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April 2012


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Walmart's Mexican bribery scandal has consequences in American cities
Posted: April 30, 2012
source: Daily Kos
Walmart's Mexican bribery scandal is having repercussions in the United States. Though Walmart does not, thus far, face charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it is facing increased scrutiny as it tries to move into or expand in a number of locations. Within the United States, Walmart has increasingly focused on moving into big cities since it has saturated the suburban and rural markets already, and it has spread around contributions to elected officials to ease its way around the political obstacles presented by organized opposition in cities. Now, there's increased attention to those contributions, and Walmart opponents have an added tool:

In New York, City Councilman Erik Dilan said the housing and buildings committee that he heads will conduct an investigation into a land-use transfer at a Brooklyn site Wal-Mart has been considering. The New York state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, was already reviewing a contract for the site, a vacant 14-acre lot in East New York owned by the state.

In Los Angeles, opponents of a Wal-Mart site in Chinatown were using the bribery scandal to supplement an appeal they have filed that would rescind the project’s building permit.

In the Boston area, Wal-Mart is eyeing three possible stores, in Somerville and Watertown and in the Roxbury neighborhood. Leaders of the local anti-Wal-Mart coalition are now demanding that the company publicly identify its financial contributions to elected officials, local organizations and community leaders.

It's unlikely there will ever be a single knockout blow against Walmart, but the company's practices are so shoddy on so many fronts that it provides a lot of targets to win small battles, to impose costs for the ways it grows by abusing workers, breaking laws or skating right along the edge of law-breaking, and buying its way into new markets.

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Obama talks infrastructure and jobs to Building Trades unions
Posted: April 30, 2012
Source: Daily Kos
A relaxed and confident President Obama spoke to the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department's legislative conference Monday morning, diverging substantially from his planned remarks to add jokes and swats at Republican leaders. A large part of the speech was framed around how Republican refusal to invest is causing America to fall behind:

But here’s the thing—as a share of the economy, Europe invests more than twice what we do in infrastructure; China about four times as much. Are we going to sit back and let other countries build the newest airports and the fastest railroads and the most modern schools, at a time when we’ve got private construction companies all over the world—or all over the country—and millions of workers who are ready and willing to do that work right here in the United States of America?

Speaking to the Building Trades unions was a perfect opportunity for the president to speak about jobs and infrastructure investment, since unemployment remains high among construction workers, and funding bridges, transit, roads, schools, and other infrastructure would create large numbers of construction jobs. It was also an opportunity for Obama to make his case to some unions that have been angry with his approach to the Keystone pipeline; though he didn't directly discuss Keystone, by turning the focus on all of the infrastructure and construction jobs bills he has proposed and Republicans have blocked, he indirectly made the case for why those unions should focus their anger elsewhere.
Read the source story here.

 

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Testimony explains Teamsters' vote to strike Hostess
Posted: April 25, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Hostess executives are taking heat for the same vulture capitalism practiced by Mitt Romney. Court documents describe in shocking detail how Hostess management looted the company and drove it into bankruptcy -- just as Romney did when he headed Bain Capital. Or as the Village Voice describes him, "American Parasite:"

Bain would slash costs, jettison workers, reposition product lines, and merge its new companies with other firms. With luck, they'd be able to dump the firm in a few years for millions more than they'd paid for it. 

But the beauty of Romney's thesis was that it really didn't matter if the company succeeded. Because he was yanking out cash early and often, he would profit even if his targets collapsed.
Bankruptcy court documents reveal Hostess executives had the cheek to disparage Teamsters' sacrifices. Hostess workers have already taken $240 million in cuts and have agreed to nearly $1.1 billion more:
The Company's theme is that bargaining unit employees and their unions have never made sacrifices and are the cause of all Hostess's difficulties. The Company appears to be on an ideological mission to take more than it needs, withdraw from multi-employer plans, terminate all retiree health insurance, ignore its employees' legitimate concerns about equality of sacrifice and the Company's future, and essentially offer nothing in return...
Well, actually they didn't offer nothing -- they offered to yank out cash for themselves in the form of raises and bonuses.
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters Applaud Support For NLRB's Reform Of Election Process
Posted April 24, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today said he is pleased a majority of U.S. senators voted to uphold National Labor Relations Board reforms that make union representation elections more efficient.

The Senate blocked, by a vote of 45-54, an effort to overturn the new NLRB election rule. President Obama said he’d veto the resolution if it came to his desk. 

“Today’s vote was about one thing: whether American workers should have the right to a fair vote for a union,” Hoffa said. “Now we know which side our Senate representatives are on. Fortunately, a majority are on the side of the American middle-class worker.”

Until the rule change, the NLRB supervised union elections under rules that caused long delays and costly, frivolous litigation. These delays allowed employers to mount aggressive anti-union campaigns, intimidating employees so they would not seek union representation.

“Extremist, anti-worker politicians tried and failed to overturn a common-sense rule that got rid of voting delays and made sure workers had the basic right to vote,” Hoffa said. “You have to ask who these senators represent, American working families or corporations who want to pay their employees as little as they possibly can?”

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The US is a low-wage country
Posted: April 24, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Isn't this special. The United States has a higher percentage of workers in low-wage work than any other developed country, according to a new study.

