CLEANSCAPES ORGANIZING
BARGAINING HAS BEGUN FOR FIRST CONTRACT
By PATTY WARREN, Organizing Department Director

(August 25, 2008) Last Fall, a new player in the local Sanitation Industry, CleanScapes, Inc., won the bid for the sanitation contract in Shoreline. The previous employer doing collection in Shoreline was Waste Management and the work was covered by a Union contract.

Local 174 Sanitation Industry Business Agent Ken Marshall.

Ken Marshall, Local 174 Sanitation Industry Business Agent, participated in and spoke at Shoreline City Council meetings. Due to Ken’s hard work, the RFP (request for proposal) required any bidder to pay prevailing wage as well as offer jobs to any displaced employees. CleanScapes also won the bid on a considerable portion of the City of Seattle work, previously done by Allied, also a Teamster employer. They are scheduled to take over the Seattle work in Spring of 2009.

In the Sanitation Industry, Teamsters Local 174 has traditionally represented garbage truck drivers and Teamsters Local 117 has represented recycle truck drivers. After CleanScapes got the bid, the two Locals met with CleanScapes to discuss the possibilities of unionizing. CleanScapes told the two Locals they want to do business in a new way — combining garbage and recycle on the same truck.

The two Locals met and discussed jurisdiction. In a historic first, Teamsters Locals 174 and 117 agreed that 174 would have exclusive jurisdiction over the combined work covered by the Shoreline and Seattle contracts with CleanScapes.

Local 174 and CleanScapes negotiated and signed a voluntary recognition agreement. Signed union cards and signature exemplars were sent to a neutral third party, who verified Teamsters Local 174 represents a majority of employees.

Negotiations have now begun, with the two sides meeting initially to discuss process — and there have since been several foundational meetings as the bargaining process is unfolding. The initial first contract will only affect 14 members. But as of April 1, 2009 after the Company’s expansion noted earlier, the CleanScapes bargaining unit will number approximately 200.

If you see the CleanScapes trucks, please welcome your new Brothers to Local 174!

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TODD SHIPYARD RATIFICATION VOTE
ARGUMENTATIVE MEETING ENDS WITH A BIG ‘NO’
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist

Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks welcomes the Todd Shipyard members to the JC-28 Building’s Meeting facilities.

(August 22, 2008) There was a lot of activity at the JC-28 Building in Tukwila yesterday from about noon until about 5 p.m. The parking lot was jammed and about 450 guests of Local 174 were packed in the Main Meeting Hall and a second smaller meeting room due to the overflow crowd. It was all for a vote by the Todd Shipyard workers on whether they wanted to ratify or turn down their proposed new tentative agreement.

The Todd group is a complex one involving 11 different International Union groups, of which the Teamsters are just one. The groups bargain together under the Puget Sound Metal Trades Council. In all there are about 750 total members in the Todd bargaining unit on the Company’s seniority list, who work when the work is available. The workers include Boilermakers, Carpenters, Sheet Metal Workers, Painters, Machinists, Pipefitters, Electricians, Laborers, Operative Engineers, and Teamsters. Involved in the bargaining are 13 different Local Unions.

Left-to-right: Local 174 Business Agent Dave Jacobsen, 174 Shop Steward Stu Snow, 117 Shop Steward T.R. Leary, Jr., and 117 Business Agent Wil Rance.

The Teamsters Locals involved are Local 174, with 14 members, and Local 117, with 8 members. The 174 workers are truck and forklift drivers who deliver consumables, materials, and personnel to jobsites; the 117 workers are involved in issuing equipment and inventory. The Teamster people involved in the bargaining on the large multi-group Negotiating Committee have been Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks, Business Agent Dave Jacobsen and Shop Steward Stu Snow; and 117 Business Agent Wil Rance and Shop Steward T.R. Leary, Jr.

THE DISCUSSION AND A “NO” VOTE
The gathering was impressive. In all 412 votes were cast on the proposal, which had been painstakingly put together following 14 meetings between June 3 and August 8, 2008 and was fully recommended by all members of the Negotiating Committee. The old three-year contract expired on July 31, 2008. The group, however, turned down the offer and sent its negotiators back to the Bargaining Table.

After the vote, Bob Scott, President of the Puget Sound Metal Trades Council, noted that the lively session and the debate at the JC-28 meeting showed that the Todd workers are very upset at their employer, especially over their contract covering the past three years. Scott heads the Carpenters’ Northwest Division.

The Todd Negotiating Committee members all expressed their gratitude to Local 174 and Hicks for securing the use of the JC-28 Meeting facilities for the Ratification Vote — though the Vote ended up being a resounding “No.”

