• Consider JC-28 & Local 174 Endorsements
• Two Important Issues
• Vote on November 3rd
• Teamsters Fighting Bailed-Out Auto Giants
• Lots of Breakfasters
• Thanks for Supporting the Centennial Celebration
• Remembering Enjoyable 2009 GTRC Golf Tourney
• October 3rd Shop Steward & Activists Breakfast
• Fantastic Local 174 100th Birthday Celebration
• 2009 IBT Women's Conference
• Hoffa Says Columbia Undeserving
• Labor Day Afterthoughts
• Ruth Marcus Speaks
• News Archives

(October 27, 2009)The November 3, 2009 General Election is just a few days away. Please do your civic duty, and vote. We have discussed one of the major ballot issues in an October 20 News Page entry on this Website — the terrible Tim Eyman Initiative 1033. Here also are the official endorsements of Joint Council 28 for your consideration.

Tim Eyman’s latest initiative is already a proven failure. Colorado is the only state to impose a revenue limit like the one in I-1033, which led to deep cuts in public schools, roads/highways and children’s health care. By 2005, things in Colorado had gotten so bad that their voters suspended the law for five years to stop the deterioration of their state. Why would any voters knowingly subject themselves to such damage to the current safety nets of our society.

We can’t allow Tim Eyman and another of his free-lunch initiatives to destroy the fabric of what makes Washington such a special place to live. PLEASE VOTE AGAINST I-1033.

HERE ARE JOINT COUNCIL 28 ENDORSEMENTS FOR NOVEMBER 3RD ELECTION

A number of candidates had been invited to be interviewed and either declined or did not respond to the request(s).
NOTE: THERE IS ONE SPECIAL ENDORSEMENT THAT FOR TIMING REASONS WAS NOT INCLUDED IN JC-28’S RECOMMENDATIONS. IT IS AS FOLLOWS.

PORT OF SEATTLE, Port Commissioner Position #4
Max Vekich

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IBT Speaking Out:
TWO IMPORTANT ISSUES
GENERAL PRESIDENT JIM HOFFA VOICES TEAMSTER PRAISE FOR PRESIDENTIAL SLASHES IN EXECUTIVE PAY, AND CONGRESSIONAL CREATION OF A NEW CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION AGENCY

(October 26, 2009) IBT General President Jim Hoffa has spoken out on two important issues, Executive Pay Slashes and a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The Teamsters top elected leader on behalf of the Union applauded President Obama for slashing pay for top executives at companies that received TARP money. And he also said the Union praises the House Financial Services Committee for voting to create an agency that will protect consumers from unscrupulous banks.

ISSUE 1:
It’s Time To Hold Top Executives Accountable
  (WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters Union has applauded President Obama for slashing pay for top executives at companies that received TARP money. The cuts apply to the 25 highest paid executives at the seven companies that took the most help from taxpayers. 
 
“This is a return to common sense,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on October 22. “It’s outrageous to pay top executives millions of dollars after they’ve driven their companies into the ground.”
 
He continued, “When these financial elites can take home hundreds of millions of dollars for a few years of work, they have no reason to care if their companies survive past their retirement. Unfortunately, it’s average Americans who are paying the price for the incompetent managers who undermined the stability of the whole financial system.”
 
Hoffa also praised the Federal Reserve for proposing a review of the pay practices at the nation’s 28 largest banks and at regional lenders. 
 
“Still, we need to do more,” he said. “We need to give shareholders a voice in setting compensation for top executives.  We need to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, we need to regulate derivatives and we need to make sure that banks are never again too big to fail.” 
 
“It’s in everyone’s interest to align executive pay with a company's performance,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel. “The same logic that says financial services companies deserve bailouts because they are systemically important also says executives must be held financially accountable for their performance.”

ISSUE 2: Consumers Need a Financial Cop To Protect Them From Banks
(WASHINGTON) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on October 22 praised the House Financial Services Committee for voting to create an agency that will protect consumers from unscrupulous banks. 
 
The committee passed H.R. 3126 by a vote of 39-29. 
 
“Banks had a golden rule: They broke the rules and took the gold while regulators looked away,” Hoffa said. “We need a financial cop who takes the consumer’s side and keeps the banks in line. 
 
“Average Americans rescued the banks from collapse,” Hoffa said. “Every financial institution in America has benefited from trillions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies. Now the banks have the gall to spend our money lobbying against common-sense oversight of the very practices that wrecked our economy. 
 
“Even worse, the banks aren’t creating jobs because they aren’t making loans,” Hoffa said. “It isn’t too much to ask that we put a referee on the field to make sure the banks play by the rules.” 
 
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency will be focused on one thing: protecting consumers from abuse.
 
It will streamline oversight by placing rulemaking, supervision and enforcement in one agency. 
 
And it will make it harder for banks to game the system, as they have by choosing the most toothless watchdog.  
 
“No one chooses the costs hidden in complicated mortgages, car loans and credit card agreements,” Hoffa said. “They get burned by high fees and interest rates because they don’t have the time or the legal training to read pages and pages of fine print.” 
 
