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Hoffa: Extend Unemployment Insurance
Posted November 30, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said Wednesday that Congress should quickly vote to extend unemployment insurance benefits.

His comments followed a press conference in which unemployed workers and members of Congress urged the renewal of federal unemployment insurance programs past the Dec. 31 cut-off. U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, and Sander Levin, D-Mich., introduced H.R. 3346, which extends the federal unemployment insurance programs through next year. Unless Congress acts, more than 2 million American workers will lose their benefits by the middle of February. Six million will lose benefits by the end of 2012.

“Americans are suffering through the worst crisis of long-term unemployment since the Great Depression,” Hoffa said. “It’s time for Congress to get to work and help American workers who are going through serious hardship through no fault of their own.”  

Unemployment, now at 9 percent, has exceeded 8 percent for 33 months, the longest since the government began keeping records in 1948. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that letting federal unemployment benefits lapse at year end would depress consumer demand and cost 528,000 jobs.

“If we’re a decent society, we’ll help people who are struggling,” Hoffa said. “If we’re a rational society, we’ll put money in the pockets of people who will spend it, which will help create jobs.”

The Teamsters support the proposal, which would also relieve states of interest charges if they have federal unemployment insurance loans.

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Teamsters Urge Hours-Of-Service Rule That Creates Jobs, Save Lives
Posted: November 30, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today said federal regulators should put the health and welfare of American truck drivers above the greed of the trucking industry.

Hoffa’s comment came before a hearing on the truck driver hours-of-service rule before the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending.

In 2008, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) signed an agreement with safety advocates and the Teamsters Union to revise the rule. The rule, a “midnight regulation” made final in the waning days of the Bush administration, extended the hours truckers can drive from 10 hours to 11 hours.

According to FMCSA’s own regulatory analysis, reducing driving time to 10 hours would produce a gain of almost 40,000 jobs in the trucking industry.

“We need an hours-of-service rule that creates jobs, protects American workers and saves money and lives,” Hoffa said. “This is a no-brainer.  Longer hours behind the wheel may satisfy the greed of the trucking industry, but they’re dangerous for our members and the driving public.”

Fred McLuckie, Teamsters legislative director, said the physical and mental challenges of driving a large truck are even greater now than they were five years ago.

“Our drivers are more stressed than ever because of increased traffic volume, tighter delivery times and deteriorating road conditions,” McLuckie said at a Capitol Hill news conference before the hearing. “Highway congestion requires them to make decisions about braking, accelerating, changing lanes, merging onto and getting off highways more quickly.”

McLuckie said Congress should not get involved in what has been a protracted legal battle to force the FMCSA to issue an hours-of-service rule that’s based on sound scientific data and takes into account the health of the driver.

The percentage of fatal crashes that result from driver fatigue rose 20 percent in 2005 from 2004 – the first year in which the longer hours of driving were allowed.

The Bush rule raised the number of hours truckers can drive from 10 to 11 consecutive hours each shift, and from 60 to 77 hours of driving each week. The rule cut off-duty rest and recovery time at the workweek’s end from 50 or more hours off duty to as little as 34 hours off-duty.
Read the complete source story here

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Teamsters Support UK Strike By Public Sector Workers
Posted: November 30, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters are joining the National Nurses Union and other union members at the British Embassy today to stand in solidarity with the more than three million public sector workers on strike in the UK to protest government austerity measures and attacks on pensions there. View photos from this event.

“Unfortunately, this is a fight we also know all too well in the United States, and we are proud to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the UK as they fight to preserve their retirement security,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Politicians in the UK and here at home should not be slashing workers’ pensions to balance budget deficits caused by the corporate greed of banks and financiers.”

The British government has refused to negotiate over its plans to force public sector workers to contribute more toward their pensions and work longer before they can collect benefits.

“I am a proud Teamster member who is standing behind striking public sector workers in the UK,” said Diane Talley, an employee of the Washington Nursing Facility and a member of Teamsters Local 639 in Washington, D.C. “There is a war on workers being waged across the globe and we must all stand together.”

The demonstration at the British Embassy is being organized by National Nurses United in support of UNISON, the UK’s public sector employees union.

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Omni Air Flight Crews Ratify First Tentative Agreement
Posted: November 29, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Today, Omni Air International flight deck crew members, represented by the Airline Professionals Association (APA) Teamsters Local 1224 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Airline Division announced that they have ratified a tentative agreement for their first collective bargaining agreement. 

A tentative agreement was first reached in August, following more than three years of negotiations.  After being rejected by the membership in September, the agreement was amended to address key crew member concerns.  The amended provisions include a reduction in the number of duty days from 19 to 18 days, the retention of home-basing with travel provided from a crew member’s existing airport, and the duration of the contract was reduced from five years to four years.  The amended tentative agreement was ratified by the membership.

The new four-year contract provides for an average of 30 to 43 percent pay raises while retaining a home-basing system with gateway travel provided by the company, outstanding scope protections specifically tailored for Omni and its affiliates and subsidiaries, significant work rule improvements, and training improvements that incorporate the union training committee.

“We look forward to implementing this new contract and to a long-lasting, mutually-beneficial relationship with Omni Air,” said Clark Cameron, Local 1224s Omni Air Executive Council Chairman. 

This contract marks the first collective bargaining agreement for the flight crew members at Omni Air.  Along with improved wage provisions, the contract also affords seniority rights integral to job protection, dispute resolution procedures, and an orderly and equitable discipline process.

“I personally attended a few of these bargaining sessions, along with Airline Division Director David Bourne,” said APA Local 1224 President Joe Muckle.  “I know firsthand that this was a tough negotiating environment.  Our negotiations team came to the table well-prepared and did a phenomenal job representing the membership.” 

Omni Air International operates an expanding fleet of aircraft frequently providing services flying members of our armed services. 

The Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 represents the flight crew members of ABX Air, Atlas Air, Cape Air, Gulfstream International, Horizon Airways, Kalitta Air, Miami Air, Omni Air International, Polar Air Cargo, Southern Air and USA 3000.

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Northern California Stewards Seminar Is A Huge Success
Posted: November 29, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
On October 1, more than 200 stewards attended a one-day training on membership mobilization and mentoring, sponsored by Local 853 in San Leandro, California. 

Rome Aloise, Local 853 Secretary-Treasurer, welcomed the stewards and challenged them to view their role as a workplace organizer equally with their contract enforcement responsibilities. 

“Today, we must look beyond the walls of the workplace and unify workers under a common banner,” Aloise said. 

Stewards representing a variety of industries discussed ways to connect their members to the complex issues facing all Americans. The stewards found the seminar to be very useful and interesting.

“The most useful part of this program was the message of making it more about the collective not just the individual,” said steward Evencio Sanchez. 

Bobby Quinn agreed and said that he also learned new skills on how to get co-workers more active in union activities.