SOME BACKGROUND ON TODD SHIPYARD
On its website, Todd says that for almost nine continuous decades, the Todd Shipyards Corporation has “proudly built and repaired ships on the Seattle waterfront and provided thousands upon thousands of jobs to generations of skilled craftspeople throughout the Puget Sound area. Today, the Company's operations are conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation (Todd).”

S-T Hicks fields a question from a Todd member during the pre-Ratification Vote discussion of the proposal.

It continues, “Todd is a commercial and military vessel construction, repair, and maintenance facility located on Harbor Island on the shores of Elliot Bay and the Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington, with satellite operations in Bremerton and Everett, Washington. Todd is the largest private shipyard in the Pacific Northwest.”

Further information from Todd’s website:

“Our customers include the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Washington State Ferries, other ferries, cruise, container, tank, and fishing vessels, dredges, tugs, and barges. ISO 9001-2000 certification, in-house engineering, procurement, subcontracting, and project management staff coupled with government-approved accounting, procurement, and billing systems, and a strong facility security system are discriminators that benefit our customers.

“Under long-term Navy repair contracts, Todd performs a large portion of the non-nuclear repairs on Puget Sound home ported Nimitz class aircraft carriers. The company also repairs submarines, destroyers, frigates, and continues to partner with Electric Boat in the SSGN conversion project. Todd accomplishes all dry dockings and associated repairs of the Coast Guard's Polar Class icebreakers and high Arctic research icebreaker Healy. The Army, Maritime Administration (MARAD), Military Sealift Command (MSC), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) complete a diverse group of government customers.”

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SHOP STEWARDS AND ACTIVISTS TRAINING SEPTEMBER 13
ANTICIPATED IMPROVEMENTS TO HEALTH CARE PLANS WILL BE THE FEATURED SUBJECT
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist

Local 174 members listen to a speaker at the June 28, 2008 Shop Stewards and Activists Training. Another SS&A Training is coming up on Saturday, September 13. Please attend if you can. All Local 174 members — not just Shop Stewards and Activists — are invited to these educational events.

All interested Local 174 members are welcome and encouraged to attend. These events — also sometimes referred to as “Teamster University Shop Stewards and Activists Trainings” — are very beneficial. The participants get the chance to meet their Local’s officers and staff up close and personal. There is always lots of discussion of Local 174 goings-on in areas such as Organizing, Bargaining and Political Action.

The September 13 Training will have as always basic instruction and Q&A sessions led by Local 174 personnel under the guidance of the Local’s Education Director, Senior Business Agent Tim Allen. And the agenda this time will include a special presentation by representatives of Northwest Administrators, who will talk about “Anticipated Improvements to the Washington Teamsters Health Care Plans.” They will be prepared and pleased to field inquiries from the Training’s participants.

If you will be attending the Training on September 13, please RSVP at 206-441-6060 and let the Receptionist know. Knowing how many will be showing up helps us handle logistics.

NEW OAK HARBOR WEB SITE UP
TWO MEDIATION SESSIONS LARGELY UNPRODUCTIVE
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist

(August 18, 2008) The complex and confounding Oak Harbor Freight Lines bargaining stalemate continues. The Union negotiating team met with Oak Harbor management's negotiating team for a second time on Monday, July 28, 2008. Little of true import has happened since then.

The negotiations have stalled, and the sides have gone into mediation. However, there is a lot of information available for those who want to know exactly what has been going on. The International has set up a new Oak Harbor website for the affected active and retired Oak Harbor members involved in the bargaining, or other interested people. Teamsters Local Unions across Washington and Oregon have represented Oak Harbor employees for over 40 years. The Teamsters Union represents more than 600 current Oak Harbor employees.

The website talks in depth about the informational picketing by retired Oak Harbor workers and Teamsters outside Oak Harbor Freight Lines’ Headquarters in Auburn which began July 21. It notes that since contract negotiations began in August 2007, the regional trucking company has been pushing to eliminate health care coverage for all of its retirees. This attitude is in spite of the fact that Oak Harbor Freight Lines — one of the largest and most profitable trucking companies in the Northwest — pulled in $117 million last year.

In a picture downloaded from the new Oak Harbor website are Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks and Oak Harbor member Jeff Wallace. They were photographed during a break in an Oak Harbor negotiations meeting.

The Company has not come forward with a finalized comprehensive proposal. Its current offer, according to the IBT negotiating team, would:

• Eliminate health care coverage for current and future retirees.
• Move them onto a substandard health care plan.
  
• Freeze the Company's contributions to their retirement fund.
  
• Eliminate paid sick leave.
  