Polls show that the vast majority of Americans support the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

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Do your civic duty:
VOTE ON NOVEMBER 3RD
AND PLEASE VOTE AGAINST INITIATIVE 1033, WHICH IS STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE TEAMSTERS AND ALL OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN WASHINGTON STATE

(October 20, 2009) The Tuesday, November 3rd General Election is just a couple of weeks away. Local 174 is urging all of its members to vote. Vote for whomever or whatever you want to — but be sure to vote for something, preferably “Labor-endorsed.” These days are full of threats at the polls to working men and women, and their Unions, and it is a bad time to be apathetic and politically silent. There are many important candidate races on the November 3 ballot, and one very bad Initiative which should be opposed by all workers. It is Initiative 1033. That is the only issue we will address here today.

Following is some commentary from Joint Council of Teamsters No. 28’s Legislative Director Owen Linch, and from the Washington State Labor Council, about this measure. Local 174’s Executive Board agrees with both Linch and the WSLC about I-1033.

Teamsters Joint Council 28 Recommendation:
Vote “No” on I-1033, A Proven Failure!

By OWEN LINCH, Joint Council 28 Legislative Director
Tim Eyman’s latest initiative is already a proven failure. Colorado is the only state to impose a revenue limit like the one in I-1033, which led to deep cuts in public schools, roads/highways and children’s health care.

• Funding for K-12 Education dropped in Colorado to 49th in the Nation.
• The Colorado Department of Transportation is using money that would normally fund construction to help pay back bonds for 28 major road projects. Beginning in 2006 debt service obligations had grown to $168 million dollars annually for the next ten years. Colorado now ranks 44th in its transportation infrastructure based on spending per mile of highway in poor condition.
• At one point, Colorado had to suspend the requirement that children had to be fully immunized before enrolling in school because there were not enough state funds to buy vaccine. The number of low income children without health insurance doubled.

By 2005, things in Colorado had gotten so bad that their voters suspended the law for five years to stop the deterioration of their state. Why would any voters knowingly subject themselves to such damage to the current safety nets of our society.

TEAMSTERS STRONGLY OPPOSE I-1033
We can’t allow Tim Eyman and another of his free-lunch initiatives to destroy the fabric of what makes Washington such a special place to live.

• With the current downturn in the economy, State, local government and schools are already struggling financially. If you care at all about making sure that we are protected by food inspectors, TB containment, and disease control, then you have to care about maintaining our ability to have in place the Public Health Programs and personnel to insure that it gets done.
• Our law enforcement structure is being tattered by a lack of resources. Due to the shortage of personnel, response times are increasing and the criminal elements are being emboldened by the advantage that this affords them.
• Fire protection, safety inspectors and so forth, are all part of our State’s Quality of Life Issues that will be dramatically impacted if I-1033 passes. Yes, we are all having financial difficulties, but to destroy what insures our security at a time when we need it the most makes no sense.

Please join me in voting against I-1033.

Washington State Labor Council Recommendation: Many Reasons to Vote “No” on Initiative 1033!
The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, is urging Union members and their families to vote against Tim Eyman's Initiative 1033, which would impose revenue caps on state and local governments, prolong the recession in our State, and lock in job and service cuts caused by the economic downturn. But before anyone can vote against I-1033, they have to find it on their ballot. And in King County, that's proving a bit difficult. Learn more here. 

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The IBT Carhaul Division affects scores of Local Unions, including Local 174, that represent nearly 12,000 workers across the United States. These workers have a strong impact on all of our lives, safely transporting all newly manufactured cars and trucks in the United States and Canada. Teamster bargaining unit employees have been doing this work under the National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement (NMATA) since the 1940s.

(October 19, 2009) Last week the Teamsters Union launched a national campaign to fight against the destruction of the Carhaul Industry by bailed-out auto giants General Motors and Chrysler. The automakers received bailouts from taxpayers earlier this year, but are now demanding dramatic and unsustainable cost cuts from Teamster-represented carhaul companies, threatening hundreds of good-paying, skilled, middle-class jobs.

Teamsters across the country have been at GM and Chrysler dealerships recently, distributing leaflets protesting the union-busting moves and alerting consumers that the cars they purchase could be delivered by inexperienced drivers with substandard equipment that greatly risk damaging the new vehicles. Car buyers will still be charged mandatory “destination fees” of more than $900 that have no relation to the actual cost of transporting a vehicle.

“Taxpayers have already financed GM and Chrysler to the tune of more than $60 billion in bailout money and billions more in the Cash for Clunkers program,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. The Teamsters want to remind these automakers that their taxpayer bailouts were intended to help save American jobs. Instead, they are out to destroy an industry that pays good wages and benefits at a time when we should be protecting and creating more of these kinds of jobs in this country.”

FRED ZUCKERMAN,
IBT Carhaul Division Director

The Carhaul Division coordinates activities and priorities with local and regional representatives. It negotiates and administers NMATA, which applies to vehicle transport nationwide, and ensure that employers meet their commitments to Teamster-represented employees. Its goals are to:

• Negotiate multi-area, multi-employer carhaul agreements that set the industry standard;
• Organize strategically, targeting non-union companies;
• Raise wages and benefits to be the highest in the industry;
• Protect Teamster jobs by resolving grievances and disputes that may arise between employees and employers; and
• Support the strong National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement and its supplements.

As part of the campaign, the Teamsters Union also has launched a web site, www.carbuyersbeware.com, to educate consumers how the bailed-out auto giants are ripping off American car buyers.

“Even if the automakers succeed in making these outrageous cuts, the cost savings will be very small,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel. “Auto transport represents just $120 per vehicle. And any cost savings will not be passed on to dealers or consumers.”