Mark Thoma, reporting for CBS News on the report by the Center for Economic Policy Research, wrote,
...the US leads developed countries in the share of workers earning low wages. The research also shows that increased wage polarization over the last several decades is one of the reasons for the large share of low wage-work in the US.... 
...the share of employees earning low wages has increased from 22 percent in 1979 to 28 percent in 2009. Thus, we have more people at the extremes of the distribution, and fewer in the middle.
The report, written by John Schmitt, also concludes that low-wage work doesn't lead to high-wage work:
Not only are low-wage workers likely to stay in low-wage jobs from one year to the next, they are also more likely than workers in higher-wage jobs to fall into unemployment or to leave the labor force altogether. From 1995 through 2001, for example, about half or more of low-wage workers in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States remained in low-wage work from one year to the next, and between 8 and 23 percent of low-wage workers left the workforce year-to-year.
Collective bargaining can fix that, you know.
Read the complete source story here.  

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Hoffa: America's Recovery Depends on Good, Green Jobs
Posted: April 22, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa issued the following statement as part of the union’s observance of Earth Day.  

“As we prepare to celebrate Earth Day this year, I am reminded of how far our union has come over the last decade since first forging our alliance with our partners in the environmental movement

“It was in 2001 that our two groups first joined together during the ‘Battle for Seattle’ to demonstrate against the WTO. The Teamsters and environmentalists understood that members of a society cannot survive when you allow the deregulation of trade and the destruction of the environment. That path would only lead to the exploitation of both the environment and workers.

“While the blue-green movement was born in Seattle, we have continued to stand with our brothers and sisters in the environmental movement. Together we have fought to create a sustainable supply chain that not only provides good-paying jobs with benefits but ensures that companies safeguard the environment and the health and safety of our communities.

“For example, in Los Angeles, the Teamsters and our environmental allies like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council along with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy have been fighting to raise standards for drivers in the port and for workers in the solid waste and recycling industry. Through the Clean Truck Program and the Don’t Waste L.A. campaigns, we are well on our way to making a real difference for workers who have been exploited by these industries for too long.

“The Teamsters, along with the support of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have reduced the deadly diesel pollution in the port through the Clean Trucks Program. And in a historic vote, port drivers employed by Australian company Toll voted to join the Teamsters. Their brave stand in the face of a vicious anti-union campaign will pave the way for their brothers and sisters across the country to join them in seeking justice on the job and fundamentally change the way the port industry treats their drivers. 

“If we can build upon these victories and continue to turn green jobs into good jobs, we can improve the lives of thousands of working families across the country and help them achieve the American dream.”

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Teamsters Remain Committed To Reaching Fair Agreement With Hostess Execs To Save Company, Jobs
Posted: April 20, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
No Pension, No WorkThe Teamsters Union remains ready and willing to resume negotiations with Hostess Brands Inc. executives in an attempt to save the company following the agreement in bankruptcy court Friday that a decision would not be handed down before May 1.

“We want to try to save Hostess and workers’ jobs,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall. “We want an agreement. And we remain ready and willing, as we have all along, to negotiate in good faith. We hope the company, which has been dragging its feet and engaging in regressive bargaining, is finally serious too.”

However, while key developments were occurring in bankruptcy court yesterday, Hostess CEO Greg Rayburn was engaged in a FOX News media blitz in an attempt to malign Hostess workers and their promised pensions, blaming them for the company’s demise.

Those very workers have sacrificed time and again to save the company while executives plundered it, giving themselves raises of up to 240 percent before declaring bankruptcy and halting payments to workers’ pension plans.

“The company has a disturbing habit of trying to negotiate through the media and play the blame game, pointing fingers at its own workers instead of taking responsibility for mismanagement and looting,” Hall said.

Hostess workers have already taken cuts in pay and benefits totaling $110 million. The Teamsters’ most recent proposal contains $150 million more a year in further savings.

“Where has all the money gone? The sad truth is that after all these sacrifices, Hostess has refused to make any payments into its own workers’ pension plans since August,” Hall said.

“Hostess telling pension plans how to operate is like a deadbeat dad giving parenting advice,” Hall said. “This is not the way to come to an agreement. It is time for Hostess executives to realize that the only way to get an agreement is to keep their negotiating dates and meet directly with the union.”

The Teamsters Union maintains that any agreement must contain equality of sacrifice among all employees – union, non-union, management and executives.

Also, there must be some structural changes to the company to help ensure that executives do not keep squandering the money that workers continue to give back in concessions. Those savings cannot continue to be siphoned off by executives in the form of big raises. The money must go back into the company to strengthen it and to make it operate more efficiently and effectively, to ensure it does not declare bankruptcy a third time.

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The Benefits of Being a Teamster
Posted: April 20, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
In addition to job protection, benefits and wages provided for in Teamster Contracts, the International Union provides for additional services offered at a discounted cost to the membership. Because of the strength and size of our membership, the International is able to negotiate these lower costs for services ranging from legal to medical to financial. We are always on the lookout for ways to save our Teamster families money and increase their prosperity.

Teamster Privilege
A comprehensive package of benefits, services and discounts available only to Teamsters and their families. Read the letter from General President Jim Hoffa and General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall about the Teamster Privilege Program.