William Tarbox stated that he really appreciated learning additional “organizational skills.” 

Dianna Coughlin was also pleased with the program and found the discussion on tools for informing and approaching non-union members especially useful.

“Stewards have such an enormous responsibility in the labor movement and the leadership of Local 853 does all they can to show an appreciation for their efforts,” said Sally Payne, facilitator from the Teamsters Training and Development Department.  

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Knight: Teamsters' strength stands up to power
Posted: November 29, 2011
Source: Pekin Times
The Teamsters’ strike at US Foods in Streator may be over by the time this is out, but in less than a month, the union already has shown that a determined few can stand up for themselves; with their union brothers and sisters they can stand up to the rich and powerful; they can use traditional tactics, exemplified by the solidarity of sympathy strikes; and they also can be creative, resorting to actions such as “rolling strikes” — short work stoppages here and there where a common employer operates.

The country’s second-largest wholesale food distributor, US Foods forced the job action when the corporation not only continued to fail to bargain in good faith, the Teamsters say, but also retaliated against Streator workers. Specifically, a pair of workers went on strike after the company refused to negotiate and disciplined a worker.

Teamsters say US Foods maintenance worker Mike Vagasky was illegally disciplined for being absent. He was absent because he was participating in negotiations as a member of the bargaining team for Teamsters Local 722, which called an unfair labor practice strike Oct. 30.

After the strike at Streator that Sunday, warehouse employees and truck drivers at the plant, which employs almost 100 people, didn’t cross the Monday-morning picket line. A member then traveled to St. Louis to successfully picket US Foods’ center there. Tuesday he went to Fishers, Ind., to picket, and then Teamsters locals began sympathy strikes in Buffalo, N.Y., and Plymouth, Minn. Since, thousands of Teamster workers have honored picket lines there and in Maryland, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington state and Oregon.

The Teamsters represent about 4,000 workers at 25 US Foods distribution centers.

“Like the rest of the 99 percent in America, they are tired of being disrespected and having their rights under federal labor law violated while the private equity firms in the top 1 percent destroy their livelihood,” said Local 722 President Steve Mongan.

“We believe the illegal conduct of US Foods in Streator is part of a broader war the company is waging against its workers,” added a statement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters. “After its purchase by private equity investment firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, US Foods began a systematic campaign of harassment and intimidation against both its union and nonunion workers.”
Read the complete source story here.

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South Carolina gets low ratings in report on locating next Boeing jet plant
Posted: November 29, 2011
Source: Puget Sound Business Journal
When Washington aviation boosters issued a 121-page report earlier this month on where else Boeing might build its next plane, one of the surprises was which state got low grades.

It was South Carolina — the very place Boeing most recently picked to build a new jet.

That was among the more striking findings by consulting firm Accenture, hired by a panel appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire to report on how to get the upcoming Boeing 737 Max built in Washington.
Read the complete source story here (subscription required!)

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Teamsters Nationwide Tell 7-Eleven ‘It's Too High A Price To Pay For Fuel’
Posted: November 28, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Tankhaul drivers of Teamster local unions nationwide joined members of Local Union 986 as they hand billed Thanksgiving weekend customers outside of St. Louis, Chicago, Tacoma, Wash., and California 7-Elevens this morning to protest KAG West’s destruction of union jobs. KAG West supplies gasoline to 7-Eleven stores.

“It seems like KAG West doesn’t care about good jobs,” said Frank Basaldua, a tankhaul driver and member of Teamsters Local 986 in South El Monte, Calif. “They just want to cut, cut, cut – but that hasn’t stopped us from continuing to work safely and efficiently. That’s what we were hired to do.”

More than 380 tankhaul drivers working for KAG West are represented by Teamsters Local 986. The union and the company have been bargaining to achieve a first contract for over 14 months, but the company continues to delay contract talks or show up unprepared to bargain.

At last Saturday’s hand billing in front of 7-Elevens in Whittier, San Diego and other Southern California cities, 7-Eleven managers saw a steep decline in sales. Today, Teamster tankhaul drivers from local unions across the United States are rallying behind the contract bargaining for Local 986. Throughout the country, Teamsters represent more than 10,000 tankhaul drivers in every state.

“We know with the strength of our tankhaul members across the country behind us we will be able to turn the direction of these KAG West contract negotiations around for the better,” said Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 986.

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Republic Airways Pilots Give Authorization For Strike
Posted: November 26, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Pilots for three airlines owned by Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings [RAH/NASDAQ:RJET] voted to authorize their union leaders to call a strike against the company should it become necessary.

Members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 357 who fly for Chautauqua, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America overwhelmingly voted “yes” in a union-held strike authorization election that closed on Tuesday.

The vote does not mean that pilots will strike immediately. Union representatives and the company have been in federally mediated contract negotiations under the Railway Labor Act. 

This vote determines whether the Executive Council/Executive Board can exercise the pilots' legal right to strike at Republic Airways Holdings upon release from the National Mediation Board. The resulting “yes” vote authorizes the union leadership to call a strike should it become necessary but does not force the union to call a strike or make a strike inevitable. RAH pilots are working under a 2003 contract. The contract has been amendable since 2007.

Local 357’s leadership has willingly limited contract negotiations to four critical sections – outsourcing, compensation, displacements/vacancies and scheduling. Talks are currently in federal mediation per Railway Labor Act rules. All scheduled mediation sessions have concluded. The mediator has not yet decided whether to hold additional sessions or to recommend releasing the union and company from mediation to potential self-help/strike activity.

“We don’t want to strike,” explained Pat Gannon. “However, we need the company to understand that it is in everyone’s best interest to treat pilots fairly and with respect. We have pilots who work long hours, but still can’t feed their families.” 

Gannon explained that First Officer pay has topped out and continued increases in benefit costs have resulted in what is essentially a pay cut for many. 

“It’s sad that some of our pilots can make more money drawing unemployment than doing the professional job they have been trained for and were hired to do,” Gannon said.

With 98.86 percent of eligible pilots in the unit voting, 99.25 percent voted for strike authorization. More than 74 percent cast their vote on the first day.

RAH is the holding company for Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airways, Shuttle America and Frontier Airlines.  IBT Local No. 357 represents all pilots at Republic Airways.  However, Frontier Airlines is covered under a separate collective bargaining agreement and did not participate in this election.

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Teamsters expand lawsuit against Mexican trucks to add environmental claims
Posted: November 25, 2011
Source: The Washington Post
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday expanded its lawsuit against the government in a long-running battle that has stopped Mexican trucks from coming deep into the United States.