The restructuring of the Auto Industry required shared sacrifice not just of the companies, but also the workers and suppliers. Experienced Teamster carhaul drivers have already taken steep wage cuts to ensure the long-term viability of the Auto Industry and the Union carrier companies. The dramatic and unsustainable cuts the automakers are demanding now will bankrupt the Union carriers and eliminate good middle-class jobs.

“These are the toughest and most dangerous jobs in the Trucking Industry,” said Fred Zuckerman, Teamster Carhaul Division Director. “The jobs require great skill and expertise to safely load and unload vehicles with care and efficiency that car buyers expect. It’s shameful that Chrysler and GM want to throw these professional drivers onto the unemployment rolls and replace them with what I believe are inexperienced, less-reliable drivers at substandard pay.”

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Tasty Stewards & Activists Training:
LOTS OF BREAKFASTERS
ABOUT 200 SHOP STEWARDS AND ACTIVISTS CAME TO THE LOCAL 174 BREAKFAST THANKING THEM

On Saturday, October 3, 2009, a hungry crowd of some 200 Local 174 Shop Stewards and Activists gathered for a “Thank You Breakfast” from the Local, and a Training Session. Here some of them serve themselves from the buffet set-up.
Photos by Bill McCarthy.

They gathered in the main meeting hall in the Teamster Building at 8 a.m., then went into the smaller meeting room across the hallway and served themselves from the impressive buffet layout, and went back into the main hall to eat and listen to presentations by three speakers — Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks, Local 174 Lobbyist Gordon Baxter, and special political guest Max Vekich.

S-T Hicks welcomed the Stewards and Activists, and told them that their efforts are vital to Local 174, and have allowed it to be politically and socially a powerhouse. He introduced the Local 174 Officers and Staff members who were present for the Breakfast and the Training, and commented about how important it is for Local 174 to remain politically active and vigilant. He then introduced the Local 174 Lobbyist, Gordon Baxter, who represents the Local in Olympia during the Legislative Sessions.

Baxter told the Stewards and Activists that there is a simple reason Unions must stay politically aware and let their views be known. The reason is, what goes on in Olympia in Washington State directly affects the lives and livelihoods of all citizens, he said. He warned that there are many enemies of Labor, who never stop trying to chip away at the hard-won legislative victories that have been won by workers throughout the years.

The Stewards and Activists hear from a special political guest, Max Vekich, shown here at the microphone. Vekich is running for Seattle Port Commissioner, Position 4.

Hicks then introduced the guest political speaker for the day, Max Vekich. He said Local 174 is strongly supporting Vekich for Seattle Port Commissioner, Position Number 4, in the November General Election. He said Vekich is a fellow Union Brother who has been a longtime International Longshore Workers Union member and is a former State Representative from the 35th District who has had a history of standing up for social and economic justice for working people.

Vekich reviewed the main points in his campaign platform, which are summed up in his official statement. In that statement he says:

• “The Port of Seattle is in a period of transition. We need strong leadership with expertise in port operations to ensure that we no longer return to the fraud and cronyism of the past.
• “1. As Port Commissioner, I promise to work with our neighboring communities to ensure that the Port lives up to its responsibilities while serving taxpayers and the general public.
• “2. Seattle’s industrial lands are a critical part of our diverse economy and are the foundation for future success. We must protect our urban industry and the thousands of good jobs that it creates.
• “3. The Port also has a responsibility to protect the environment. This means embracing new technologies that reduce our carbon impact, cleaning up the trucks at the port, and working toward more efficient freight solutions. This also means controlling dumping in our waters and working with tenants to reduce and eliminate toxic runoff. Finally, this means we stop playing the blame game with the Duwamish River cleanup.”

After Breakfast the Shop Stewards and Activists heard from several speakers. They were very interested in the subject matter, which dealt with all future Local 174 Steward-Activist Training agendas.

The group sharing exercise was very productive and during it the Stewards and Activists did a lot of thoughtful philosophizing about what being a good Steward and/or Activist is all about. Many thoughtful comments were made by individual Stewards and Activists designated to speak for their table groups, based on the combined comments.

THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
After the designated spokespersons shared their tables’ thoughts with the entire group, Tim went on to present the Local’s plans for a new and improved Steward and Activist Training Program — to be known as the Leadership Development Program. He explained that the Program was developed largely using the comment questionnaires filled out after previous Training Sessions, where those in attendance were asked what they would like to see in future Training Sessions. The Multi-Session Leadership Development Program is designed to build then later reinforce the Stewards’ and Activists’ role in administering their respective contracts as well as building the Local’s power first on the shop floor, then harnessing and utilizing those skills to influence and expand the members’ power outside as part of the greater Social and Economic Justice Movement.

The first Multi-Session Leadership Development Program Training Session will take place in February, on the subject of “The Ethical Steward.” Some of the points that will be covered in depth by Allen and other instructors helping in the instruction:

Rights and Responsibilities as a Steward or Activist, Setting a Good Example on the Shop Floor, Your Role in Maintaining Confidentiality, Understanding Weingarten Rights, the Basics of Grievance Handling, and Representing the “Unrepresentable.”

More will be discussed on the Shop Stewards and Activists Training changes in coming months at General Membership Meetings of Local 174, and in the Local 174 Teamster Record newspaper.