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Teamster Waste Workers in Columbus, Buffalo Reach New Agreements With Republic Services
Posted: April 19, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamster sanitation workers at Republic Services/Allied Waste—the nation’s second largest solid waste and recycling company—have reached agreements with the company in Columbus, Ohio and Buffalo, N.Y. 

The agreements guarantee wage increases and health care and retirement protections over the next several years. In Columbus, the agreement includes a commitment by Republic to take concrete steps to achieve a workforce that reflects the diverse community in which it operates. The agreements come on the heels of a settlement for workers in Mobile, Ala. following a week-long work stoppage that affected garbage and recycling collection in Mobile, Columbus, Buffalo and Seattle, Wash. 

Employees ratified the agreements on Sunday, April 15. After more than nine months of negotiations, these workers are eager to shift their focus back to what they do best—servicing their customers and keeping their neighborhoods clean and safe. 

“Sanitation work is one of the most dangerous jobs in America,” said Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division Director Robert Morales. “The employees are the ones who risk their lives every day to protect the public health. It’s a very profitable business, and members deserve a share in the business success they help to create. We are very pleased that we were able to reach agreements in Buffalo and Columbus that achieve wage and benefit protections our members deserve.” 

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

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Hostess Bankruptcy Court Hearing Update For April 19
Posted: April 19, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
At the conclusion of today's hearing, the parties agreed with the judge's suggestion to delay any ruling until May 1. The judge continued to urge the parties to meet to resolve their differences.

As Teamster witnesses testified today, we are committed to continued discussions to resolve differences and work with potential investors.

Earlier in today's hearing, the union vigorously defended its position, calling five witnesses, starting with Teamster Hostess RSR Daniel Wrenn from Local 673. Restructuring expert witness Harry Wilson of MAEVA Group LLC followed, and was on the stand for well over an hour. The company chose not o cross-examine Teamster's labor economics expert Michael Belzer.

After a lunch break, the Teamsters Union's case was concluded with testimony and cross-examination of Strategic Research and Campaigns Department Director Iain Gold and General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall.

The judge asked detailed follow up questions of both Wilson and GST Hall.

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Teamsters to Gael Tarleton: Cease & Desist in the 36th
Posted: April 18, 2012
Source: The Stranger
Strap in, 36th District political nerds. It's been an eventful ride so far in the crowded race to replace outgoing State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, and it's only going to get crazier and more contentious as we head toward November.

The latest evidence: A "cease and desist" letter sent to candidate Gael Tarleton today by Teamsters Local 174 asking Tarleton "to immediately pull all advertisements, website materials, printed materials and any other publications using the Teamsters Local 174 name and logo."

Also: "Teamsters Local 174 will not endorse your candidacy for state legislature based on your long record of anti-labor activities during your tenure on the Port of Seattle Commission, including your public opposition to improving dangerous, poverty-level working conditions for thousands of workers in the port trucking sector and your public efforts to block job protections for women and men working at SeaTac Airport," wrote Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks, author of the letter.

"Your anti-labor corporate funding base," Hicks continued, "leads us to conclude that you are likely to continue to oppose family wage workers and economic justice issues as a state legislator."

Ouch.
Read the complete source story here

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Hostess, Teamsters Square Off In Bankruptcy Battle That May Kill Twinkies
Posted: April 17, 2012
Source: Huffington Post
Hostess Execs: stop LOOTING our company!Marking the peak of a heated labor dispute, Hostess Brands and the Teamsters union are squaring off in bankruptcy court Tuesday in a case that could decide the iconic company's future.

The union, which represents 7,500 Hostess workers, hasn't reached a contract agreement with the bankrupt maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder bread, saying the company is demanding too much in the way of concessions.

Hostess argues that its pension and labor costs are untenable. A ruling against Hostess in court would force the company back to the bargaining table with the Teamsters. A ruling in favor of Hostess would allow the company to escape its current labor contracts.

"And in that case, we will be on strike," Ken Hall, Teamsters vice president, told The Huffington Post. According to Hall, the union's Hostess workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Though he wouldn't put a date on it, he said the strike could happen "very soon." The union recently acknowledged to the court that negotiations were "in crisis."

Hostess CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in an emailed statement that a strike by either the Teamsters or the workforce's other major union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, would put the company under.

"Hostess will be forced to liquidate if there were a strike by either of its largest unions because its lenders would pull their financing," Rayburn said. "That’s why the company has tried to reach a consensual agreement with its unions that would lower the costs of its union pension and health plans while still providing employees with good, industry standard benefits."

The two sides failed to reach an agreement in advance of the hearing in bankruptcy court in New York, each arguing that the other's proposals were unreasonable. After an offer made by Hostess over the weekend calling for steep pension cuts, the Teamsters made a counter offer with more modest concessions that amount to $150 million annually, including the temporary suspension of pension payments, according to the union. Hostess maintains that the current employee pension plans are too costly and financially unstable.

In a letter to employees Monday, Hostess warned that a strike would cripple the company: "All Hostess Brands operations would shut down and liquidation would begin. The 18,500 jobs, plus the health insurance that comes with them, would be lost for good."