In papers filed in federal appeals court in Washington, the union said the government must first assess the environmental impact of a pilot project before letting it continue. The first Mexican truck in the pilot program crossed the border last month.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said opening the border to the trucks is an attack on the environment, on highway safety and on American truckers and warehouse workers. "It's outrageous enough that we've outsourced millions of jobs to foreign countries, but now we're bringing foreign workers here to take our jobs," Hoffa said in a statement. "This is another pressure the American middle-class doesn't need."
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters Sue to Close Border to Unsafe, Polluting Mexican Trucks
Posted: November 23, 2011
Source: Teamster.org

The Teamsters on Wednesday sued to block the U.S. Department of Transportation from opening the U.S. border to dangerous Mexican trucks through an illegal pilot program.

“Opening the border to these dangerous, dirty trucks is an attack on highway safety, an attack on American truckers and warehouse workers, an attack on border security and an attack on our environment,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “It’s outrageous enough that we’ve outsourced millions of jobs to foreign countries, but now we’re bringing foreign workers across the border into the United States to take our jobs. This is another pressure the American middle class doesn’t need.” 

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club challenged the program in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The suit claims the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration breaks the following laws:

• It waives a law that trucks must display certain proof that they meet federal safety standards.

• It breaks the law requiring the pilot program to achieve an equivalent level of safety because Mexican drivers don’t have to meet the same physical requirements as U.S. drivers.

• It breaks the law that Mexico must provide simultaneous and comparable access to U.S. trucks. Mexico cannot do so because of the limited availability of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in Mexico.

• It breaks the law that the pilot program must include enough participants to be statistically valid. The FMCSA’s proposal ensures that only the best Mexican trucks participate, which would allow it to justify letting any Mexican truck over the border in the future.

• It doesn’t comply with the environment requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act.

“Congress has repeatedly and overwhelmingly set tough safety conditions for any cross-border trucking program, and this one clearly doesn’t meet those conditions,” Hoffa said.

The pilot program got off to a rocky start when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration approved trucking operator Grupo Behr from Tijuana, Mexico. The carrier owned one 20-year-old semi-tractor trailer with numerous safety issues. FMCSA had to disqualify it from the program after the Teamsters Union and others brought Grupo Behr’s safety record to light. A second carrier, Transportes Olympic, of Monterrey, Mexico, started operating in the U.S. last month. Safety concerns have also been raised about Transportes Olympic.

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Labor-community economic agenda released
Posted: November 22, 2011
Source: The Stand
After consulting with its affiliated unions and community allies, the Washington State Labor Council will try something new in the special legislative session that begins Nov. 28 and the 2012 session. The WSLC will pursue a budget agenda in coordination with community, religious and small business groups that share labor’s concerns about all-cuts budgets harming our families and Washington’s economic future, and that agree that significant investment in public infrastructure is needed to create jobs now.

[...] Labor and other groups are joining together to demand that our primary task as a state must be to protect our communities by investing in jobs and public necessities, like education and health care.  In recent weeks, the WSLC and its allies have been reaching out to various organizations to urge their support for preserving our quality of life and rebuilding a strong state economy by pursuing the following agenda (PDF format):

1. Substantially increase revenue and utilize revenue bonding to protect critical services and jobs in education, health care and public safety.

2. Create 30,000 direct jobs, and many more indirectly, by building and repairing community assets — including public buildings, bridges, state parks, water and irrigation systems, and college campuses — with a $2 billion general obligation bond on the spring ballot.

3. End unjustified tax breaks that don’t create jobs, and reform our tax break system to make it more transparent and accountable.

The WSLC will join various community, religious and small business groups in explaining these proposals in more detail in coming weeks and in urging state lawmakers to end the partisan posturing, abandon the failed all-cuts approach to this crisis, and to fight to restore jobs, our quality of life and our economic future in Washington.
Read the source story here.

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Teamsters Tell 7-Eleven 'It's Too High a Price to Pay for Fuel'
Posted: November 20, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
Tankhaul drivers and members of Teamsters Local Union 986 in South El Monte, Calif. hand billed customers outside of area 7-Elevens this morning to protest KAG West’s destruction of union jobs. KAG West supplies gasoline to 7-Eleven stores.

“We want respect on the job, better pay and job security,” said Avery Scott, a tankhaul driver and member of Local 986. “KAG West has singled us out by taking back the hourly wage raise that they gave everyone else in the company. We all work hard for this company and we deserve better treatment.”

More than 380 tankhaul drivers working for KAG West are represented by Teamsters Local 986. The union and the company have been bargaining to achieve a first contract for over 14 months, but the company continues to delay contract talks or show up unprepared to bargain.

“It seems like KAG West doesn’t care about good jobs,” said Frank Basaldua, a tankhaul driver and member of Teamsters Local 986. “They just want to cut, cut, cut – but that hasn’t stopped us from continuing to work safely and efficiently. That’s what we we’re hired to do.”

Teamster tankhaul drivers from local unions across the United States are rallying behind the contract bargaining for Local 986. Throughout the country, Teamsters represent more than 10,000 tankhaul drivers in every state.

“Customers at 7-Eleven were surprised by the way KAG West was treating its employees,” said Chris Griswold, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 986. “We know with the strength of our members across the country behind us we will be able to turn the direction of these contract negotiations around for the better.”

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.4 million men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @teamsterpower.

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Hoffa Elected To Fourth Term By Overwhelming Margin
Posted: November 19, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, his running mate for General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall and their entire slate, were elected today by a wide margin in the 2011 Election of International Union Officers. According to unofficial results provided by the Office of the Election Supervisor, the Hoffa-Hall Slate defeated their two challengers with 60 percent of the vote.

“The members have spoken,” Hoffa said.  “This is not just our slate’s victory but a victory for all working Americans who are fighting to save America’s middle class. We traveled across this country to mobilize our members to fight the right-wing attack on workers. Teamster members responded because they know it is not workers who are to blame for the crisis facing America – it is the greed and corruption of big business and Wall Street and their bought and paid for puppets in Congress.

“Now that this election is completed we will intensify our efforts in the fight for all working families,” Hoffa added. “The Teamsters strength is in organizing the unorganized, fighting for strong health care, good wages, secure retirement, and holding employers and politicians accountable.”

Hall told supporters that he was humbled by the overwhelming support of the members and pledged to ramp up the campaign against corporate greed.

“We will never let up in the ongoing battle to provide good wages, benefits and working conditions for our 1.4 million members across North America, and organize tens of thousands of unrepresented workers. The right-wing corporate interests that are trying to destroy America’s middle class will find an energized and mobilized Teamsters Union that will fight to defend the principles that made this country great.”

The Hoffa-Hall Slate swept all five regions of the Union, the East, Central, South, West and Canada. 

Hoffa first took office following his victory in December 1998 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2006 by substantial margins. By winning today, Hoffa is elected to another five-year term that will begin in mid-March 2012.

Having held office for nearly 13 years, Hoffa is the third longest serving General President in the 108 year history of the Teamsters Union. Only Dan Tobin, who served for 47 years, and James R. Hoffa, who served for 14 years, have held office longer.