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At 1 p.m. at the September 12, 2009 Centennial Anniversary Celebration, many people in the crowd gathered for this dramatic commemorative picture.   – Photo by Fred Nye.

(October 9, 2009) The Celebration of Local 174’s 100th Birthday as an affiliate of the IBT was enjoyed by all who attended it. Many photos were taken, and everyone is welcome to have a look at them in this Website’s Photo Gallery. Many folks deserve thanks for helping make the Party a success, and we are publicly thanking them here.

COMMENTS BY SECRETARY-TREASURER RICK HICKS

We have just officially celebrated our 100th Birthday as a chartered IBT Local Union, on Saturday, September 12. The actual Birthday was February 19, 1909, but we waited several months to officially celebrate it. Many of you joined us on September 12, and had a grand time reminiscing about the past, catching up on the present and dreaming about what the future holds for our great Union.

We shared a tremendous day that started with a family celebration which included kids’ games with prizes, pony rides, a bouncy house, cotton candy and hot dogs. The crowd of more than 500 throughout the day enjoyed live music from the band “Restless Legs” and culminated with a group photo by the Teamster Truck that will be on display in the Local Union’s dues office.

The evening was geared more towards an adult celebration including a cocktail hour and an awesome sitdown dinner prepared by DHL member Puni Daniels. The combined crowd of retirees, spouses and current members were entertained by Local 174 member Clayton (Elvis) Wagy of E. Masins Furniture and another band called “Sister Ray.”

A great time was had by all and my special thanks go out to the countless volunteers who made this a truly successful event. Most importantly my staff led by Business Agent Dave Jacobsen who was charged with planning and implementing the entire Commemoration. It was an outstanding job by Dave.
 
Others who were instrumental in this event are members Kandy Paulson (Hos Bros.), Diane Norman (DHL), Janita Stone (UPS), my wife Lorri Hicks, sister Kim Bourbonnie and many, many more retirees and members. Thank you all for being involved and creating a great Celebration of our first 100 years.

                       
COMMENTS BY DAVE JACOBSEN, LOCAL 174 BUSINESS AGENT

Many volunteers showed up early on September 12th to assist the Local’s staff in preparing for the festivities.  We thank each and every person who had a hand in making the Celebration such a great success. That includes the Local 174 Executive Board, office staff, and building maintenance folks.

PHOTO GALLERY ENTRY:
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF LOCAL 174

By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(September 12, 2009 Photoshoot) Please join us in viewing our photographic remembrance of our Saturday, September 12, 2009 Centennial Anniversary Celebration of Local 174’s first 100 years as a Local Union affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. As regular readers of this Website undoubtedly recall, Local 174 first joined the IBT on February 19, 1909. We had several smaller events noting our 100th Anniversary as a Labor organization, and they were well attended, and fun.

But we waited to celebrate in a large way until September 12th for many reasons — including the 157-day Oak Harbor Freight Lines Unfair Labor Practice Strike, several other important negotiations, construction at the Teamster Building in Tukwila, and lots of very bad weather earlier in the year.

Delaying the big shindig turned out to have been a great decision. The weather cooperated. The good times rocked and rolled. About 500 Local 174 members showed up for the Celebration. With their family members and friends included, it added up to more than 1,000 in attendance for Local 174’s Centennial Celebration — totaling those partaking in the “family-oriented” daytime agenda and those who showed up for the “adult-oriented” evening agenda.

The pictures in our Gallery Show were taken by three photographers: Fred Nye, Mary Pekarek and Willie Mitchell. Fred is a Teamster photographer with the IBT’s Graphic Communications Council. Mary and Willy are Local 174 retirees.

VISIT SLIDE SHOW HERE

The 100th Year Committee worked countless hours throughout 2009 getting ready for September 12th. Official and unofficial Committee members, who helped me out immensely as the event’s Coordinator on logistics, included the aforementioned Kandy Paulson (Hos Bros.), Diane Norman (DHL), and Janita Stone (UPS), and several members of the General Teamsters Retirees Club, especially GTRC President Hank Thompson (Pres. of the Club), and GTRC members Clint Copeland and Ed Merritt.

The countless volunteers and professionals that made this event happen and run so smoothly can’t all be mentioned here, but all of them have my personal gratitude and the thanks of the 174 E-Board. I will mention some of the main persons who helped the most, though. They are as follows. We thank our three able photographers who busily snapped pictures throughout the Big Day, professional IBT photog Fred Nye and two very talented amateur photogs from the GTRC, Mary Pekarek and Willie Mitchell.

The outstanding food served on September 12 was cooked and prepared by aforementioned member Puni Daniels (DHL) and his family. Puni and family are very Hawaiian ethnically and they shared their Hawaiian recipes with us, which culminated in a luau that was enjoyed by everyone except the pig. 

The chief horse that was ridden by many enthralled youngsters was a big hit a the Party. Known as Thunder, the beautiful black stallion is owned by member Jim Miller (BMC West) and his lovely wife Victoria. There were also many other equines ridden, too, lest we insult them.

Donny Jones (Boeing) helped construct the stage used all day long by the musicians. Rick Gasca (UPS-”CSI”) provided and put up the Gigantic Tent that was central to everything that went on regarding staging and gathering. Throughout the Big Day we were helped by 174 members’ wives, husbands, parents, friends, and significant others, especially aiding in logistics, constructing beautiful centerpieces for the nighttime dinner, and serving food throughout the entire Day.