The union's hard stance suggests a degree of frustration among rank-and-file workers. Dow Jones reported earlier this month that Hostess' creditors were concerned that the company may have manipulated executive pay leading up to its Chapter 11 filing, possibly allowing Hostess managers to sidestep compensation requirements under bankruptcy law. The company has denied the creditors' implications.

Joseph Ortuso, a Hostess route salesman and Teamster based in New Jersey, said the news about executive pay was galling, given the talk of the need for shared sacrifice as the company struggles. "They're saying they can't afford to pay pensions when they’ve given [huge] increases to executives," Ortuso, 53, said.

According to Hostess, the raises put in place for executives last year were scrapped, and the company's top four executives have agreed to work for $1 until either the end of this year or when the company emerges from Chapter 11, whichever comes first. The company also says unionized employees have had more generous raises than non-unionized employees during the past three years.

"It is factually incorrect to claim that union employees are the only ones being asked to sacrifice," Rayburn said.

Hall, the Teamsters official, has been critical of Hostess management since the company came out of its last restructuring three years ago. He said the company needs to steer its branding and image toward healthier products to appeal to modern consumers.

"All the other companies have changed with consumers' desires," Hall said. "This company hasn’t. We want to make sure whatever our members are giving up will help make this company profitable."
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters Submit Proposal Paving Path to Save Hostess
Posted: April 16, 2012
Source: Teamster.or
Hostess informational picketingThe Teamsters Union submitted a proposal today that provides a realistic path forward to save Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands Inc. after years of failed management initiatives, including recent revelations that executives looted the company by giving themselves raises of up to 240 percent before declaring bankruptcy.

“The Teamsters’ proposal demands that executives, as well as all stakeholders, actually share equally in the financial sacrifices necessary for Hostess to emerge from bankruptcy instead of paying lip-service to the concept,” said Ken Hall, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer.

“Hostess workers have already sacrificed for this company,” Hall said. “Under management’s one-sided proposal, Hostess workers again are the only ones doing the sacrificing. Executives lie and claim labor costs are to blame. But it is incompetence and greed, pure and simple, that have put this iconic company in the position it is in today.”

Hostess executives, after lining their pockets with the big raises, illegally stopped paying into workers’ pensions and demanded that workers take further cuts. Meanwhile, despite their huge pay hikes, executives have failed to return any of the money to the company’s operations. They still continue to blame workers for the company’s troubles.

The Teamsters Union’s proposal, which can be viewed here, comes in advance of Tuesday’s hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The company has declared bankruptcy for the second time, less than three years after emerging from the first filing. Annual labor cost savings made in two rounds of concessions by workers were estimated at $110 million. With this proposal, the Teamsters Union, which represents 7,500 workers, has tentatively agreed to concessions totaling yet another $150 million per year.  

In exchange for the massive savings proposed by the Teamsters Union – including an innovative proposal that addresses the company’s concerns on pensions, the union believes, given the poor track record of Hostess management, that the following key items must be addressed: 

The comprehensive proposal made by the Teamsters Union also comes on the heels of a publicity stunt by the Hostess executives during the weekend in which the company released its own proposal to the media without providing details to the Teamsters Union until hours later, when it was too late to respond. 

“The looting and the games being played by Hostess executives give me zero confidence that they want to join us in saving this company,” Hall said. “It doesn’t get more American than Twinkies, yet Twinkies will be no more unless the company gets serious. What’s more, the livelihoods of thousands of workers and their families across the country are at stake. This is no time for greed run wild or publicity stunts.”

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Durham School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters Union
Posted: April 15, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
School bus drivers and monitors with Durham School Services in Summerville, S.C., have voted to join Teamsters Local 509, uniting for respect and fair treatment in their workplace.

The 165 drivers and monitors, who transport school children for Dorchester County School District 2, were determined to form their union with the Teamsters in the face of strong resistance by company management to their efforts to organize. Durham, a private company, took over school bus operations for the district last year.

Durham bus drivers go Teamster!“This is the start of a new beginning for all of us. Everyone is excited and glad that this victory belongs to us,” said Annette Hill, a driver. “I voted Teamsters because I want us to have respect.”

“We need to be treated fairly and as adults. I enjoy the kids and the people I work with, but morale here is in the basement. I supported forming our union so we can have fairness and respect,” said Roger Shepherd, a monitor.

Durham Teamster members from Beaufort and Charleston, S.C., helped their Summerville co-workers by taking the time to educate them on the benefits of building a strong union. This support was critical, as the Summerville drivers and monitors were subjected to a vicious campaign of fear, division and worker intimidation by the company. The union and workers have filed unfair labor practice charges for a number of legal violations by the company.

Political leaders, including Rep. David J. Mack, III (D-District 109), came out to the Summerville yard to show support for the workers and their right to organize.

“I have always supported workers being able to organize in order to get the quality of life, pay and benefits that they deserve. I am very interested in Durham sitting at the table to negotiate to improve working conditions,” Rep. Mack, III said.

Durham is a subsidiary of National Express Group, a large multinational corporation based in the United Kingdom.

L.D. Fletcher, President of Cayce-based Teamsters Local 509, is looking forward to representing the workers to improve their working conditions.

