President Barack Obama as Chair of the National Labor Relations Board. Following is Hoffa’s statement:
“Wilma Liebman served the Teamsters with distinction for nine years prior to embarking on her distinguished career in public service. I am so proud that President Obama designated her to take on this vitally important role as Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.
“American workers desperately need the NLRB to restore balance and fairness in the workplace. Wilma is the right person to lead the Board on that mission.
“She understands that the NLRB’s role is to protect the rights of employees who want to join a Union — a responsibility the Bush-dominated Board abandoned during the past eight years. Wilma understands the obstacles that American workers must surmount to join a Union. She will bring her sense of fairness and decency to the job.
“President Obama must still nominate three additional members to the Board. I am confident that his appointees will restore the Board into the honest broker of differences between employees and their employer that it has been for most of the past 75 years.
“The Labor Movement is looking forward to an NLRB that is no longer stacked against workers.”
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IBT WISHES OBAMA THE BEST
PRAISE OF THE NEW PRESIDENT AND OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE EXPRESSED BY TEAMSTERS GENERAL PRESIDENT HOFFA
The Teamsters were with America’s new President Barack Obama from the start, and the organization campaigned hard to help get him elected. As IBT President Hoffa’s accompanying comments note, hope for change is at the foundation of the Teamsters feelings as President Obama’s first four-year term in office begins today, January 20, 2009. He is this Country’s 44th President. |
(January 20, 2009) IBT General President Jim Hoffa recently voiced the hope for a better future for workers and Organized Labor under the Administration of America’s 44th President Barack Obama. Today is the new Chief Executive’s Inauguration Day. The Teamsters were with the new President from the start, and the organization campaigned hard to help get him elected. Please read Hoffa’s words, which were printed on the IBT’s Website and appeared in many places on the Internet.
HOFFA COMMENT: CHANGE WE BELIEVE IN
No President since Franklin D. Roosevelt has had the opportunity to positively impact the lives of every American that Barack Obama has before him. He has inherited quite a mess, but I know that he is up to the challenges that lie ahead.
Last month’s dreadful auto sales are just one indication of how bad things have gotten. GM and Ford’s U.S. sales plunged by a third in December, Chrysler’s by more than half.
Working families in Detroit and across the Midwest have long suffered the effects of a declining industrial base. More recently the housing market’s disintegration spread the pain to Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. Finally, America’s deep troubles swamped everyone when the global financial system teetered on the brink of collapse.
It didn’t happen by accident. It happened because Wall Street captured our government and held the middle class hostage. Under the Bush Regime, America became a place where financial plunderers were rewarded lavishly and work was no longer respected. In 2007, the top private-equity and hedge fund managers earned more in 10 minutes than average workers earned all year.
It wasn’t important anymore to make sure middle-class workers earned decent wages. The Labor Department became a useful tool for predatory employers. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao ignored flagrant union busting and the widespread theft of wages and benefits.
Nor did it matter any more if people were killed or maimed on the job or in transit or in their homes. OSHA simply quit enforcing workplace safety rules. We opened our borders to dangerous Mexican trucks and our markets to Chinese goods, but we didn’t require them to meet U.S. standards. We sent our planes to South Korea and El Salvador to be repaired by mechanics who don’t meet U.S. requirements.
Somehow we forgot that our prosperity and growth depended on a solid industrial base. In the name of a pleasant fantasy called “free-trade” we sent our factories overseas and pauperized the workers left behind. Regulatory agencies created to serve and protect the middle class were allowed to atrophy. Our infrastructure crumbled.
I have confidence that Obama understands the cause and the consequence of our decay. He worked as a community organizer in the shadow of the abandoned steel mills on Chicago’s South Side. He has written that continued globalization will result in an America we don’t want for ourselves or our children — an America where the rich can buy anything they want and everyone else works in insecure, low-paying service jobs.
Obama said he’ll review bad trade deals like NAFTA, and I believe him. I also expect him to support reforms that set standards for trade agreements, restore congressional oversight and require reviews of existing trade pacts.
I expect him to start the long, slow process of restoring our regulatory agencies so they do what they were supposed to do. He has, for example, pledged that he will close the border to dangerous Mexican trucks. He has said he is concerned about the practice of fixing U.S. airplanes overseas. He is no foe of regulation, having said that flexible and sensitive regulation can spur private sector innovation and investment in the energy sector.
He supports the most significant labor law reform in decades: the Employee Free Choice Act. Passage of that bill will restore some balance to the relationship between Wall Street and workers. Incoming Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will revive OSHA and fine abusive employers.
Of course, President Obama’s first order of business must be to resuscitate the economy. Then he has to restore our ability to make things. And he has to revitalize our government institutions and rebuild our infrastructure.
Maybe he can rest on the seventh day.
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REMEMBERING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
EVERYONE SHOULD PAUSE DURING THE MLK NATIONAL HOLIDAY TO CONSIDER THE MAN’S FANTASTIC LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
(January 19, 2009) Let’s let the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speak about the significance of the National Holiday celebrating his life. Coretta Scott King has died since writing the following words, but they continue to keep things in perspective on the King Estate’s Website.
CORETTA SCOTT KING: THE MEANING OF THE HOLIDAY
Following are excerpts from two of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous speeches, reprinted from his Estate’s Website. His words have as much power in 2009 as they did when he first spoke them.
From the speech “March on Washington” in 1963
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with the little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.”
“This hope is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the south with. And with this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
“...And so let freedom ring, from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and mole hill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when we allow freedom to ring — when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”
From the sermon “I’ve Been To the Mountaintop,” April 3, 1968
“...That’s the question before you tonight. Not, ‘If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job?’ ‘Not, if I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office everyday and every week as a pastor?’ The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?’ The question is, ‘If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’ That’s the question.”
“Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God once more for allowing me to be here with you.”