The great music that entertained everyone all the Day was performed by a variety of musicians. The performers were the bands “Restless Legs,” “Sister Ray,” and a mini-band of Local 174’s famous “Elvis” Clayton Wagy. Clayton actually usually has a large band, and an entourage of dancers and backup singers, when he is performing in big venues and roomy halls.

Finally, I thank all of the 174 Business Agents whose steadfast background support of myself as the Local’s Centennial Coordinator and of our Committee made this whole thing come together.  It was a community effort that will be talked about for many years to come.

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Overall Tournament winner, Boeing retiree Larry Smith, is shown being presented the Winner's Trophy by GTRC President Hank Thompson. Smith had a score of 72, and promised to come back next year and defend his title. Smith was a member of Local 174. He also won a James Hoffa-inscribed model semi at the Tournament.   – Photo by Mary Pekarek.

We congratulate all the winners and wish them the very best as they plunge ahead into an increasingly dark world.

Our golf fest was held at Foster Golf Links in Tukwila once again this year — the employees of which are represented by Teamsters Local 763, and so we are treated very well. We bellied up to a scrumptious buffet lunch, and judging by the noise level, most everyone had a great time.
 
There were lots of prizes, laughs and good-natured kidding among the golfers regarding the general skill levels of one another. I love the game myself, but I realize that it is not everyone’s cup of tea.
In 1949, when I was just a whelp of a kid, I began caddying at the Sand Point Golf and Country Club. At that time golf was considered a pastime for the wealthy, as were tennis and skiing. I resented, even as a kid, the way the doctors, lawyers, and business men for whom we lugged golf clubs around for 4 hours treated us. It was a job, however, and taught me lessons about human nature that came in handy when later on in life, I had to deal with employers as a Union Representative.
 
Thanks in part to the proliferation of Union jobs after WWII, golf became a pastime for the middle class which now had more free time. It is now an everyman’s (and everywoman’s) game and no longer the sole province of the financial elite.

It was nice to see 174 member at Boeing Dan Poole in the crowd, getting out, but still grieving the tragic loss of his wife recently in a deadly motorcycle crash. Longtime scion of the Twin Cities, IBT Construction Division Director Ed Jacobson, and his lovely wife Loretta, former Local 252 Office Manager, were also on hand to assist us in rearranging the local sod.

This report would not be complete without mention of the author’s rare feat of garnering an eagle (for you non-golfers that is two under par). On the par 4 seventeenth hole, which is 268 yards long, he drove the green, his ball coming to rest less than 4 feet from the cup. He made the putt, and general mayhem broke out. His playing partners — Gorgeous Gordy Teller, Critical Clint Copeland and Bashful Bill McCarthy — all reminded him that golf is 90% luck, and 10% skill lest he get an inflated opinion of himself.
 
The Retirees Club wishes to extend heartfelt thanks to all of you who participated, and hope to see everyone back in August 2010. Finally, special thanks to GTRC Secretary-Treasurer Mary Pekarek, whose camera wound up in everyone's face, with incredible results. You can see Mary's 2009 GTRC Golf Tournament photos here.

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Local 174 Invitation:
OCTOBER 3rd BREAKFAST
ALL LOCAL 174 MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO THE SHOP STEWARDS AND ACTIVISTS APPRECIATION BREAKFAST. IT IS MEANT TO THANK ALL OF OUR MEMBERS FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION TO HELP MAKE LOCAL 174 STRONG AND SUCCESSFUL.

(September 21, 2009) Below are the details about the upcoming October 3 Breakfast. Please attend!

STEWARDS AND ACTIVISTS APPRECIATION BREAKFAST!

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Local 174 News:
FANTASTIC LOCAL 174 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
PARTY WAS ATTENDED BY A THRONG OF LOCAL 174 MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. MANY MONTHS OF HARD WORK PLANNING THE EVENT WERE REWARDED BY THE GREAT TURNOUT

There was a tremendous turnout for the Centennial Birthday Celebration. Above are some of the folks on hand.

By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist

Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks speaks in the evening before the feast about the meaning of the Local surviving and thriving for a Century.

(September 18, 2009) The weather cooperated, and Local 174 members and families showed up in great numbers throughout the day and into the evening for our Saturday, September 12 Birthday Party. The Party, of course, celebrated the 100 years of affiliation of this Local with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

It was held in two parts. From 10 a.m. through 3 p.m., the activities were geared toward families and especially kids of 174 members. The day activities featured music, entertainment, historical displays, games, and a tasty BBQ highlighting hotdogs. From 5 p.m. through about 8 p.m., the activities switched into adult mode. Music and a luau “roasted pig” dinner were the evening’s highlights.

These are just a couple of the new generation that will keep Local 174 going in the future. Many youngsters were on hand for the Party – as were many current active 174 members, and many retirees from the Local.

This event took months of planning. It was honchoed by Local 174 Business Agent Dave Jacobsen. He was helped by many 174 volunteers — activist members, retired members, and staff members. Dave will be thanking everyone who helped out formally in the next issue of the Local 174 Teamster Record, which will be coming out very soon.