“I’m glad we could help them organize to have a fair voice and be treated fairly in the workplace,” Fletcher said.

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 34,000 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.

For more information on the Drive Up Standards campaign, go to www.driveupstandards.org

 

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Twinkies maker Hostess gives unions 'Final' offer
Posted: April 15, 2012
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek
Twinkie-dinkThe company that makes Twinkies, Wonder bread and Ding Dongs says it's making a final offer to workers to accept cost-cutting before it asks a bankruptcy court to impose the cuts.

Hostess Brands Inc. wants the Teamsters and bakers' unions to accept reduced pension benefits and changes in work rules to lower costs. It wants to outsource some delivery work.

The company said Saturday that if the unions reject the offer, it will push ahead with efforts in bankruptcy court to throw out the unions' collective bargaining agreements. A union official warned that could lead to a strike.

Hostess Brands filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court in less than a decade. A trial to decide the fate of the union contracts is scheduled to start Tuesday.

Hostess wants to withdraw from some multi-employer pension plans, although it opened the door Saturday to possibly rejoining a few of the financially strongest plans. New hires would be covered by the same 401(k)-type retirement accounts used by nonunion and management employees.

The company's new CEO, Gregory F. Rayburn, said Hostess wants to cut annual pension contributions from $103 million to $25 million. Hostess also wants to change work rules that sometimes require two trucks instead of one, and to outsource deliveries to small stores.

Ken Hall, general secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters, said the union would reject the company's proposal and make a counteroffer Sunday. He said Hostess had provided only the barest details of how the new pensions program would work, and that employees already accepted big concessions in 2008.
Read the complete source story here.

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Teamsters rally against ballot initiative in El Monte
Posted: April 15, 2012
Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Hundreds of Southland Teamsters and more than a dozen elected officials rallied in El Monte on Saturday to voice their opposition to a campaign finance initiative that will be on the November ballot.

To supporters, it's the "Stop Special Interest Money Now Act," but opponents, such as the Teamsters, refer to it as the "Corporate Power Grab."

"This paycheck deception is the No. 1 target to silence the voices of hard-working families, and it's a crime," Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Cerritos, told the spirited crowd.

"Corporations are the face behind this anti-worker legislation," she said, adding that it would make it more difficult for workers to have a voice in issues important to them, such as wages and benefits.

"This legislation would effectively keep you guys from participating in the political cycles," Sanchez said.

The initiative, funded by billionaire media magnate A. Jerrold Perenchio and the organization Californians Against Special Interests, qualified for the November ballot late last year.
Read the complete source story here

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Teamsters fight looting of Hostess 'every inch of the way'
Posted: April 14, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation



Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall tells Thom Hartmann the union will vigorously fight management's looting of Hostess. He's on fire in this interview. Watch the whole thing.

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Teamster harbor victory may have broad impact
Posted: April 14, 2012
Source: LA Observed
Far from Los Angeles’ centers of power, the harbor seldom gets the attention it deserves as a driving force in the Southland’s economy. Yet decisions big and small made there have an impact on businesses and workers as far away as the Inland Empire.

That’s why a vote by a relatively few harbor truck drivers to join the Teamsters Union is worth some notice. Drivers for the Toll Group, which transports goods in and out of the harbor, voted 46-15 to join the Teamsters Union, reported Coral Itzcalli, spokesperson for Change To Win, a Teamsters-backed coalition of organizations supporting the union drive.

They are a small percentage of the some 10,000 truck drivers working at the harbor. The vast majority of the drivers work as independent contractors who lease their trucks from trucking companies. The Toll drivers are unusual in that they are on a company payroll.

What makes this vote significant, Itzcalli said, is that it is “a big step” in union efforts to organize the independent contractor drivers and negotiate more money and better working conditions for them. This would impact drivers whose routes range from the harbor though the Inland Empire and beyond the state’s eastern boundaries.

The organizing drive began when drivers couldn’t persuade Toll to provide clean bathrooms, cold drinking water and remedy other working conditions the union characterized as “inhumane and unsanitary.” The next step is for the Teamsters to negotiate a contract with Toll.

With this victory, the Teamsters are energized to extend their drive to other trucking companies serving the harbor, possibly triggering disputes that will impact business and workers throughout the Southland.

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CSPAN: Secretary of Labor Solis – Proud to Be From a Teamster Family
Posted: April 14, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Hilda SolisIn her remarks at the National Action Network’s 14th Annual Convention in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, April 12, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis shared her personal experiences growing up in a Teamster household.

Solis credited the union with providing her family the security of strong wages and benefits that allowed them to move up into the middle class and fondly recalled when her father became a steward for his bargaining unit at work.

“One of the proudest moments I had was when he became the shop steward for his Teamster union and organized immigrant workers who couldn’t speak English,” Solis said. “He said – I’m going to stand up for these workers.”

Solis shared how her father’s work helped provide good wages, benefits and retirement plans for workers throughout the community. His job also provided her with the opportunity to become the first of her seven siblings to go to college. Her younger sisters followed in her footsteps, with some even receiving Teamster scholarships.