“...And they were telling me, now it doesn’t matter now. It really doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system. ‘We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong on the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we’ve had the plane protected and guarded all night.”
“And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?”
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop and I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will, and He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” |
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example -- the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit.
We commemorate Dr. King’s inspiring words, because his voice and his vision filled a great void in our nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn’t enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. And so we commemorate on this holiday the man of action, who put his life on the line for freedom and justice every day, the man who braved threats and jail and beatings and who ultimately paid the highest price to make democracy a reality for all Americans.
The King Holiday honors the life and contributions of America’s greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a color-blind society, but who also lead a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality.
On this day we commemorate Dr. King’s great dream of a vibrant, multiracial nation united in justice, peace and reconciliation; a nation that has a place at the table for children of every race and room at the inn for every needy child. We are called on this holiday, not merely to honor, but to celebrate the values of equality, tolerance and interracial sister and brotherhood he so compellingly expressed in his great dream for America.
It is a day of interracial and intercultural cooperation and sharing. No other day of the year brings so many peoples from different cultural backgrounds together in such a vibrant spirit of brother and sisterhood. Whether you are African-American, Hispanic or Native American, whether you are Caucasian or Asian-American, you are part of the great dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for America. This is not a black holiday; it is a peoples' holiday. And it is the young people of all races and religions who hold the keys to the fulfillment of his dream.
We commemorate on this holiday the ecumenical leader and visionary who embraced the unity of all faiths in love and truth. And though we take patriotic pride that Dr. King was an American, on this holiday we must also commemorate the global leader who inspired nonviolent liberation movements around the world. Indeed, on this day, programs commemorating my husband’s birthday are being observed in more than 100 nations.
The King Holiday celebrates Dr. King’s global vision of the world house, a world whose people and nations had triumphed over poverty, racism, war and violence. The holiday celebrates his vision of ecumenical solidarity, his insistence that all faiths had something meaningful to contribute to building the beloved community.
The Holiday commemorates America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence -- the man who taught by his example that nonviolent action is the most powerful, revolutionary force for social change available to oppressed people in their struggles for liberation.
This holiday honors the courage of a man who endured harassment, threats and beatings, and even bombings. We commemorate the man who went to jail 29 times to achieve freedom for others, and who knew he would pay the ultimate price for his leadership, but kept on marching and protesting and organizing anyway.
Every King holiday has been a national "teach-in" on the values of nonviolence, including unconditional love, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation, which are so desperately-needed to unify America. It is a day of intensive education and training in Martin’s philosophy and methods of nonviolent social change and conflict-reconciliation. The Holiday provides a unique opportunity to teach young people to fight evil, not people, to get in the habit of asking themselves, "what is the most loving way I can resolve this conflict?"
On the King holiday, young people learn about the power of unconditional love even for one's adversaries as a way to fight injustice and defuse violent disputes. It is a time to show them the power of forgiveness in the healing process at the interpersonal as well as international levels.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service. All across America on the Holiday, his followers perform service in hospitals and shelters and prisons and wherever people need some help. It is a day of volunteering to feed the hungry, rehabilitate housing, tutoring those who can't read, mentoring at-risk youngsters, consoling the broken-hearted and a thousand other projects for building the beloved community of his dream.
Dr. King once said that we all have to decide whether we "will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's most persistent and nagging question, he said, is `what are you doing for others?'" he would quote Mark 9:35, the scripture in which Jesus of Nazareth tells James and John "...whosoever will be great among you shall be your servant; and whosoever among you will be the first shall be the servant of all."
And when Martin talked about the end of his mortal life in one of his last sermons, on February 4, 1968 in the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, even then he lifted up the value of service as the hallmark of a full life. "I'd like somebody to mention on that day Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others," he said. "I want you to say on that day, that I did try in my life...to love and serve humanity.”
We call you to commemorate this Holiday by making your personal commitment to serve humanity with the vibrant spirit of unconditional love that was his greatest strength, and which empowered all of the great victories of his leadership. And with our hearts open to this spirit of unconditional love, we can indeed achieve the Beloved Community of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream.
May we who follow Martin now pledge to serve humanity, promote his teachings and carry forward his legacy into the 21st Century.
DR. KING: A FULL THOUGH SHORT LIFE
(From the Nobel Peace Prize Website) Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968, was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor.
Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B.A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951.
With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.
In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate.
The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.
In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles.
In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.
At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.
On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.
WORDS WHEN ACCEPTING NOBEL PRIZE
Here, again from the Nobel Prize Website, are some of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words from his Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1964:
“I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award on behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice. I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.
“Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.
“After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time — the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
“The tortuous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama to Oslo bears witness to this truth. This is a road over which millions of Negroes are travelling to find a new sense of dignity. This same road has opened for all Americans a new era of progress and hope. It has led to a new Civil Rights Bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a super highway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances to overcome their common problems.
“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. …
“I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners — all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty — and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.”
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OHFL ULP STRIKE DEVELOPMENTS
FRIENDS HELPING OUT AS UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE STRIKE CONTINUES
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
 |
| Many Teamster and non-Teamster supporters have stepped forward to help out Local 174’s and Local 763’s regular picketers on the line in the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike. Among the non-Teamster groups helping out is OWLS, the Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity. This is an OWLS-donated picture taken by them of their volunteers on the line in Auburn on Saturday, January 10. Thanks, OWLS. Read the text on this page to find more out about OWLS. |
(January 15, 2009) The Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike continues. Public support throughout the country has been good. In Local 174’s area here in Auburn, Washington, many fellow Teamsters and non-Teamsters have stepped forward to help out the steadfast Local 174 and Local 763 picketers on the line.
Such non-Teamster support was provided recently by members of OWLS, the Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity. The accompanying picketline picture on this page, and the signs picture on the home page of this Website, are OWLS-donated shots. Also, the IBT today noted on its Website a story about the OHFL ULP Strike that appeared in a recent edition of the Daily Labor Report. Some information about OWLS is provided below, as is the aforementioned Daily Labor Report story, reprinted with permission of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., the DLR’s copyrighting parent organization.