We had three very active photographers at the Party throughout the day and the evening. Active Teamsters Graphic Communications Conference member and frequent IBT photographer Fred Nye, and retired Teamsters, both 174 members, Mary Pekarek and Willie Mitchell, took hundreds of pictures between them.

We are currently picking the best of the many photos taken by the trio to put in the Teamster Record and on the Local 174 Website. Stay tuned. The three photos accompanying this article were taken by Fred.

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IBT News Release:
WOMEN’S CONFERENCE OVER
THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS 2009 WOMEN’S CONFERENCE WAS PACKED FULL OF INFORMATION AND IDEAS

Participants at the 2009 IBT Women’s Conference got their point across clearly. The Conference was in Las Vegas, Nevada, from September 10-12.

(September 14, 2009) Teamster Women built solidarity at the successful 2009 Teamsters Women’s Conference in Las Vegas last week. The Conference was from September 10-12.

The Women’s Conference closed on a high note Saturday afternoon, September 12, as Antonio Christian, Director of the Teamsters Human Rights Commission, sang songs of solidarity to the crowd of Teamster sisters in attendance. With a strong and skillful voice, Christian led the women in song, and in the speech that followed, commended the women for moving the Teamsters Union forward.

“The Teamsters have a rich history in social justice, and the charisma and strength of Teamster women is inspiring,” Christian said, noting that Teamster contracts are gender-blind and color-blind, and that throughout history, Teamsters have been at the forefront of the fight for civil and human rights.

The Teamster women also heard from Lisa Kinard, Director of the International Union Federal Legislation and Regulation Department. Kinard spoke about the importance of raising the stakes through legislation, such as health care reform.

Kinard was followed at the podium by Dr. Elaine Bernard, Director of the Labor and Work Life Program at Harvard University. Dr. Bernard spoke on the state of the labor movement in the United States and Canada; the need for unions today; and the importance of member activism.

Following this presentation, a panel of Teamster activists shared stories of their involvement in their union and in their communities.

Renee Hinson, a member of Local 728 in Atlanta, took part in the panel. Hinson is a co-founder and member of Teamsters for Tomorrow, a group that is actively working to build and encourage the involvement of Teamster youth in the future of the union. The group was founded at the 2008 Teamsters Women’s Conference.

“Although Teamsters for Tomorrow is 35 and under, it takes each and every one of you in this room to build our future,” Hinson said. “We’re working to put together youth summits, to help out in the community, to reach students and let everyone know the difference that being a Teamster makes.”

The 980 Teamster women who attended the three-day conference are now returning to their hometowns, taking back the knowledge and motivation they’ve gained to their coworkers, local unions and communities, until they meet again next year. The 2010 Teamsters Women’s Conference will be held in Minneapolis. 

WANT TO KNOW MORE?
If you want to know more about the 2009 IBT Women’s Conference, use the following links.

• View photos from this conference.
• See full coverage of the 2009 Teamsters Women's Conference.

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IBT GENERAL PRESIDENT JAMES P. HOFFA has been on a mission — to build the Teamsters Union into the strongest, most powerful voice in North America for working families — and he is well on his way to achieving this goal. Under Hoffa’s leadership, the Teamsters Union is winning industry-leading contracts, engaging in vigorous contract enforcement and organizing the unorganized. Teamster positions on the issues of the day — from unsafe Mexican trucks to misguided trade policies — now hold sway in Washington’s power corridors. Hoffa has spent a lifetime preparing for the challenge of running the Teamsters Union. He knows, first-hand, what Teamsters can accomplish when they are united. He is leading a Union that is a credit to its proud history. Hoffa is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on Union issues. As the most visible and outspoken critic of government trade policies and anti-worker corporate agendas, Hoffa is recognized as a leader on issues that affect working people.

But hearts, flowers and Juan Valdez don't tell the whole truth about Colombia.

Colombia engages in systematic aggression against workers. Union leaders are routinely threatened with death, spied on, harassed, blacklisted, kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured and killed.

Gustavo Gomez is the latest of the thousands of innocent union members to be assassinated in Colombia. Gomez was a Nestle employee working on a lawful petition drive for the Colombian Food Service Workers Union. He opened his front door two weeks ago, and strangers shot him point blank 10 times.

His killers haven't been found -- and they probably won't be. In only 3.3 percent of Colombia's 2,700 union murder cases since 1986 have suspects been tried and convicted. Six in 10 union murders haven't even been investigated.

That isn't an accident. The government of President Alvaro Uribe cultivates a climate of fear to weaken trade unions and political opponents. Time and again, government officials accuse trade unionists of links to terrorism. Those are killing words. Paramilitaries and government security forces routinely murder people tied -- without evidence -- to guerrilla groups.

The state-sponsored violence against union members in Colombia is part of a broader assault on workers. Take the workers who pick the flowers being given out at Union Station. Most are women, many are single moms, and they earn poverty wages -- about $215 a month, not enough to support a family.

Women applying for a flower worker job are often forced to take a pregnancy test. Pregnant flower workers are often fired. Many work only seasonally. Sometimes pesticides are sprayed on them while they're working.

It would be unconscionable for the United States to reward Colombia's violent, anti-worker regime with any kind of trade deal -- let alone a trade deal modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Like NAFTA, a trade agreement with Colombia would protect the interests of corporate investors while weakening workers' rights. A trade deal with Colombia would destroy family farms in Colombia, the way NAFTA did in Mexico.