The country’s most recognized labor leader, Hoffa has been in the forefront in the fight to block anti-union legislation that popped up in states across the country following the 2010 off-year elections. He dubbed the right-wing offensive the “War on Workers” and has spent the last year leading rallies in Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Michigan and dozens of other states threatened by the anti-union forces.

Hoffa’s efforts culminated in the overwhelming victory for union members in Ohio this past Tuesday when Ohio voters defeated Issue 2, an anti-union measure that would have severely weakened collective bargaining rights for more than 350,000 public employees.

“Ohio voters sent a wake-up call to American politicians: If you try to blame workers for problems caused by Wall Street you will pay a price. If you attack workers, you will lose. But if you stand up and fight for the middle class, you can win,” Hoffa said.

Hoffa, Hall and their slate pledged to continue the progress the Teamsters have made in national bargaining, organizing and political action.

“2012 will be a watershed year for Teamsters and for this nation,” Hoffa said. “Under our leadership, the Teamsters Union will continue to be a force for change and will lead our nation in efforts to improve the lives of working families.”

Vote totals can be viewed at www.ibtvote.org .

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Fla. prison guards dump PBA, go with Teamsters
Posted: November 19, 2011
Source: The Miami Herald
Florida's prison guards and probation officers have dumped the Police Benevolent Association after more than three decades and are joining the Teamsters Union, according to election results released Thursday.

Teamster officials promised they'd be more aggressive in representing about 20,000 correctional and probation officers in collective bargaining with the state.

Like most state workers, corrections employees haven't had a general pay raise in six years. This year, they also are taking what amounts to a 3 percent pay cut due to a new pension contribution requirement.

"These are tough times and they wanted a tough union to represent them," said Teamsters general president Jim Hoffa during a teleconference with reporters. "This is Teamsters power."

The switch in representation will take place Dec. 1 unless an appeal is filed before then with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission.

The Teamsters were chosen by 55.4 percent of the 7,391 employees who submitted ballots out of 18,939 eligible voters. PBA was second with 40.8 percent. The Sarasota-based International Union of Police Associations received 1.6 percent while 2 percent voted for no union.
Read the complete source story here

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Teamster organizing victory: A tough union for tough times
Posted: November 17, 2011
Source: Teamster Nation
We have more details about our 20,000 new Teamster brothers and sisters -- correctiona, probation and parole officers -- with the Florida Department of Corrections. 

The vote for Teamsters Local 2011 was a decisive win over the Police Benevolent Association and the International Union of Police Associations. Teamsters General President Hoffa called it "a great day for Teamsters and FDOC officers."

FDOC officers have shown that in tough times, they want a tough union to represent them. On behalf of the 1.4 million Teamster members, I congratulate these officers for joining the growing movement of public service workers nationwide seeking Teamster power.

One of the most active organizers was Glynn Reeder, a sergeant with the Florida State Prison in Raiford. He said the Teamsters showed how they could make positive change when they work together.

Now that we’ve won the election, we need to get everyone to become an active member of our new union so FDOC officers can change our destiny.

The FDOC officers will belong to the newly chartered Local 2011 in Tampa, which will represent only them. Said Ken Wood, the acting president (and International vice president):

These officers go to work every day to keep our communities safe and they deserve the best representation, which Local 2011 will provide.

Becky Pastor, a probation and parole officer, is energized by the Teamster victory.

I’m very excited that all of us came together—probation, parole and correctional officers—to unite for a better future with the Teamsters. We’ve learned that we are the union and it’s up to us to make the change we need. 

Read more here.

And again, welcome!!

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November 17th 'Jobs Not Cuts!' Bridge March
Posted: November 16, 2011

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Teamsters Continue Strike For Justice At US Foods
Posted: November 16
Source: Teamster.org
More than 2,000 Teamster workers have honored picket lines in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Colorado and Maryland that resulted from a strike that began Sunday, Oct. 30 at a US Foods warehouse in Streator, Ill. The strike extensions and pickets have continued over the past three weeks at 12 US Foods facilities across the country.

At the center of the picket extensions is Mike Vagasky, a member of Local 722 in La Salle, Ill. and a maintenance worker at US Foods in Streator. The strike began in response to the company’s violations of Federal labor laws, which include disciplining a Streator employee for being absent while he was in contract negotiations with the company as a member of the bargaining committee for Teamsters Local 722.

“An injury against one is an injury against all,” said Teamsters Warehouse Division Director John Williams. “Teamsters across the country will not stand for the kind of bullying behavior US Foods is demonstrating.”

Vagasky extended his picketing to Bensenville, Ill. last Friday at 2 a.m., which was honored by members of Local 705. On Monday, Vagasky picketed at the US Foods warehouse where he works in Streator, Ill. His picket line was honored by fellow members of Teamsters Local 722 for 20 hours. Vagasky also extended picket lines in US Foods warehouses in St. Louis, Mo., Fishers, Ind. and Englewood, Colo.

In Severn, Md., nearly 300 members of Teamsters Local 355 and 570 refused to cross the picket line at US Foods yesterday afternoon, honoring a sympathy picket established by Teamsters Local 311 in support of Vagasky and other custodial workers at the US Foods Streator facility.

US Foods, which distributes food and related products to restaurants, military bases and hospitals, is owned by private equity giants KKR and CD&R. KKR and CD&R purchased US Foods (then U.S. Foodservice) in 2007, then saddled US Foods with approximately $5 billion in debt.

“After KKR and CD&R purchased US Foods, they have done nothing but bully, harass and intimidate its workers,” Williams said. “These private equity companies are part of the top 1 percent who are destroying jobs all over America. Our members are part of the 99 percent and refuse to stand for this kind of economic and social injustice.”

The Teamsters represent approximately 4,000 employees at US Foods at 25 distribution centers throughout the nation.

For more information, visit www.USFoodsWorkers.org and www.flickr.com/photos/usfoodsworkers   

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Teamsters Vote Official Support Of Occupy Wall Street
Posted: November 16, 2011
Source: Teamster.org
The General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters unanimously passed a resolution today supporting the right of protesters at Occupy Wall Street to assemble at Liberty Park. The Teamsters further commended New York Supreme Court Judge Lucy Billings for issuing a restraining order this morning restoring protesters’ constitutional rights.

“You can draw a direct line from the Wisconsin protests in the winter to Occupy Wall Street to the overwhelming rejection of an anti-union ballot question in Ohio,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Occupy Wall Street is bringing new energy to a fight that labor has been engaged in from the beginning: The fight for an economy that works for everybody, not just the 1 percent.”

Today’s vote by the Teamsters’ 24-member General Executive Board came at an already-scheduled meeting at the union’s headquarters in Washington. The board, after learning of the evictions, which included a New York City councilman and a district leader, immediately ordered a resolution of support be drafted.