“That’s what put our foot in the door to be in the middle class,” Solis said. “My father and us, we stood tall – we were one of the first families in our neighborhood to own our own home. That gave us so much pride – having a piece of the American Dream.”

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Coors Hates San Francisco, Say Teamsters At Giants Game
Posted: April 14, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters from four local unions and Joint Council 7 handbilled at the Giants home opener today to raise awareness about anti-gay and anti-immigrant policies by Coors Brewing Co. [NYSE: TAP], as well as the anti-immigrant behavior and worker abuses by DBI Beverage Inc., Coors’ distributor in Northern California.

The Teamsters, from Local Unions 150, 439, 853 and 856, carried banners and distributed leaflets that read “Tell Coors Hating San Francisco is Tasteless,” and “Tell Coors: Stop Your Hating. This is California.”

An airplane banner flew overhead that read, “Coors Hates San Francisco.”

“Coors has a long history of funding anti-gay rights and anti-immigrant organizations and politicians,” said Jim Tobin, President of Local 150 in Sacramento. “Coors also funds groups that are anti-worker and promote laws that would suppress minority voting. So it’s not surprising that David Ingram, who owns DBI, also donates to anti-immigrant organizations and has discriminatory practices in the workplace.”

DBI Beverage earns $250 million in annual revenue, yet in South San Francisco it wants to reduce benefits and working conditions for its mostly female customer service workforce that will still be provided to DBI’s male warehouse workers and drivers.

DBI also implemented a discriminatory wage system on longtime drivers and warehouse workers in Sacramento and Stockton, many of whom have an immigrant background.

“The workers that distribute Coors products throughout Northern California are appealing to San Franciscans today,” said Sam Rosas, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 439 in Stockton. “We want our neighbors to know that in this devastated economy, DBI wants to destroy good jobs. All these loyal workers want is a contract that respects the work they do.”

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Southern California Toll Group Drivers Join Teamsters Union
Posted: April 13, 2012
Source: Journal of Commerce
Employee drivers who work for the Toll Group logistics company in Southern California won an historic election Wednesday to become one of the few harbor trucking fleets in the U.S. to become unionized.

In an election sanctioned by the National Labor Relations Board, the drivers voted 46-15 in favor of joining the Teamsters union, according to Change to Win, a coalition of labor, community and faith-based organizations supported by the Teamsters.

Toll Group, which is based in Australia, is a logistics company that handles brand-name fashion imports in Los Angeles-Long Beach. The Teamsters have been working since last summer to organize the drivers.

Drivers in Southern California said they have set the stage for other organizing efforts across the country. “Our victory means we are finally getting closer to the American dream. If we can win here, I know other port truck drivers across the U.S. can unite just like we did,” said Orlando Ayala, who has been driving in the ports for 10 years.
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Hoffa Supports Buffett Rule
Posted: April 12, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
The following is a statement by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa in support of President Obama’s proposal to pass the Buffett Rule:

“America’s wealthiest people should not pay lower taxes than the middle class. Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, doesn’t think his secretary should pay a higher tax rate than he does. I agree with him.

“The Buffett Rule is about fairness. It says if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle-class families do.

“Thirty percent should be the minimum tax rate for all income over $1 million a year. Far too many wealthy people can use tax loopholes that working families don’t even know about. Middle-class incomes have gone down over the past decade, while the 1 percent has gotten much, much richer.

“Inequality threatens America’s greatness. Last year, the top 1 percent in America took in 23 percent of all income. It’s time everyone starts to play by the same rules. The middle class cannot afford to pay almost all the costs of our great society.

“The Senate is expected to vote on the Buffett Rule next week, and we expect strong Democratic support. I’d like to remind Senate Republicans that President Reagan supported the Buffett Rule. Surely they can too.”

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Hostess cuts execs' salaries after creditors complain
Posted: April 10, 2012
Twinkie GateSource: Dallas Business Journal
Executive compensation at Irving-based Hostess Brands Inc ., is being cut in the aftermath of creditor accusations that the company may have increased management salaries in the months ahead of Hostess' January Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to get around bankruptcy rules, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Gregory F. Rayburn, who took over as CEO at Hostess last month, told the Journal that the company's top four executives working under him had agreed to have their salaries cut to $1 a year until Hostess emerges from bankruptcy or Dec. 31, whichever occurs first.

According to the Journal, creditors alleged that the four executives -- John Stewart, Davide Loeser, Gary Wandschneider and Richard Seban -- had received salary increases of 75 to 80 percent in July when the company already had hired restructuring lawyers.
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It's Month 9 of the Sotheby's lockout, and Teamsters are still fighting
Posted: April 10, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
They're like the Energizer bunny, those Teamsters art handlers from Local 814. They've been locked out since August 1, and they're still fighting hard against the greed of the 1 percent.

To get a sense of the energy, listen to a radio news report here about a recent action:
Organizer Julian Tysh does his usual great job of  telling it like it is. He explains why the art handlers are refusing to bow to Sotheby's demands that the union be gradually dissolved:

We have to suffer now to preserve good jobs for the future.
And he describes what Sotheby's is all about:
This is where the 1 percent does its shopping... (CEO) Bill Ruprecht makes $60,000 a day...there's no economic need for what they're asking from us. They're trying to assert themselves anyway. They're trying to take advantage of what they thought was an antiuunion climate. I've got news for them: That climate has changed... 