NAFTA cost at least 1 million U.S. jobs, many in the auto industry and at least 60,000 of them in Michigan. In Mexico, NAFTA made a few people very rich while sending workers' wages on a downward spiral. In the United States, NAFTA contributed to rising inequality and the disappearance of our manufacturing base.

A trade deal with Colombia would accelerate that trend. And it would excuse Colombia's horrifying treatment of workers. American workers don't need another bad trade deal.

Mr. Hoffa's commentary originally appeared in The Detroit News on September 9, 2009.

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Local 174 News:
LABOR DAY AFTERTHOUGHTS
LOTS OF FOOD FOR THE TUMMY, AND FOR THE MIND, AT THE SEPTEMBER 7 LABOR DAY PICNIC OF THE MARTIN LUTHER KING COUNTY LABOR COUNCIL

By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist
(September 9, 2009) There was a huge turnout for the Martin Luther King County Labor Council’s Picnic at Seattle’s Woodland Park on Labor Day, Monday, September 7. It rained heavily in the morning, then moderated just in time for the folks to gather at the Park. Then, about five hours later after the event was essentially over, the rains came. Fate and the weather gods had been nice to the workers this Labor Day.

The hotdogs, pop, ice cream, popcorn were all free, provided by various Unions. The raffle raised a lot of money for the MLKCLC Food Agency. The kids present played with balloons, animals, clowns conducting games, and they got their faces painted. All that was routine fun like at all these MLKCLC Labor Day Picnics. And the music, this year country and folk for the most part, played by live union musicians, was excellent.

U.S. Representative Jim McDermott (D, 7th District) tried to explain the inaction of the Congress, particularly his Chamber, the House of Representatives. He was listened to warmly, but many in the crowd were skeptical that the politicians in Washington, D.C., are capable to getting true Health Care Reform.

But this year was a little special. The people present were in a serious mood, and wanted to ask the politicians present what is going on these days with Health Care Reform, the Employee Free Choice Act, and many other issues.

There were many politicians around to talk with, as 2010 is an election year at all levels of Government.

Keynote speaker for the event was U.S. Representative Jim McDermott, a Democrat from the State of Washington’s 7th Congressional District, who tried to explain the strange goings-on in town hall meetings all across the country, and the strategy in the Senate and House on health care proposals.

He said the crowd should be optimistic, and expect lots of positive action on the part of the Democrats shortly. He gave a rousing speech as he always does, but this time, the people present just held their breath and applauded his comments politely.

They like their fellow citizens throughout the U.S. have been watching the Washington, D.C. circus of the past few months, and are just waiting and hoping the politicians can get over their bickering and give America some real health care reform. The public, to be blunt, is on he whole dubious and wondering if their elected representatives in the two Chambers of Congress are soon going to put up or shut up on many topics.

IBT President Jim Hoffa had a lot to say on Labor Day about the current situation facing workers and Organized Labor these days, too. Read his comments below, which were released to the world on the Internet September 8, the day after Labor Day.
 

HAPPY 'ENLIGHTENED' LABOR DAY
By JIM HOFFA, IBT General President
(September 8, 2009) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week that workers in the United States apparently don't want to join unions because of the "very enlightened management in this country now, treating employees better and employees have decided they don't want to pay the dues."

McConnell, R-Ky., husband of the most anti-union Labor Secretary in history, enlightened the rest of the country with his ridiculous reason claiming why no Republican will vote for the Employee Free Choice Act.

To borrow from Rep. Barney Frank, McConnell must spend most of his time on a planet that's much better than the planet the rest of us live on.

In truth, the Employee Free Choice Act is desperately needed on my planet, where 16 workers die on the job every day because managers ignore their health and safety. On my planet, field workers die of heat exhaustion. Laundry workers are killed by dangerous machinery. Exhausted airline pilots die in crashes.

Here's something else very enlightened managers do on my planet: cheat poor workers of their wages. Last week, 68 percent of low-paid workers were victimized by wage violations, according to a new University of Chicago report. The typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339.

So-called enlightened Amerijet managers forced pilots and flight engineers to strike on Aug. 27. Fort Lauderdale-based Amerijet doesn't put working toilets on its Boeing 727s, which fly from Florida to Venezuela and the Caribbean. Amerijet's female pilots are forced to relieve themselves by squatting over bags. Male pilots urinate into bags hanging just outside the cockpit doors. There are no sanitary facilities in which to wash.

Amerijet managers are so enlightened they think it's a good policy to force exhausted, hungry, sick pilots to fly long hours. The company pays a small fortune to union-busting lawyers who have prevented Teamster pilots from negotiating a contract for 5-1/2 years. But Amerijet managers pay their co-pilots less than $35,000 a year.

Sen. McConnell might be surprised to learn of the outpouring of support for the Amerijet strikers from their dues-paying Teamster brothers and sisters in the airline and trucking industries. Teamster maintenance workers and cleaners at Miami International Airport are refusing to cross the picket lines. Amerijet's picket line is being walked by unions at American, US Airways, Southwest, JetBlue, UPS, the Air Line Pilots Association and the Coalition of Airline Pilots Association.

Other South Florida unions, as well as organized labor in the Caribbean and South America, are supporting the strikers.

So-called enlightened managers make life difficult for school bus drivers, who have an important job that requires skill and hard work. This is how managers at one private school bus company treated its drivers before they became Teamsters: At several depots, the toilet paper was removed from the employees' bathroom. Workers had to ask for it at the office. They would get four or five squares.