Hoffa said rank-and-file Teamsters have participated in Occupy Wall Street actions throughout the country. Teamsters protected encampments in San Francisco and New York, fed Occupy Oakland, led rallies in Cleveland and Chicago, marched in Occupy Chattanooga and supported the movement from Maine to California. Occupy Wall Street protesters have taken direct action against Sotheby’s for locking out 43 Teamsters art handlers in New York, while Occupy Chicago protesters rallied against private-equity firm Madison Dearborn in Chicago.
Read the source story here.

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'Jobs, Not Cuts' rally on Thursday in Seattle
Updated: November 16, 2011
Posted: November 15, 2011
Source: The Stand
Three years after Wall Street wrecked our economy, millions are still out of work, and the gap between the top 1% and the rest of us continues to grow. But instead of doing their part to get the economy moving again, Congress and the State Legislature are pushing billions more in cuts. And the big banks and big corporations are only making things worse.

This Thursday, Nov. 17 , more than 1,000 workers, unemployed people, students, retirees, faith leaders and others are expected to join together at the Montlake Bridge to say “enough is enough — this is an economic emergency for the 99%, and we need our elected officials to stop the cuts, create jobs, and make Wall Street banks pay!” This event is part of a National Day of Action for the 99% including events in 34 cities.

TAKE A STAND! Attend Thursday’s rally at 4 p.m. at the corner of Montlake Blvd NE & NE Pacific Street, immediately across Montlake Blvd from Husky Stadium. (Refreshments will be served beginning at 3:30 p.m.) Participants will march to Montlake Bridge at 4:30 p.m. Download the event flier.

Thursday’s rally comes at a key moment in the state and federal budget timelines. The updated state revenue forecast due out that very morning could set the stage for still-more proposed cuts to education, health care, and other services. Less than a week later, the supercommittee led by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is due to produce a report that could include huge proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs.

The 99% are living through an economic emergency. But our elected officials don’t seem to notice. Instead of creating the good jobs we need, they’re spending their time protecting tax loopholes and pushing for ever-deeper budget cuts that would eliminate jobs and undermine health care, education, and other critical services.

On Nov. 17, please join us as the 99% converge at the Montlake Bridge to stand up for good jobs and say “Enough! We need jobs, not cuts!”

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D.C. Teamsters Help Veterans in Need
Posted: November 14, 2011
Source: Teamster Magazine
Local 639 recently teamed up with the D.C. Office of Veterans Affairs (OVA) to aid homeless veterans in Washington, D.C. OVA helped out homeless local veterans by housing them in government homes in D.C. The housing didn’t have any furniture, though, and that’s where Local 639 stepped in.

“President Tommy Ratliff and I went and met with the Office of Veterans Affairs in D.C. I basically said, ‘Look, why do we have homeless vets?’ That was my first question,” said John Gibson, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 639 in D.C. “Then we talked about how the Teamsters Union could help these guys.”

Gibson said the local was first contacted about the need for furniture for these vets by Helmets to Hardhats, a national program the Teamsters Union supports that offers job assistance and training opportunities for union jobs to veterans.

OVA told Gibson about warehouses full of old furniture from military bases that was going to be crushed and thrown away. The vets could have that furniture, but OVA didn’t have the time or money to move it. Furniture was also donated by area nonprofits and individuals.

“They asked if we could help and we said absolutely,” Gibson said. “We coordinated with YRC, who let us use a YRC truck every week, primarily on weekends.

“Every Saturday, we’ve been going up to the warehouse and loading the truck with bedding, dressers, tables, refrigerators—whatever they need,” Gibson said. “We take a crew of volunteers out and do three or four stops every Saturday.” The Teamster volunteers didn’t take a break over a holiday weekend, instead spending Veterans Day weekend continuing their efforts to honor veterans.
Read the complete source story here

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Montlake Bridge Rally November 17th
Our bridges need work. So do we.
Posted: November 14, 2011
We have a jobs crisis here in Washington. But instead of doing their part to get the economy moving again, Congress and the State Legislature are making more cuts.

We need to get people working on the jobs that need to get done. The Jobs Act proposed by President Obama would invest $50 billion in immediate projects like fixing roads, bridges, and mass transit to get people working and get the economy moving. It wouldn't solve all our problems, but it's a big step in the right direction.

But some politicians keep saying no to jobs. Instead of getting us back to work, they're demanding cuts to Social Security, health care, and education — cuts that we simply can't afford.

On November 17, people from across the area will converge at the functionally obsolete Montlake Bridge to demand our political leaders build bridges to good jobs — not make more cuts. Join us.

Join us at the Montlake Bridge on November 17th. Together, we'll make politicians understand how serious our jobs crisis is. RSVP online.

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Class War? Occupy Wall Street, Unions Protest at Sotheby's–8 Arrested
Posted: November 10, 2011
Source: The New York Observer
You could hear them a block away; their whistles and chants preceded them. About a hundred protesters stood outside Sotheby's at the beginning of the auction house's contemporary evening sale, the last important art sale of the year. "We're fired up! Won't take it no more!" The crowd outside Sotheby's was made up of N.Y.P.D., the auction house's security, students from Hunter College, union members and Scabby, the oversize balloon rat who never seems to miss a strike, as well as a Scabby-sized balloon fat cat who squeezed a cigar in one paw and a union worker in the other. Picketers hoisted cutouts of the heads of Sotheby's COO and CEO at the ends of long poles.

Most of the well-heeled buyers came from the north side, some shielding their eyes from the flashlights and camera flashes as they walked down a gauntlet of security guards. The women were mostly blond, dressed in black pencil skirts and clunking on tall black heels; the men were nondescript in suits and perhaps a coat. Some clutched the phonebook-sized sale guide; one woman jogged down the line as the protesters shouted "run!" Another woman looked horrified as a protester blocked her path inside; she tried to move around him, but was blocked by another protester who started blowing his whistle in her face. A Sotheby's staffer grabbed her and escorted her to the door, where she was further inconvenienced by being asked to provide ID. Once inside, we watched her recount the trauma to a Sotheby's concierge, who nodded along incredulously.

"Shame on you!" the protesters shouted at the one percent. "Go home!" An older gentleman standing near The Observer gave an enthusiastic thumbs down accompanied by a resounding "booooo!" One man on the other side of The Observer gave the Sotheby's clients the finger, only to have a curly, gray-haired buyer with a checkered scarf rise to the occasion with a French-accented, "Fuck you! Fuck you!"

Once inside, the gray-haired man stood behind the glass like a kid at the zoo, sticking out his tongue, mouthing obscenities, then zealously grasping an imaginary phallus, pumping it a few times into his mouth before he grew bored or realized there were cameras, at which point he walked toward the escalator that lead into the auction. "He's in Sotheby's a lot," said one of the Teamsters who used to be art handlers at Sotheby's before the auction house locked out its workers in August.
Read the complete source story here.