Corporate greed in this country is out of control and it's wrecked too many communities and too many neighborhoods and too many good jobs.

Read the source story here.

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Feds to seize stolen statue from Sotheby's. What a surprise, no ethics at the auction house.
Posted: April 5, 2012
Sotheby's Bad for ArtSource: Teamster Nation
Sotheby's said it was high class, but that was just a lie. The auction house tried to fence a statue looted from Cambodia's killing fields and got caught red-handed.

Providing further evidence of Sotheby's amorality and arrogance, federal agents are prepared to seize from the auction house the 10th-century statue of a Khmer warrior.

According to the New York Times,

Federal agents in New York on Wednesday moved to seize a thousand-year-old Cambodian statue from Sotheby’s, alleging in a civil complaint that Sotheby’s had put the 10th-century figure of a mythological warrior up for auction despite knowing that it had been stolen from a temple.

This of course does not surprise us one little bit. Only a company with no moral compass and insatiable greed could throw 42 of its own employees out on the street with no paycheck for eight months and no health care for four. Though Sotheby's CEO Bill Ruprecht earns millions, he is determined to pay only poverty wages to the company's art handlers.

Sotheby's hypocrisy extends to its board members. Diana Taylor and Danny Meyer both tout their charitable activities and yet stand aside and allow Ruprecht to impoverish Sotheby's workers. One wonders whether they want more business for their charities or if they're just ethically blind.

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Teamsters Rallying To Protect Chicago School Bus Drivers
Posted: April 5, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
After a year of stalled contract negotiations, employee intimidation, terminations and labor charges, Chicago Teamsters will rally to protect Latino Express school bus drivers on April 9.

“Latino Express is doing everything it can to deny basic rights to nearly 100 Hispanic and minority school bus drivers in Chicago,” said James T. Glimco, Teamsters Joint Council 25 Trustee and President of Teamsters Local 777, which represents the drivers. “These men and women have the critical job of safely transporting our children. We need help from Chicago parents, schools, politicians and local leaders to tell Latino Express to bargain in good faith.”

Ninety-five drivers voted to join Local 777 on April 4, 2011. For the last year, Latino Express has refused to offer any benefits or new wages to the workers. The company also fired 13 employees who were involved in negotiations and union campaigns. Lamora Harris, a former Latino Express driver, was terminated while on a leave of absence to fight for the custody of her grandchild.

Local 777 won an unfair labor practice settlement from the Illinois Labor Relations Board to reinstate terminated employees, but Latino Express has delayed the ruling by appealing to the National Labor Relations Board. Last week, the Teamsters filed another charge against the company for its constant refusal to bargain in good faith.

“Hardworking families are attacked whenever they raise their voices to improve their lives at work. We have to take a stand against this harassment,” said John T. Coli, President of Joint Council 25. “School bus drivers deserve the utmost respect for the important work they do in our communities."

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Teamsters Outraged By Allegations Of Looting At Hostess By Top Executives
Posted: April 4, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
TwinkieGateThe Teamsters Union expressed outrage today over revelations uncovered by Dow Jones Newswires that Hostess Brands Inc. executives cheated the company and lined their own pockets while at the same time demanding drastic wage and benefit cuts by workers and failing to pay pension obligations during the run-up to bankruptcy.

“The Dow Jones article suggests that management broke the law, looted the company and then told workers to suck it up and sacrifice,” said Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters Union, which represents more than 7,500 route sales representatives, drivers and other employees at Hostess.

“If this is true, Hostess executives have violated their agreement with the Teamsters that all parties, including management, would share equally in concessions that would help keep this company alive,” Hall said.

“It would be outrageous for the board of directors, which included secured lenders, to approve executive salary increases of up to 300 percent for a company that has filed for bankruptcy twice in four years,” he said.

The committee representing the company’s unsecured creditors, which includes the Teamsters Union, is calling for a formal investigation into Hostess management’s potential violation of bankruptcy law.

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Dow Jones Uncovers Alleged Looting At Hostess Amid Talk Of 'Shared Sacrifice' By Execs
Posted: April 4, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Unsecured creditors suspect that Hostess Brands Inc. may have "manipulated" its executives' pay--sending its former chief executive's salary, in particular, skyrocketing- in the months leading up to its Chapter 11 filing, in an effort to dodge the Bankruptcy Code's compensation requirements, according to a redacted court filing reviewed by Dow Jones.

The official committee representing Hostess's unsecured creditors wants to launch a formal investigation in the bankruptcy case, hoping to dig deeper into the bakery company's senior executive compensation. The information the group has already gathered suggests "the possibility" that the company converted a chunk of its top executives' pay from performance-based bonuses to guaranteed salary, "at least in part to sidestep" rules designed to ensure that companies in bankruptcy aren't enticing their employees to stay on board with the promise of cash.

"As such, the debtors' continued payment of the executives' salaries in these increased amounts may violate the Bankruptcy Code," the unsecured creditors said in documents that were filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., but largely redacted. Dow Jones was able to view those details because when the papers were saved to a word-processing program, the redactions disappeared.

A spokesman for Hostess dismissed the creditors' allegations.