Summing up the current situation recently, IBT International Western Region Vice President and Joint Council 28 President Al Hobart, Chairman of the Oak Harbor Union Negotiations Committee, said: “The Oak Harbor Unfair Labor Practices Strike is the most aggressive and hostile effort that an Employer with a Collective Bargaining Agreement with a Joint Council 28 Local has engaged in, in recent history. This Employer, Oak Harbor Freight Lines — owners David and Edward Vander Pol — has not only shown contempt for the Teamster men and women that helped make Oak Harbor Freight Lines the most prosperous freight operation on the West Coast. But it has misled customers of Oak Harbor in various claims related to business operations during the Strike.”
He continued, “The Union Negotiating Team has made every effort to reach agreement, but as this goes to print, it is apparent the Vander Pols are intent on victory in getting rid of the Union contract, even at the cost of families and business. The Union will continue to be available and proactive in trying to reach agreement. The Teamster Oak Harbor families continue to reflect determination and fortitude in holding Oak Harbor to a fair contract or continuing the fight.”
The negotiations of the Teamsters with the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Company have dragged on for over a year. The Contract expired on October 31, 2007. About 600 members are in the multi-state, multi-Local Union bargaining unit. Signatory to the OHFL Agreement are Locals 81, 174, 231, 252, 324, 483, 589, 690, 760, 763, 839 and 962; Alaska/Washington/Northern Idaho JC-28 and Oregon JC-37. Local 174 has approximately 200 OHFL members, and Local 763 has approximately 70.
THANKS FOR HELPING OUT, OWLS
WHAT IS OWLS? FOLLOWING ARE SOME STATEMENTS ABOUT THEMSELVES FROM THEIR WEBSITE
“OWLS is an open, multiracial, multicultural group of rank-and-file labor activists, committed to education and action with the aim of building solidarity and fighting spirit in the labor movement. We are dedicated to: 1. Forging solidarity across union lines; 2. Developing labor-community alliances; 3. Promoting the organizing of immigrant and unorganized workers, especially the lowest paid; 4. Building a union movement that will take the offense on behalf of the entire working class against the employers and a ruthless economic system based on profits and exploitation; 5. Building labor and community support for all workers on strike or fighting for union recognition.
“The most oppressed workers — women, people of color lesbians/gays/bisexuals/ transgenders, immigrants, people with disabilities, youth and seniors — are often the best and most intransigent fighters, and we champion their leadership. We are organized along principles of democracy, debate, mutual respect, majority rule, and unity in action.
“What We Do: OWLS is an education and action organization. We support strikes, join picket lines, and mobilize for workers” organizing and defense campaigns. OWLS members work together to coordinate actions and campaigns in our unions, across union lines, and in labor councils and other labor bodies. We share strategies and develop our knowledge on how to build union militancy. We teach ourselves how to be more effective in our unions and how to stand up and fight for our rights on the job. We educate ourselves on labor history and tactics, and on issues of concern to the working class.”
HEADLINE NEWS FROM IBT WEBSITE
DAILY LABOR REPORT: TEAMSTERS STRIKE IN 12TH WEEK AT WEST COAST FREIGHT LINE COMPANY
(January 14, 2009, by Alicia Biggs) Amid International Brotherhood of Teamsters charges that Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc., an Auburn, Washington-based trucking company, has engaged in numerous unfair labor practices, including coercion, threats to employees, and unilateral changes to working conditions, the 12-week-old strike against the company continues with no signs of ending, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters told BNA Dec. 16.
The company denies that it has engaged in any unlawful acts, Oak Harbor spokesman Mike Hobby told BNA Dec. 17. Pending resolution of the union’s charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Oak Harbor has hired workers to replace the strikers, but Hobby said they had not yet been designated as permanent replacements.
The union and the company have had sporadic bargaining sessions since August 2007, at times with the assistance of a federal mediator, to replace a contract that expired Oct. 31, 2007. While the Teamsters sought to maintain health care and retiree benefits and increase wages, Oak Harbor wanted to “gut the contract” by eliminating health benefits, pensions, retiree health and welfare, seniority rights, and the grievance procedure, according to the union.
The last time the union met with the company was on Nov. 7 when representatives from Oak Harbor rejected most of the union’s proposals, according to Al Hobart, IBT’s western region vice president.
“The company from day one had no intention of reaching an agreement,” Hobart said.
IBT represents about 600 workers at the company’s facilities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho (189 DLR A-7, 9/30/08). The strike began Sept. 22 over unfair labor practices, not a failure to reach a contract agreement, according to Hobart.
COMPANY DISPUTES UNION’S CLAIMS
The company, which disputes that it engaged in unlawful practices, is waiting to hear from National Labor Relations Board Region 19 in Seattle on the unfair labor practice charges filed by the union before it determines whether the replacements will be permanent or temporary, Hobby said. On the first day of the strike, 136 IBT-represented drivers crossed the picket line and currently are working, he added.
The company in an Oct. 3 statement denied the union’s claims that it organized a driver safety committee to communicate with employees directly on working conditions, that employees scheduled to work a Sunday shift were told that they could not attend a Sept. 21 union meeting on the contract, and that unilateral changes were made to
the bidding process, Hobby said.
“We just continue to work on this, negotiating in good faith and [hope to] receive an agreement we can be proud of and live with,” Hobby said. “We’re in an economic situation that’s far worse than the strike. Resolving the strike will not change the economy we’re sitting in right now.”
LABOR RIGHTS FORUM REPORT
The union also pointed to a recent report put out by the International Labor Rights Forum, which found that Oak Harbor had violated international labor rights standards.