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More arrests at Sotheby's tonight, 'hair raising vibe'
Posted: November 10, 2011
Source: Teamster Nation
We're just not sure how many people got, or are getting arrested, tonight at Sotheby's, where months ago the 1% running the auction house threw 43 Teamsters art handlers out of work just because they could.

We are sure that Teamsters, union allies, students and OWSers are making Sotheby's and their customers very, very uncomfortable tonight. For a little while we watched the livestream of tonight's protest at Sotheby's here.  We saw the sidewalks just swarming with police officers. We heard the "vibe is hair raising." And this:

@catherina_guate #Sotheby's tonight was most ballistic action I have seen at #OWS

According to the live feed, it seemed the law enforcement officers getting OT to protect Sotheby's entitled jerks are not exactly enthusiastic about the entitled jerks.
Read the source story here.

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Nationally, Voters Have Their Say
Posted: November 8, 2011
Source: The Olympian
Kentucky and Mississippi refused Tuesday to turn their governors' offices over to different parties, despite the nation's stubborn economic woes, and Ohio restored full bargaining rights to hundreds of thousands of public employees in a major victory for organized labor.

A Mississippi initiative that would have defined life as beginning at conception went down to defeat, halting supporters' plans to use it to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established the right to abortion.

Across the nation, voters' last major judgments of 2011 were closely watched for any hints about the public's political mood just two months ahead of the first presidential primary and nearly four years into the worst economic slowdown since the Depression.

Kentucky's Democratic governor easily won another term, and Mississippi voters kept their governor's office in GOP hands - decisions that suggested many Americans were not ready to abandon incumbent parties.

In Ohio, a new law that severely limited the bargaining rights of more than 350,000 teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees was repealed. The defeat was a stiff blow to Gov. John Kasich and cast doubt on other Republican governors who have sought union-limiting measures as a way to curb spending.

"Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.

Kasich congratulated his opponents and said he would consider his next steps carefully.
Read the complete source story here.

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Hoffa On Ohio vote
Posted: November 8, 2011
Source: Teamster Nation
Here's what he had to say about tonight's tremendous victory in Ohio:

"Ohio voters just sent a wake-up call to American politicians: If you try to blame workers for problems caused by Wall Street, you will pay a price. If you attack workers, you will lose. And if you stand up and fight for the middle class, you will win.

“John Kasich thought he could get away with blaming workers for a budget deficit caused by Wall Street greed. He was dead wrong. Now he’s one of the most unpopular governors in the country. Ohio voters understand that nurses and snowplow drivers and firefighters don’t go to work for the government to get rich. Ohioans showed on Tuesday that they won’t stand for attacks on middle-class workers. I’m sure they’re no different from voters in any other state.

“For the first time in history, collective bargaining for government workers was approved in a statewide ballot. This election shows the public supports workers’ right to for a union in order to bargain with their employer. It’s a huge victory for all middle-class working families in Ohio.

“The Teamsters are grateful to the voters of Ohio for their support. And I’m proud of the Teamsters who worked so hard to collect signatures and to get out the vote. Most of the 55,000 Teamsters in Ohio work for private companies, but they showed tremendous solidarity with their fellow Teamsters who work for the government and with all public workers."

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Labor-Community summit on jobs and the economy
Posted: November 7, 2011
As the economic crisis in this country - and globally - continues, we're seeing more and more resistance to the growing inequalities.  The Occupy movement has clearly struck a chord.  It's been reflected in everything from street actions to widespread shifting of funds from predatory banks into credit unions; from labor-based struggles demanding an equitable tax system and end to attacks on public workers, to campus actions to maintain public education; to community fights for housing, health care and jobs.

It's an exciting opportunity for labor, community, student and faith communities to join together for a genuine people's movement.

Labor, community, small business, faith and student communities in the Puget Sound will hold a forum at the Machinists District 751 Hall on Monday, November 14th (1-3 PM).

The forum is cosponsored by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Washington Community Action Network (Washington CAN); Main Street Alliance; Casa Latina; One America; and the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans. There is no charge for the forum, and no advance registration is required.  But if you can join us at the forum, please RSVP to Jan Hays at the Washington State Labor Council, or contact her for more information: jhays@wslc.org.

There will be brief presentations on a broad range of issues, including:

• unemployment and the economy
• wage theft and the underground economy
• Occupy Wall Street
• attacks on the public sector
• the public safety net
• small business perspective
• immigrant workers
• revenue options
• transportation
• WPA-type construction bounds
• caring across generations
• green economy
• aerospace
• State Investment Trust
• fair trade

There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion on both the nature of the problems and potential solutions.  Please plan to take part in this important forum if you’re able.

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South Jersey workers back Ill. action
Source: Courier Post Online
Posted: November 6, 2011
Warehouse workers and truck drivers at US Foods halted deliveries of food Friday morning in sympathy with striking employees in Illinois. US Foods distributes food and related products to restaurants, military bases and hospitals in the greater Philadelphia and New York areas. About 700 Teamsters work at the South Jersey location on High Hill Road and another US Foods facility in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County.

[...] More than 1,500 Teamsters have honored picket lines this week at US Foods in Indiana, Minnesota, Washington State, St. Louis and Buffalo, N.Y. Similar sympathy strikes will “likely be extended to other locations across the country in the days to come,” according to a statement from Philadelphia-based Teamsters Local 628.

US Foods employs about 4,000 Teamsters at about 25 sites.
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters' Strike At US Foods Spreads To Colorado, Washington
Source: Teamster Nation
Posted: November 5, 2011
Teamsters are now refusing to cross a US Foods strike line held overnight during a blizzard in Englewood, Colo., and a line in Fife, Wash. Their contracts require them to notify their employer 72 hours before they can honor the picket line.

In the past six days, nearly half of the 4,000 Teamsters who work at US Foods have struck. They've shown heroic solidarity with maintenance workers who struck in Illinois on Sunday over unfair and illegal treatment by US Foods. The strike spread to Buffalo, N.Y., and St. Louis, Mo., then to Plymouth, Minn., and Fishers, Ind. This morning, Teamsters formed picket lines at three New Jersey warehouses in Bridgeport, Perth Amboy and Swedesboro.

Messages of solidarity and support can be found on the Teamsters Facebook page:

Vicki Fay Union now. Union forever.

Chet Grzesnikowski Unity baby

Rick Maginnis As a former driver of 30 yrs at U S Foods LA I'm with you brothers an sisters all the way , give them hell an stand tall an strong

@oneunionmom tweeted:

My son and daughters are learning a lot these days - they sure know which side we're on.

Here's the latest Teamsters news release about the strike:

At the Fife facility, more than 100 members of Teamsters Local 117 walked off the job early today, honoring a picket line established by Teamsters Local 174 in Tukwila.

In Englewood, more than 200 members of Teamsters Local 455 walked off the job at US Foods at noon today. They are honoring a picket line set by Teamsters Joint Council 3 in Denver.