"We do not believe their theory has any basis in law," he said. "Nevertheless, we are working cooperatively with the committee to address their concerns and expect to resolve this amicably."

In court papers, the creditors say testimony from Hostess's executive vice president of human resources indicates that "in the run-up to bankruptcy"--when Hostess had already hired bankruptcy attorneys--it was also working to shift its compensation structure. Hostess slashed bonuses payable only if certain performance goals were met and, on July 26, the company's compensation committee signed off on "substantial salary increases for numerous senior executives," the creditors said, calling the jumps "dramatic."
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24 + 400 X Solidarity = Teamster Contract (strike math)
Steve Burroughs travels from Mobile to BellevuePosted: April 3, 2012
Source: Teamster Nation
Congratulations to our 24 brothers in Mobile who ratified a contract with Republic Services on Monday after striking for a week!

The strike, which began on March 22, spread to Columbus and Buffalo, then to Washington state as 400 Teamsters refused to cross a picket line. Now that's solidarity.

No one likes strikes, but you gotta do what you gotta do. In this case, the company withdrew from a tentative agreement over health care issues.

Said Bob Morales, director of the IBT Solid Waste division,
Sanitation work is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. The employees are the ones who risk their lives every day to protect the public health. It’s a very profitable business, and members deserve a share in the business success they help to create.
Here's what happened, according to Waste and Recycling News:
Republic Services Inc. has reached an agreement with Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., over a disputed health care contract issue.

A total of 24 union workers in Mobile, Ala., went on strike March 22, followed by sympathy walkouts in Columbus, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y. Workers in the Seattle area were met with picket lines March 29.
The main roadblock in the process had been a dispute regarding a waiver of certain new health insurance surcharges, Republic said...

"Once we were able to sit down with the company, we resolved the issues quickly," Jim Gookins, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 991, said in a statement on Teamster.org. "I appreciate the company´s willingness to work out a resolution that was recommended for ratification to our members in Mobile."

What can we say, but "Solidarity Forever."

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Teamster Sanitation Workers Settle Mobile, Alabama Strike With Republic Services
Posted: April 2, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Statement by Robert Morales, Solid Waste, Recycling and related Industries Division Director:

I am pleased to announce that workers at Republic Services/Allied Waste – the nation’s second largest solid waste and recycling company – have reached an agreement with Republic Services in Mobile, Ala. The strike ended on Friday when Republic agreed to meet with Local 991, and the disputed contract was unanimously ratified yesterday by the Mobile workers.

All 24 Republic Services workers in Mobile began the strike on Thursday night, March 22, in response to Republic’s withdrawal from a tentative agreement, which the Union alleged violated federal labor law. Picketing related to the Mobile work stoppage occurred at Republic’s facilities in Columbus, Ohio, Buffalo, New York, and in Washington State. Teamster members at those facilities honored the picket lines.

Jim Gookins, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 991, told me, “Once we were able to sit down with the company, we resolved the issues quickly. I appreciate the company’s willingness to work out a resolution that was recommended for ratification to our members in Mobile. While we regret it took a work stoppage in Mobile, Buffalo, Columbus and Seattle before getting this resolved, I believe the settlement shows we can work constructively not just in Alabama but in other areas around the country as well.”

Sanitation work is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. The employees are the ones who risk their lives every day to protect the public health. It’s a very profitable business, and members deserve a share in the business success they help to create.

I also want to thank our members in other cities, as well as other unions and social justice organizations, who stood with our Alabama members to ensure that they would achieve a fair and just contract.

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Coors Hates Immigrants, Say Teamsters at Cesar Chavez Event
Posted: April 1, 2012
Source: Teamster.org
Teamsters from four local unions and Joint Council 7 marched in the 12th Annual Cesar E. Chavez March today to raise awareness about anti-immigrant behavior, worker abuse and discrimination by DBI Beverage, the distributor of products by Coors Brewing Co. [NYSE: TAP] in Northern California.

The Teamsters, from Local Unions 150, 439, 853 and 856, carried banners and leaflets that read “Tell Coors Hating Immigrants is Tasteless,” and “Tell Coors: Stop Your Hating. This is California.”

An airplane banner flew overhead that read, “Coors Odia A Los Inmigrantes.”

“Coors has a long history of funding anti-immigrant organizations and politicians, as does DBI Beverage’s owner,” said Jim Tobin, President of Local 150 in Sacramento. “Coors also funds groups that are anti-worker and promote laws that would suppress minority voting. So it’s not surprising that its distributor, DBI Beverage, has discriminatory practices in the workplace.”

DBI Beverage takes in $250 million in annual revenue, yet it implemented a discriminatory “merit pay” wage system on longtime drivers and warehouse workers in Sacramento and Stockton, many of whom have an immigrant background.

In South San Francisco, DBI wants to reduce benefits and working conditions for its mostly female customer service workforce that will still be provided to DBI’s male warehouse workers and drivers.

“The workers that distribute Coors products throughout Northern California are appealing to the community today,” said Sam Rosas, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 439 in Stockton. “We want our neighbors to know that in this devastated economy, DBI wants to destroy good jobs. All these loyal workers want is a contract that respects the work they do.”