“Oak Harbor’s decision to permanently replace its employees was a tactic to interfere with a legitimate union’s attempt to bargain a new collective agreement. The panel of international labor rights experts and social justice leaders convened by ILRF found these actions to be a violation of the internationally recognized right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining,” the report said.
According to the report, “Oak Harbor had intentionally provoked a strike by proposing changes to employees’ wages, benefits and working conditions that would be unacceptable to the union and its members during collective bargaining.”
Richard Ahearn, regional director for NLRB Region 19, told BNA Dec. 16 the agency is investigating the union’s claims and could not yet comment on them. The case “is a high priority because it involves an ongoing strike,” he said. “I’m hopeful we’ll be making our decision
on that in the next couple weeks.”
Oak Harbor is one of the largest trucking companies on the West Coast, providing services to government agencies and large companies, including the Gap, Recreational Equipment, Inc., Safeway, Siemens, Georgia Pacific, Honda, GM & Chrysler Parts, Whirpool.
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IBT APPROVES OF SOLIS FOR LABOR SECRETARY
TEAMSTERS GENERAL PRESIDENT JIM HOFFA PRAISES NOMINEE’S RECORD IN CONGRESS
(January 12, 2008) IBT President Jim Hoffa had the following to say on behalf of the Teamsters Union and himself in a commentary reported on the Internet on the Huffington Post.
HOFFA COMMENT
|  IBT President Jim Hoffa on January 9 said of California U.S. Representative Hilda Solis, right, in an earlier IBT press release:
“Rep. Hilda Solis will be an outstanding Labor Secretary and I urge the Senate to confirm her without delay so she can focus on strengthening our middle class and restoring protections for workers that have eroded under the Bush Administration. The daughter of a Teamster, Solis has always been a champion of workers. She knows that restoring balance to an economy that favors excessive profits over workplace fairness and commitment to community is the only way out of our economic crisis. The dire unemployment report released today by the Labor Department underscores the urgency in addressing the economic insecurity of workers in this country. The nation lost 2.6 million jobs last year — the most since 1945. The unemployment rate stands at the highest level in 16 years. It is time for swift and bold action, including quick passage of Obama’s Economic Recovery Package. Solis’ commitment to America’s workers comes from her roots growing up in a middle-class home, and she has made it her mission to improve the lives of working men and women who are fighting for the American Dream. Now more than ever, workers in this country need a friend like Solis at the Labor Department, an agency that has been a greater friend to corporations in the last eight years than the workers it was founded to protect. The Teamsters Union is confident that Solis will restore the agency to its original mission.
We look forward to working closely with Secretary-designate Solis. We urge the Senate to confirm her quickly.” |
The proud daughter of a Teamster took a big step on Friday, January 9, toward becoming President Obama’s Secretary of Labor. California Congresswoman Hilda Solis testified before the Senate Committee that will vote on whether she should head the Labor Department. Solis promised that she would work hard every day to make sure that middle-class families don’t lose hope. We can believe that promise.
A Jan. 9, 2009 LA Times profile of Solis tells the story of how she fought against sweatshops as a freshman California State Senator.
According to the Times, in 1995: “Authorities raided an El Monte building fenced by razor wire. There, 72 Thai workers toiled 18 hours a day in slave-like conditions, stitching garments that were to be sold in shopping malls. Solis held high-profile hearings, called garment manufacturers to Sacramento to explain themselves and pushed for heavier enforcement of laws against sweatshops.”
She contributed $15,000 of her own campaign money to fund a successful movement to raise the minimum wage in California.
Most important for a Secretary of Labor, she believes strongly that people should earn living wages, work in safe environments and have the opportunity for a college degree.
Solis’ father, Raul, worked at the Quemetco battery plant in the City of Industry and met her mother, Juana, at a citizenship class. The couple own the La Puente tract home where Solis grew up with two brothers and four sisters — and where, when the wind shifted, they could smell the Puente Hills Landfill.
“They came with that hope — esperanza — of coming to a country that would allow their children to prosper,” Solis said recently. “I was born here. But I still have that notion that my parents have instilled in me, that they want a better life and they know that there’s opportunities here for us.”
Sen. Ted Kennedy, speaking in a strong voice, said the crowds inside and outside the hearing room showed “how much we admire the nominee.” Eight years earlier, Kennedy had awarded her the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage award for her fight for workers’ rights and environmental justice.
This is not an ordinary hearing, because we do not live in ordinary times. American families are suffering in ways we haven’t seen in many years. And the crisis is growing worse every day. As Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis will return the agency to one that monitors and enforces worker protections. That is change we can believe in.
[The Los Angeles Times reported on the Senate hearing mentioned by Hoffa. That story is reprinted below.]
Teamsters News Clip
Hilda Solis Deflects Republican Questions Over Union Issues
(January 12, 2009, Los Angeles Times) Senate Republicans spent much of Friday morning trying to draw Barack Obama’s choice for Labor secretary, Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte), into a fight over union issues. But she gave them little ammunition, repeatedly refusing to express her opinion on hotly contested issues such as organizing rights. And at the end of her relatively brief confirmation hearing, Solis’ nomination did not appear to be endangered.
Republicans are concerned that Solis, a strong supporter of unions in her eight years in the House, will bring a pro-union bias to the Labor Department. "This is a very important position,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). “It can’t be used to magnify one side over the other or any side over the other. It has to be handled fairly.” Hatch, however, said he would support Solis’ nomination.
Republicans are particularly wary of a bill called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to form bargaining units. Solis was a co-sponsor of the bill, which passed the House in 2007 but stalled in the Senate. The legislation -- know as the “card check” bill because it would allow workers to simply fill out a card to indicate their interest in joining a union rather than vote in a secret election -- is likely to be taken up again in the House in coming weeks.
“Card check is a huge issue,” Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said. “I am so concerned with skewing the relationship between labor and management.” But Solis refused to express her support for the bill, instead repeatedly telling senators that she had not talked with Obama on the issue and could not speak for the incoming administration. While a senator, Obama was a co-sponsor of the card-check bill. If the measure is again passed by the House and reaches the Senate, it’s likely to face a Republican filibuster.