Along with shabby treatment, school bus drivers earn low pay and enjoy few benefits. The Teamsters are building a movement of school bus and transit workers to change that. Almost 30,000 school bus and transit workers became Teamsters in the last three years. They are now seeing real improvements in their jobs and in their lives.

We are organizing school bus workers at First Student, Bauman/Acme and Durham School Services. Next week, we plan to file petitions with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize 3,500 school bus drivers, aides, attendants, monitors and mechanics at 30 yards across the country.

Studies show that millions more workers would belong to unions if they had the chance. We are working hard to pass the Employee Free Choice Act over Sen. McConnell's objections. Workers need the chance to decide for themselves -- without being spied on, threatened, interrogated or fired by their employers -- whether to join a union.

The Employee Free Choice Act would give them that chance.

Enjoy your well-deserved holiday, brought to you by America's labor unions.

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(September 7, 2009) Ruth Marcus wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post, which is printed below. She believes Unions suffer when their leaders follow the motto “letting the perfect be the enemy of the good until it’s too late.” Her column was circulated on the IBT Website.

ALL-OR-NOTHING CHOICES HURT LABOR MOVEMENT; UNIONS SUFFER WHEN LEADERS FOLLOW THE MOTTO ‘LETTING THE PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE’

WASHINGTON — Fewer than half of Americans -- 48 percent -- approve of labor unions, down from 59 percent a year ago, according to a new Gallup poll. That number is the lowest since Gallup started asking the question in 1936. Only 12.4 percent of workers -- and just 7.6 percent of those in the private sector -- belong to a union, down from 20.1 percent in 1983.

Ruth Marcus is an editorial writer for The Washington Post, specializing in American politics, campaign finance, the federal budget and taxes, and other domestic issues. She writes a weekly column that appears on Wednesdays. Marcus has been with The Post since 1984, beginning as a reporter on the Maryland staff, covering local development and other issues, and then transferring to the District staff to cover lawyers and legal issues. She joined the national staff in 1986, covering campaign finance, the Justice Department, the Supreme Court and the White House. From 1999 through 2002, she served as deputy national editor, supervising reporters who covered money and politics, Congress, the Supreme Court, and other national issues. She joined the editorial board in 2003.

Happy Labor Day.

Both sets of numbers are distressing for those who, like me, believe in the importance of a vigorous labor movement. But labor can be its own worst enemy, operating as if its guiding motto were: "Letting the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good Until It's Too Late."

This ought to be a happy moment for labor, notwithstanding the economic crisis. After eight years in the political wilderness during the Bush administration, it has a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president. It seems poised to squander that opportunity. Maybe it has already.

Start with labor's top legislative priority, the Employee Free Choice Act. When it comes to organizing workplaces, the legal playing field has tipped too heavily against unions.

Employers can intimidate workers out of supporting the union almost with impunity. Enforcement of the law against such conduct has been minimal, with penalties that are too mild and, in any event, far too late to deter strong-arm tactics. If a union wins recognition, employers can get away with seemingly endless bargaining without reaching a contract, reinforcing their argument to workers that the union doesn't do them any good.

There are any number of ways to improve this situation: meaningful enforcement and enhanced penalties for obstructing union
organizing or for failing to bargain in good faith; speeding up the election process so that employers don't have weeks to browbeat workers; giving unions more access to employees to make their case for joining up.

Labor, however, decided to stake it all on what it describes as "majority signup" and business calls "card check" -- a provision that would let unions be recognized if a majority of workers sign cards indicating their support. Business mounted a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign against what it portrayed as an un-American assault on election by secret ballot. Labor insisted on the provision, even though it did not have the necessary 60 votes in the Senate.

The debate over health care intervened, and now labor finds itself in a fix. Having insisted for months -- for years, actually -- that the card-check provision is central to improving the law, it is belatedly backing down and defining success downward. "It may, it may not be" part of the final legislation, the AFL-CIO's president-in-waiting, Richard Trumka, told a breakfast gathering sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor last week. The new essentials, according to Trumka, are increased penalties, stepped-up enforcement, and some kind of dispute resolution mechanism to make certain that contracts aren't delayed indefinitely.

In other words, exactly the kind of approach that AFL-CIO leaders once said was unacceptable without card check. If labor had been willing to take this kind of deal in the early spring, it might have a new labor law in place. Now, it will be lucky if Congress acts this year.

The same drama is playing itself out on health care -- albeit this time with more of a public split among labor leaders.

Even as President Barack Obama and other administration officials have signaled that they might need to abandon the public option, Trumka drew a line in the sand. "We won't support the bill if it doesn't have the public option in it," he said at a briefing last week. "Let me be as clear as I can be -- it's an absolute must."

It's hard for me to understand why this is the right line to draw -- especially for labor, whose workers are in group plans and would not be covered by a public option -- or why this is the right time to draw it.

On Friday, James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and no friend of Trumka's, took a different position in an interview with Al Hunt on Bloomberg Television. Hoffa said the absence of a public option is "not a deal-killer." Rather, he said, "We've got to find out what's doable. I think it's important to get something done this time and declare a victory."

Well, there's a new motto for labor. If it could implement this approach, there might even be something to celebrate next Labor Day.

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