Two additional Teamster locals in Oregon and Washington have also notified US Foods that they will honor picket lines if any are extended to facilities where their members work or deliver product.

More than 1,800 Teamsters have now honored picket lines at US Foods facilities in Illinois, Missouri, New York, Indiana, Minnesota, and New Jersey.

Follow it closely on the USfoods Workers Facebook page or the website, http://www.usfoodsworkers.org/. And see more photos here.

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Seattle shipyard to build state's newest ferry
Source: The Everett Herald
Posted: November 3, 2011:
Work is scheduled to begin early next year on a new 144-car ferry.

The state ferry system reached an agreement with Vigor Industrial of Seattle, formerly Todd Shipyards, on Tuesday to build the $147 million vessel.

Construction is expected to take 27 months, placing completion of the boat in spring 2014.

Also this week, the state took delivery of the Kennewick, a 64-car vessel slated to take over for the Chetzemoka on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route in January. The Kennewick was completed three months ahead of schedule.
Read the complete source story here.

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Senate Republicans Kill Rebuild America Act
Source: AFL-CIO Now Blog
Posted: November 3, 2011:
For the third time in a month, Senate Republicans killed legislation which would have put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work. The 51-49 vote fell well short of the 60 votes needed to break their filibuster against the jobs-creating Rebuild America Act.

The legislation would have created jobs immediately by investing $50 billion to repair and rebuild the nation’s roads, rails and airports, establish a national infrastructure bank to fund a broad range of projects and asked millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. It also would have created an infrastructure bank to fund future projects.

AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Edward Wytkind says:

The legislation is overwhelmingly supported by the general public. And yet, proving once again they are out of touch with voters, Senate Republicans—in the face of a stalled economy—voted as a block to kill this jobs bill.

Americans once again saw their senators curry favor with millionaires and billionaires who are being asked in this legislation to pay a little more so our economy can turn around.

Last week Republicans blocked the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act, which would have created or protected nearly 400,000 education jobs while preventing the layoffs of thousands of police officers and firefighters. On Oct. 10, Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s American Job s Act.

Meanwhile, the Senate Republican response to the job crisis is a plan that centers on tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, the rollback of essential federal regulations—including Wall Street reform—and the repeal of health care reform.
Read the source story here

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Occupy Oakland: Teamsters get the festivities done
Source: Teamster Nation
Posted: November 3, 2011
The Day of Solidarity Action in Oakland drew thousands for what was largely a happy, peaceful protest against corporate greed.  It was hard to tell how many Teamsters swarmed onto Frank Ogawa Plaza, but we know our brothers and sisters from Locals 70, 315, 439, 853 and 856 were there.

Our friends in the mainstream media of course played up the tensions that emerged later in the evening. Small groups of provocateurs caused some trouble, and protesters tried to stop them, according to The Oakland Tribune:

As marchers approached the Whole Foods Market near Lake Merritt, a small group of people in black infiltrated the group, smashing the windows and throwing paint at the store.

Other demonstrators who had marched to Whole Foods enveloped the agitators, forcing them to stop. Fist-fights broke out. No one went inside; the store closed before the crowd arrived.

After the incident, the crowd continued to move down Grand Avenue. Protesters on Twitter appear to be trying to find the people responsible for the vandalism.

Read the rest of the source story here.

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26 Toll Group Drivers Fired for Organizing; Pay Stolen
Source: Teamster.org
Posted: November 3, 2011
On October 27, drivers at Toll Group went to work wearing Teamster t-shirts to show their support for forming a union with Teamsters Local 848 in Covina, California. A delegation of drivers approached Toll management to demand recognition of their union while outside the company’s San Pedro facilities a delegation of more than 200 Teamsters, community residents, environmental activists and labor allies rallied in support of the drivers, ready to deliver a petition bearing 1,000 signatures urging justice for these men and women. The company’s response came two days later: 26 of the 70 drivers that worked for the company were fired and handed a final paycheck. And to add insult to injury, when workers went to cash or deposit those checks they learned that they were drawn on a non-existent account!

Australian Trip Doesn't Help
With his last $8 in his wallet, Alberto Quiteno said goodbye to his wife and teenage daughters last Friday and traveled 8,000 miles to Melbourne to plea to his employer, the Australian logistics giant, Toll Group, for humane working conditions  in the United States.

In his carry-on, Alberto had carefully packed a petition  signed by 62 (out of 75) co-workers that local management had previously refused to accept. Along with it was a copy of a letter  he sent to Toll Group CEO Paul Little before his journey to outline the mistreatment and local management missteps. Hearing no response, Alberto headed to LAX and boarded a plane, joined by officials representing America’s largest transportation union, the 1.4 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

It took an overseas pilgrimage to grab front-section seating at the $8.6 billion corporation’s annual shareholder meeting to nab the undivided attention of the top brass. Alberto even landed a meeting with Mr. Little and another top executive, CFO Brian Kruger. Mission accomplished? Wrong. The 17-year port driver was stunned to learn he had no job to return to once he flew home.

That’s right, after a 30-minute face-to-face and cordial encounter with the retiring executive and his successor, Quiteno—along with 25 other Toll drivers—were all sacked.

The final paychecks of “The Toll 26” were dated and cut on Thursday, October 27, when employees from both the day and night shifts, in a show of unity, clocked in to work wearing T-shirts of the union they desperately want to represent them. That same afternoon 200 community residents, environmental and labor advocates picketed  in support of the drivers outside the company’s San Pedro facilities, complete with 1,000 hand-gathered signatures urging justice for the workers who are the backbone of the port economy.

The workers filed another set of retaliation charges at the labor board on Monday, adding a new layer to an ongoing federal investigation. But first, some more backstory from Down Under.

The Toll shareholder meeting was quite the spectacle. Alberto’s allies roamed inside the halls circulating a new white paper  by investor analysts with evidence that Toll’s instigation of a contentious low-road relationship with their truck drivers at American ports—at odds with their constructive labor approach in Australia—is a risky move that impairs the company’s reputation, operations, and relations with their retail customers.

Outside, Aussie Toll employees and officials from the Transport Workers Union staged a “sausage sizzle.” It was a lampoon-like BBQ fundraiser for their cash-strapped mates in the U.S., larded with a heavy point: Toll’s non-union employees at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newark and New Jersey do not earn a fair day’s wage for a hard day’s work like their 12,000 unionized counterparts in Australia.

And in the virtual arena, the Teamsters and the Transport Workers Union together launched a website  to detail the grim truth at Toll Group in their new joint effort, aptly titled GrimTruthAtTollGroup.com .

The result of Alberto’s presence and his backers? Mr. Little was forced to publicly defend his actions which include banishing his truck drivers to filthy, unsanitary outhouses that lack running water. There would be no “riding off into the sunset” for Mr. Little after what should have been his final “legacy” presentation to shareholders,  thanks in part to the scrutiny and negative press of Toll’s U.S. operations.