Solis also was pressed by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) about preserving “right to work” laws in states such as his that prohibit employers from requiring workers to be members of a union or to pay dues as condition of employment. But Solis told Alexander she was “not qualified” to give him a response on the issue, except to say that she believed “that the president-elect feels strongly that American workers should have a choice to join or not to join a union. And to me that is the basic premise of our democracy, whether you want to be associated with a group or not.”
Solis, 51, brought a compelling personal story to the hearing, one that was commented upon by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that is presiding over Solis’ nomination. "The task before us is great. But Hilda Solis has overcome great challenges all her life,” Kennedy said. Solis’ father immigrated to Southern California from Mexico and worked in a battery factory. Her mother, a Nicaraguan, worked on an assembly line. Both were union members, and Solis has credited unions for making her achievements possible.
In 1994, she became the first Latina elected to the California state Senate. She received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award in 2000 for her work on environmental justice issues, the first woman to receive the honor. "Your life is one that epitomizes the American dream,” Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) said.
Her confirmation hearing came on a day when the Labor Department released a report saying the nation had lost more jobs in 2008 than in any year since World War II. “We are in a crisis situation,” Solis told the panel. “The public is demanding action on the part of the Congress.” Solis said that, if confirmed, her early priorities would include job creation, fair pay for American workers, retirement savings, and retraining and job skills for returning soldiers.
Labor groups urged lawmakers Friday to quickly confirm Solis, calling her a champion of workers issues.
“At our events, she is known as an honorary shop steward -- a symbol of the respect she has earned throughout our decades-long working relationship,” said Bruce Raynor, general president of Unite Here, a union representing restaurant, hotel and laundry workers. “She has walked numerous picket lines with us in Southern California. Our members have worked on every single Solis campaign.”
He and others said a strong labor advocate crafting policies to aid workers was of particular importance as the economy flounders.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said in a statement: “Now more than ever, workers in this country need a friend like Solis at the Labor Department, an agency that has been a greater friend to corporations in the last eight years than the workers it was founded to protect.”
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OAK HARBOR ULP STRIKE NOTICE
Local 174 picketers in Auburn, Washington, during the recent snows. When it comes to “official information,” trust the Local 174 Website — not OHFL’s Website. |
(January 9, 2009) Note: This update corrects the inaccurate statements recently posted by Oak Harbor on its Website (on or about January 5, 2009) with respect to ongoing Strike developments.
The National Labor Relations Board has determined that several Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges filed by the Teamsters against Oak Harbor Freight Lines have merit. The Board has communicated its intention to prosecute these charges by issuing a formal Complaint against Oak Harbor by the end of the month.
The Complaint is the equivalent of an "indictment" or a statement of charges against Oak Harbor Freight Lines for multiple violations of federal labor law. The Labor Board will only issue a Complaint when, after extensive investigation and review, it determines that ULP charges have merit and are supported by credible evidence. The Complaint will also contain a "Notice of Hearing" setting a date for a formal trial. At trial, Oak Harbor and its attorney(s) will have to defend against the charges. The Complaint is expected to seek relief in the form of a determination of wrongdoing, a notice posting, and reinstatement, upon application, of all striking workers.
As a result of this development, Oak Harbor has issued a statement that attempts to minimize what is clearly a victory for striking employees and their Union. In addition, the Company's account makes several inaccurate statements that require correction. First, the Teamsters did not withdraw any charges because they "were proved to be false." Second, the impact of the case is not confined to the Auburn, WA terminal. Finally, Oak Harbor has clearly not bargained "in good faith" with the Teamsters; in fact, a charge of bad faith bargaining is one of the ULPs currently under investigation. We believe that the Labor Board will find merit to the bad-faith bargaining charge in the near future as well.
We hope that Oak Harbor's "Update" will not further mislead its employees, its customers, and the public at large. Once the Labor Board issues the Complaint, we will make the document widely available for your review. Please keep checking our Website and/or the Union Hall for the status of this important matter.
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FREIGHT MEMBERS RATIFY YRCW JOB SECURITY PLAN
THE AGREEMENT WILL PROTECT UNION WORKERS' JOBS, BENEFITS
Local 174 members at the recent discussion meeting about the then-upcoming vote on the YRCW job security plan. The meeting was held at JC-28 Headquarters in the main Meeting Hall. In the voting, Local 174 members voted in favor of the plan by a 65% margin. |
(January 8, 2009 — IBT News, Washington, D.C.) Teamster members who work at the freight companies of YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) — Yellow, Roadway, Holland and New Penn — have approved a plan that will protect the jobs and retirement security of tens of thousands of Teamsters. The modifications were ratified by a 77 percent to 23 percent margin, with more than 75 percent of members casting ballots.
Union members voted over the past month and ballots were counted today. The plan calls for a reduction in gross wages and mileage rates of 10 percent — that took effect when all the ballots were counted today — through March 31, 2013, plus suspension of a cost-of-living adjustment. The wage reductions apply to all bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit workers, including management. There is no change to any health, welfare and pension contributions.
“While we never want to see wage reductions, this vote shows that our members understand that we are facing the worst economy since the 1930s and that the company needs some help to get through this difficult period,” said Tyson Johnson, Director of the Teamsters National Freight Division. “We are hopeful that this agreement will protect the livelihoods of our members and their families by protecting the jobs and health, welfare and pension benefits of our freight members.”
The plan has a provision that will allow Teamster members to recover lost wages if YRCW's stock price goes up in the future. This would be done through warrants, which are similar to stock options. In addition, Union members have protections, including language on monitoring and enforcement rights.
“We are facing the worst economy in our lifetime, so we needed to act now to protect our members and their families,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “We worked hard to draft a plan that holds the company accountable, requires equal sacrifice among all YRCW employees, gave us the ability to obtain stock in the company, and placed restrictions on where the savings can be used, among other protections for our members.”
The original count timeline of December 31, 2008 agreed to jointly during negotiations, was extended to today after YRCW announced on December 24 it was canceling its tender offer for certain outstanding bonds and is renegotiating its credit facilities. The company will not have to spend $150 million to purchase about $310 million worth of senior notes and will instead renegotiate the terms of its debt with its banks. The Union believes this path offers a more viable long-term recovery plan. The vote deadline was extended to give members more time to cast ballots due to a high volume of ballot requests, the company's change in financing plans, holiday mail volume and bad weather that shut airports.
YRCW said it was pursuing the new strategy in part because the Teamster membership had not ratified the contract modifications as of December 24, 2008. The Union was proceeding with ratification on the schedule that was jointly agreed to and dictated by the now-aborted tender offer. Since the company's recent decision provides more flexibility, the Union extended the balloting deadline to today.
“We extended the balloting deadline because we were committed to making sure all affected members had enough time to vote,” Johnson said. “Our team of experts will monitor YRCW's financial situation closely to make sure our members' jobs and benefits remain protected. We will provide our members with updates as this process moves forward.”
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OAK HARBOR ULP STRIKE UPDATE
THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE STRIKE AGAINST OAK HARBOR FREIGHT LINES SHOWS NO INDICATION OF ENDING ANYTIME SOON
Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike picketers are on the line in Auburn, Washington, as they have been since the Strike began on September 22, 2008. The snow, rain and cold are miserable and the picketers are in constant need of firewood. As obvious in this picture, Christmas was commemorated even on the line under terrible conditions. |
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(January 7, 2009) The Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike is one of the most frustrating and strangest conflicts in IBT history. The IBT is backing the OHFL efforts effectively. The picketers in Auburn, Washington and elsewhere continue to show courage, determination and solidarity.
The public and a growing number of big corporate firms are appalled at OHFL’s tactics, and several big firms have fired OHFL. Oak Harbor Freight is hemorrhaging money horribly and their empty trucks running around the roads are bizarre proof of how the situation is affecting them. Neither snow, nor torrential rains, nor severe cold will overcome the Teamster picketers.
There have been some interesting legal developments, and some statements by officials involved in the OHFL scenario.
NLRB AGREES ON ULP NATURE OF STRIKE
The philosophical situation underlying the ULP Strike, from the National Labor Relations Board's standpoint, was clarified back on November 26, 2008. In a memorandum that has appeared on the Internet since it was released, IBT Western Region Vice President/Joint Council 28 President Al Hobart reported to the Bargaining Unit signatories:
“Dear Slsters and Brothers:
The Labor Board has found that our Unfair Labor Practice Charges against Oak Harbor Freight Lines have merit. John Payne has just received news of this today. In the absence of a settlement, the National Labor Relations Board, Region 19 will issue a Complaint and take Oak Harbor to trlal on the following charges:
- Improperly establishing and controlling a "Drivers' Committee" and directly dealing with employees through that committee.
- Soliciting grievances through the Drivers' Committee, promising benefits, and granting benefits to employees.
- Making unilateral changes to the Dock Workers' bid system.
- Unilaterally revoking the policy of allowing time off weekend work to attend Unlon meetings at the Aubum terminal.
The Board also agreed with our position that the strike is an Unfalr Labor Practice Strike. This means that Oak Harbor does not have the privilege of permanently replacing Ihe strikers. The Unfair Labor Practice concerning surface bargaining Is still under investigation, but we hope to get that completed very soon, possibly in the next couple of weeks. This is great news and will hopefully force Oak Harbor to reassess its options.
Fraternally, Al Hobart.”
A Local 763 picketer is shown a couple of months ago before the weather turned vicious. |
Hobart is the Chairman of the Oak Harbor Union Negotiations Committee. The negotiations of the Teamsters with the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Company have dragged on for over a year. The Contract expired on October 31, 2007. About 600 members are in the multi-state, multi-Local Union bargaining unit.
Signatory to the OHFL Agreement are Locals 81, 174, 231, 252, 324, 483, 589, 690, 760, 763, 839 and 962; Alaska/Washington/Northern Idaho JC-28 and Oregon JC-37. Local 174 has approximately 200 OHFL members, and Local 763 has approximately 70.
Local 763 Secretary-Treasurer Dave Grage and International Vice President/JC-28 President Al Hobart had some interesting comments about the Oak Harbor situation in the most recent edition of the Washington Teamster, JC-28’s quarterly newspaper. And Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks had something to say in the most recent Local 174 Teamster Record quarterly newspaper. Both papers hit the streets today. Excerpts from the three leaders’ statements are printed below.
DAVE GRAGE’S COMMENTS
The Strike at Oak Harbor Freight Lines is over three months old and there is no end in sight. Local 763 members have been on Strike since September 22, 2008 in support of an Unfair Labor Practice Strike. Our Sisters and Brothers — some of whom are shown below during warmer weather a few weeks ago — have been “hitting the bricks” since that time.
Dave Grage, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 763, is very proud of his picketing Oak Harbor Freight Lines members, and his staff. He is also thankful to those who have volunteered their help from other Teamster Locals, other Union groups, community organizations, and the general public. |
Our members, along with Local 174 members, are very special indeed. These brave women and men continue to struggle against this Company, who is bound and determined to get rid of the Teamsters at any cost. Our members face the reality of having only Strike Pay for income, about $200 per week, and dealing with the weather extremes. They have been out in the rain, freezing temperatures, snow, wind and just about everything in between for months.