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Teamsters Strike At US Foods; Picket Lines Spread To Indiana, Minnesota, Washington
Source: Teamster.org
Posted: November 2, 2011
After striking US Foods workers extended picket lines from Streator, Ill. to St. Louis, Mo. and Buffalo, N.Y. on Tuesday, Nov. 1, the picket lines were extended again last night and early this morning to Fishers, Ind., Plymouth, Minn., and Fife, Wash.

More than 830 Teamster-represented warehouse workers and drivers have now honored the picket lines at the US Foods locations in Illinois, Missouri, New York, Indiana and Minnesota. In Fife, Wash., the union gave notice that it intends to honor the picket lines starting Friday morning.

On Sunday, maintenance workers in Streator struck US Foods in response to the company’s unfair labor practices, which include retaliating against employees for engaging in union activity. US Foods disciplined a Streator employee for being absent while he was in contract negotiations with the company as part of the bargaining committee for Teamsters Local 722.

Yesterday, one of the maintenance workers traveled to St. Louis, Mo. to extend the picket line to US Foods’ distribution center there. In Buffalo, N.Y., Teamsters Local 375 held a sympathy strike at the local US Foods facility, as did Teamsters Local 174 at the Fife, Wash. US Foods warehouse.

Last night, the striking member of Local 722 traveled to Fishers, Ind. to extend the picket line to US Foods’ local distribution center. In Plymouth, Minn., Teamsters Local 638 began a sympathy strike at the US Foods facility there early this morning.

US Foods, which distributes food and related products to restaurants, military bases and hospitals, is owned by private equity giants KKR and CD&R. KKR and CD&R purchased US Foods (then U.S. Foodservice) in 2007, then saddled US Foods with approximately $5 billion in debt.

“I’ve worked at US Foods for 28 years,” said striking US Foods worker Mike Vagasky. “I don’t want to strike, but these top 1 percent private equity companies have done nothing but harass and intimidate us. As a worker, I’m part of the 99 percent in America and I can’t stand by any more while our jobs are destroyed.”

The Teamsters represent approximately 4,000 employees at US Foods at 25 distribution centers throughout the nation.

For more information, visit www.USFoodsWorkers.org .

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First Student Drivers, Monitors Join Teamsters Local 610
Source: Teamster.org
Posted: November 2, 2011

School bus drivers in Washington, Mo. voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 610 on Wednesday. The 95 drivers and monitors are seeking fair wages, a voice on the job and an end to favoritism.

“My co-coworkers and I are hard working men and women who deserve to be treated fairly and with respect. We should share in some of the wealth of this corporation because we help make this company successful each and every day,” said First Student driver James Parson. “Now that we’re Teamsters, we will have a voice.”

The organizing committee of workers worked hard together throughout the campaign, rallying support behind their successful effort to gain Teamster representation. 

“The committee is very strong. These workers really showed a united front throughout their entire organizing campaign,” said Jeffrey Hall, Vice President and Business Agent at Local 610. “I’m excited to welcome these workers to the Local 610 family.”

The victory is the latest in an effort to organize private school bus and transit workers across the country. Drive Up Standards is a national campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more than 30,900 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.

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US Foods strike spreads to St. Louis, Buffalo
Source: Teamster Nation
Posted: November 1, 2011
The maintenance workers' strike at US Foods that began in Streator, Ill., on Sunday is spreading to Buffalo and St. Louis today. Teamsters represented at US Foods facilities there can refuse to cross primary picket lines. In a stirring show of solidarity, all 265 workers in St. Louis and Buffalo -- and all 95 warehouse workers in Streator -- are refusing to cross the picket lines.

We prefer to think of KKR and CD&R as "fast buck artists." "War profiteers" works for us too. US Foods was actually charged with ripping off the U.S. Defense Department and Veterans' Administration. The company had contracts to supply American troops at military bases and overcharged U.S. taxpayers. Of course corporate wrongdoers never land in prison. They just agree to multi-million dollar settlements -- a pittance compared with the size of their plunder -- without admitting guilt. That's what happened with US Foods. The company agreed to a $30 million dollar settlement with the Department of Justice.

But we digress. The strike will probably spread. Our US Foods brothers in Fife, Wash., can't honor the picket line until Friday morning, but the picket "line" went up this morning. Here's a photo:

We close with a tweet from our brother @longhairedfool:

"I dont want USF to fail...but those greedy heartless bastards need to learn how to appreciate the workers they feed off"

Read complete source story here.

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Federal Labor Law Violations Provoke Teamsters Strike at U.S. Foods
Source: Teamster.org
Posted: November 1, 2011
US Foods workers were forced to strike the nation’s second largest foodservice distributor this weekend in response to the company’s unfair labor practices, which include retaliating against employees for engaging in union activity and refusal to bargain in good faith with Teamsters Local 722 in La Salle, Ill. 

US Foods disciplined a worker for being absent while he was in contract negotiations with the company as part of the bargaining committee. U.S. Foods, which distributes food and related products to restaurants, military bases and hospitals, is owned by private equity giants KKR and CD&R. 

Maintenance workers at US Foods’ facility in Streator, Ill. struck on Sunday, then extended pickets today to US Foods distribution centers in St. Louis, Mo. and Buffalo, N.Y. Teamster-represented US Foods employees at these facilities can refuse to cross legal, primary pickets. The 95 warehouse workers and drivers in Streator, as well as the 265 workers in St. Louis and Buffalo, are refusing to cross the picket lines. 

“The workers at US Foods care about this company and its customers,” said Local 722 President Steve Mongan. “They don’t want to strike, but like the rest of the 99 percent in America, they are tired of being disrespected and having their rights under federal labor law violated while the private equity firms in the top 1 percent destroy their livelihood.” 

Private equity firms KKR and CD&R purchased US Foods (then U.S. Foodservice) in 2007. The private equity purchase saddled US Foods with approximately $5 billion in debt. 

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is investigating several alleged labor law violations committed by the company, including bargaining in bad faith. In 2009, Region 28 of the NLRB cited the company for violating federal labor law almost 200 times during a union-organizing effort in Phoenix. 

More recently, the company agreed to a $30 million dollar settlement with the Department of Justice in the face of charges that it fraudulently overcharged the Department of Defense and Veterans’ Administration under contracts to supply American servicemen and servicewomen at military bases.

“Unfortunately, the situation in Illinois isn’t an isolated case,” said Teamsters Warehouse Division Director John Williams. “Since its purchase by private equity investment firms, US Foods has increasingly tried to intimidate, harass and bully its employees to the detriment of both workers and customers.”

The Teamsters represent approximately 4,000 employees at US Foods at 24 distribution centers throughout the nation.

For more information, visit www.USFoodsWorkers.org .

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