They are very special because there is almost no complaining about the acute conditions they face; they understand that they are at war with extremely Evil Company Owners. These Owners are the poster children for “Godless Corporate Greed.” There are no shelters to get out of the weather at Corporate Headquarters, which is where the majority of our members picket. We did have a small tent on the adjacent property, just behind the sidewalk, that provided some relief from the wind and rain for them. Oak Harbor contacted the property owners next door during week 10 of the strike and complained that the tent was a visual hazard to outgoing traffic and coerced them to have us remove the tent.
Then the freezing, windy, snowing, bitter cold weather moved in and our members continued to hold the Strike Line strong. The ideals these brave Teamsters are standing up for are not all that different than from those ideals other generations of Union Labor have stood up for in the past. The courage that these members have shown and continue to show is simply amazing.
Local 763 represents the Office Staff and Mechanics at Oak Harbor. The majority of Local 763 Strikers are Office Workers who, prior to this Strike, had no idea that they would be called upon to make such sacrifice and to be so brave in this fight.
This Strike is one of the worst in Joint Council 28 history. The Evil Owners, along with their Union-Busting Attorney Firm and Hired Thugs severely underestimated the resolve, the pride, the patience, the professionalism, and the perseverance of all of our Striking members and the Striking Teamsters from other Locals.
We are so very proud and humbled by their courage and the stand for what’s right that these Teamsters have taken. We salute these Striking Brothers and Sisters and stand beside them.
AL HOBART’S COMMENTS
The Oak Harbor Unfair Labor Practices Strike is the most aggressive and hostile effort that an Employer with a Collective Bargaining Agreement with a Joint Council 28 Local has engaged in, in recent history. This Employer, Oak Harbor Freight Lines — owners David and Edward Vander Pol — has not only shown contempt for the Teamster men and women that helped make Oak Harbor Freight Lines the most prosperous freight operation on the West Coast. But it has misled customers of Oak Harbor in various claims related to business operations during the Strike.
Local 763 picketers on the line in front of the Oak Harbor Freight Lines corporate headquarters building, just before the snow, rain and wind entered the scenario. |
The Union Negotiating Team has made every effort to reach agreement, but as this goes to print, it is apparent the Vander Pols are intent on victory in getting rid of the Union contract, even at the cost of families and business.
The Union will continue to be available and proactive in trying to reach agreement. The Teamster Oak Harbor families continue to reflect determination and fortitude in holding Oak Harbor to a fair contract or continuing the fight.
RICK HICKS’S COMMENTS
As I reflect on the completion of our second year in office, I am pleased with everything that we have accomplished. This has been a very challenging year, given the current state of the Economy — yet we have been very successful in delivering some of the best Contracts Local 174 members have ever seen as demonstrated by the elevated number of unanimous Ratification Votes. …
Along with all the positives from 2008, there are certainly some negatives that should be discussed. Last year was consumed by attempting to bargain a Successor Agreement with Oak Harbor Freight Lines — the result of which is an Unfair Labor Practice Strike that just passed its 106th day as this column was written on January 6.
The members are determined to and will prevail in this righteous battle.
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100TH BIRTHDAY OF LOCAL 174 ON FEBRUARY 19
REMEMBERING THE PAST AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE IN UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC TIMES
George Cavano in 1958 in a historic
Local 174 photo. |
GEORGE CAVANO’S LOCAL 174 LEGACY
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
George Cavano was the heart and soul of Local 174 during a long stint as the Local’s Secretary-Treasurer, from 1952 to 1975.
In keeping with the historic theme of this entry on the website, please read Cavano’s comments excerpted from three of his 1963 columns in Local 174’s Teamster Record newspaper. They talk about issues just as important in 2009 as when he wrote about them 46 years ago — the need to vote, attending negotiation meetings, and telling people why Organized Labor is such a good thing.
Cavano was very powerful politically, but personally he was a downhome, matter-of-fact person. His friends remained friends forever if they were loyal to him. An example of his “common man of the people” outlook — he was the most verbose elected official political commentator not only in 174 history but also in JC-28 history as well — but he just called his column “George Cavano’s Column.”
However, he was a proven, vocal, courageous fighter for Organized Labor causes, Teamster causes, and most of all Local 174 members’ causes. In an instant he would if challenged, especially unfairly, turn in canine terms from an amiable Labrador Retriever into a ferocious Pitbull Terrier.
His achievements were legendary — especially in the areas of health & welfare and pension coverage for members not just of Local 174 but of all the Western Teamster Locals, Joint Council 28, and the then-functioning Western Conference of Teamsters. His maverick nature as a Teamster political leader was also legendary. He would be a team player as Local 174 S-T if treated well, but if he was mistreated by other Teamster leaders through trickery, the feathers could begin flying instantaneously and not stop flying for weeks, months or even years. |
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(January 1, 2009) Happy New Year from the Executive Board and staff of Teamsters Local 174! The year 2008 was tumultuous and challenging, but this Local weathered everything, as usual. We are celebrating the Local’s 100th Birthday on February 19. Please join in.
The Centennial Celebration will be a great event. It is for all Local 174 active and retired members, plus their families. Local 174 is still solidifying plans as we approach our Local’s 100th Birthday. But rest assured, whenever and whatever we do, it will be fun. We’ll let everyone know exact schedules of events as they get a little closer.
Pause just for a moment to consider the achievement for a Local Union to have such longevity. An entire Century, and Local 174 is still around and is stronger than ever in 2009. It has been a truly amazing run already, and it continues.
In the neverending Labor-Management struggle, though, there is really nothing new under the sun. Let’s consider some comments of the foremost Local 174 spokesman of all-time, longtime Secretary-Treasurer George Cavano — on three issues still as important now as in his times. The comments are from columns in the Local 174 Teamster Record. His words could have been written today.
FEBRUARY 15, 1963:
ELECTIONS AND VOTING IMPORTANT
By GEORGE CAVANO
As I've said many times before, and will probably say many times in the future, any and every election is important; I think it is one of our greatest responsibilities to take part in every election that concerns us.
I repeat the words "take part." By this I don't mean just casting our votes. If we vote without studying the issues or the candidates and giving serious thought as to how we should vote, then we are practically throwing away our vote and we are certainly ducking the major and most important responsibility of having a vote.
We have to be more than just voters.
We have to be well informed, intelligent voters.
That's the important thing to remember.
Most of us wouldn't think of buying a car, a home, an appliance, home repairs, or for that matter making any major purchase without shopping around and comparing price and weighing other qualities such as service, dependability, etc. But when it comes to an election too many people can't be bothered. They say: "It's not important."
But these elections are what determine to a large extent how much take-home pay you actually receive, because they elect the public office-holders who spend the money collected from every one of us by taxes, licenses and other levies. They also decide how much money they will need for the various projects which they approve.
All too often they put the cart before the horse and decide how much money they want to spend, and then arbitrarily increase, extend and levy taxes which we have to pay.
We, the taxpayers pay these taxes irregardless of how much it leaves us for everyday living. We're not in the position of the public officials who decide they want to spend so much, and then demand the money.
JUNE 15, 1963:
ATTEND NEGOTIATION MEETINGS
By GEORGE CAVANO
As is usual at this time of year, we've been going through contract negotiation meetings. This has meant a lot of long hard hours of work not only during the day but also in the evenings and on weekends.
I'm sure that most of you understand all of the effort involved in obtaining the new contracts, and that none of us are complaining.
That is part of the job, and one of the most important parts of our job.
But, I think that there are some members who are not doing their part. I mean those members who — for no good reason — fail to attend the meetings called concerning their contract.
I say "No Good Reason." By this I mean those members who just don't take the time, or expend the little effort, necessary to attend the meetings. There are times when it is impossible to attend such meetings — sickness, out of town, etc. — but I'm sure that you'll agree that many members don't attend the meetings because they want to watch TV, loaf around or even catch 40 winks.
Well, I've stressed time after time the importance of such meetings, and I'm sure that you all agree that they are important. You know that they determine matters of the greatest importance to each and everyone of you. And, also, they are important to your families.
These contracts are the cold hard guidelines which determine what your income will be in the months to come; what your living standards will be; whether or not you can afford some of those things you want for yourself and your family. They can mean the difference of whether or not your children can attend college; or afford some specialized training or education.
They help determine whether or not you will have the working conditions that you want, and the bargaining points on issues concerning these conditions.
The terms of these contracts affect you and your family every hour of each and every day during the coming months. And, not only that, they can have a very important bearing on all of the years ahead including your retirement years.
Isn't it worth a few hours of your time in return for so much?
I think that you'll agree it's one of the biggest bargains of your life — so much for so little time.
And too often those who don't attend the meetings concerning their contracts are the first to holler, "Why don't we have such and such and so and so?" Or complain about working conditions saying, "Oh, that's been going on for some time."
But they seldom holler until it hits them.
I'm sure that every member knows someone like this.
They never bother to attend the contract meetings but they do most of the complaining. They're like the people who never vote on issues but holler the loudest when taxes go up.
I don't expect to see the day when we will ever have 100% turnout for contract meetings, just as I never expect to see the citizens turn out and vote 100% in any election. But I do think that we can improve or increase the number.
And that improvement can only come when each and everyone takes it upon himself to be sure and attend such meetings nad to urge their fellow workers to do the same thing.
We should be thankful that we have such opportunities of speaking up and telling what we think.
Don't let just a few members carry the load. Do your part. Attend those meetings when they are called.
Your negotiators can only do so much, the rest is up to the rest of the members working under the various contracts.
And, as I've said before, remember the larger the turnout for contract meetings, the better the chances are for a quicker approval of the contract. The employers know when the members are taking an interest and are turning out for such meetings. And don't think that a good turnout doesn't impress them.
It does. And it certainly helps you.
So attend those meetings. They're worth your while.
AUGUST 30, 1963:
SPEAK UP FOR YOUR UNION
By GEORGE CAVANO
[The] efforts to break Organized Labor are going on and are stronger than ever. Such efforts are not a threat that can be battled once and then forgotten. It's a continuous battle, as I've said before.
This is true of most things in life. If it weren't wars wouldn't take place again and again. But we fight a war to defeat one threat to our liberties and way of life, only to find that within a few years we have to again defeat the same sort of threat from another source.
That is why I say that if we stop taking an interest in our Local and Organized Labor's affairs then we can expect to lose many of the gains that we are now enjoying. And it will be our own fault.
Unless Organized Labor is organized strongly enough to combat such threats to Labor and the working person, then it serves little purpose.
It must be an organization of people sufficiently interested in their own welfare, and that of their families, to take the little time necessary to work as an efficient informed group. It is only as such a group that you or I, or any working person, has sufficient voice to make ourselves heard on matters of vital interest to every one of us.
If Organized Labor can be hamstrung and sufficiently weakened by anti-labor legislation, then the working man and woman, and their family, will find that they have little voice in governmental matters. Our individual voices will be drowned out by the voices of organized minorities with rich warchests devoted to achieving their personal goals.
I personally think that Labor is in great danger, perhaps the greatest danger it has ever faced. And most of this danger comes from Labor itself.
To show what I mean, think about this. I've talked to many people who have come out of school since the end of the last war. In many cases they came out of school into the boom that was a carry over from the war years.
They never went through the Depression years.
They never went through the years of the early growth of Labor. They never went through the headaches and efforts expended during the 1920's, 1930's, etc., when Labor was becoming organized as we know it today.
If you didn't go through any of those years as a working person, then I suggest that you talk to someone who has, then you will realize how many of the rights you enjoy today, were only gained by tremendous effort by Labor people of those years. ...
But the point I'm making is this: the people are getting fewer and fewer, who went through the days when Labor was ignored and had to take what it could get. Much of Labor today walked into the present day conditions, and can't realize that they only have them because the older members were stubborn enough to keep struggling until they gained improvements.
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