• Prevent Class B dockworkers from obtaining health and welfare benefits.
  
• Allow the Company to use subcontractors to replace office workers. and
  
• Deny new clerical employees any pay raises.

Back on July 25th, the Teamsters Union and Oak Harbor employees filed unfair-labor-practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Oak Harbor has engaged in "bad faith bargaining." The charges address Oak Harbor’s alleged violations of U.S. labor law, including negotiating directly with employees and illegally forcing union members to remove union insignias from the workplace.

Local 174 member at Oak Harbor Freight Lines Jeff Wallace, who was voted by his fellow members to serve on the Oak Harbor Union Negotiating Committee.

Affected Locals and Joint Councils signatory to the OHFL Agreement in the multi-state, multi-Local Union bargaining unit are Locals 81, 174, 231, 252, 324, 483, 589, 690, 760, 763, 839 and 962; and Alaska/Washington/Northern Idaho JC-28 and Oregon JC-37. The Contract expired on October 31, 2007.

You can access the new Oak Harbor website by clicking on this link: www.oakharborteamsters.com.

GTRC GOLF TOURNAMENT
By HANK THOMPSON, GTRC President and Local 174 Retiree

General Teamsters Retirees Club President Hank Thompson

The morning sun glistened off the neat rows of new golf carts as the assembled warriors prepared to mount their "chariots" and do battle with the course. Marty and crew had the links in good shape and the 66 golfers went about their task with great anticipation.

This Tournament was originally a Local 174 event for a couple of years in the late 1980's. Then in 1990, it became the baby of the Retirees under then GTRC Secretary-Treasurer LeRoy Brown. He was assisted by Ed Merritt, who still plays, advises, and helps with the scoring. This was the 3rd consecutive year it was held at Foster — a "union" golf layout, represented by Local 763.

This year the winner was Greg Watts, 2003 retiree, and Local 117 member. Greg was a Port of Seattle policeman, who had a long distinguished career in law enforcement having served with the Portland PD, taught at the State Police Academy, and been part of the DEA Drug Taskforce. His name will go on the permanent plaque, which will be displayed in the 117 Office for at least the next year.

Over $300 dollars in prize money was won by the participants, and several winners starting with Local 174 Business Agent Roger Pardo followed by Joe Tessier, John Oftebro and others, immediately donated their winnings right back to the Scholarship Fund. Lots of prizes were handed out including Mariner tickets, and Pete Coates won a pound of "Three-Peckered Billygoat" coffee. Scott Sullivan went home with a nifty cheese board from Tillamook, Oregon.

A good time was had by all and the day was not without incident. A few of the incidents are reported below.

Ivan Cusik pulled his tee shot on #18 and put the ball squarely on the roof of the Foster Clubhouse.

Dana Moore sliced his foursome's special yellow "poison ball" into the river, then teed up a regular white new one for his third shot — and put it in the hole! A hole-in-one that didn't count — what a bummer!

The "Garrett" Boys were back again, roaring around the course like an 18-wheeler.

In my foursome intrepid Washington Teamster and Local 174 Teamster Record editor Bill McCarthy and I shared a golf cart. Early in the round I worriedly watched him peruse a difficult lie on a steep hill covered with very wet grass thanks to Foster's groundskeepers. He carefully placed his feet, took a mighty swing with his 5-wood, hit a duck hook into a tree, and then landed unceremoniously on his rump when his feet slipped out from under him. He got up rumpled, dishevelled and ticked. Of course I asked him if he was okay a few minutes later after I'd stopped laughing.

On a serious note, the idea behind this fun golf outing each year — which is open to Teamster retirees and active members alike — is to raise money through sponsor contributions and contestant entry fees, for the GTRC Scholarship Fund. We have five Scholarship applicants this year, and it looks as if, thanks in large part to the golfers, all five of them will get some money.

We are looking forward to a bigger and better shindig in August 2009. Hope to see you there!

And lastly, I want to thank our GTRC Secretary-Treasurer Mary Pekarek, who is a retired Local 174 member like myself, who took pictures for us before, during and after the 2008 Golf Tournament. Please check out her slide show here.

TEAMSTER eDISPATCHES: AUGUST 11, 2008
(Posted August 11, 2008) The articles below were generated from recent news releases sent to Local 174 from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters eDispatch System. All the stories are of direct or indirect interest to Local 174. They are reprinted here for general information purposes.

McCAIN HAD ROLE IN DHL DEAL
“John McCain had role in original Wilmington DHL deal”

Plain Dealer (08/07/2008): When Republican presidential candidate John McCain meets Thursday with citizens and officials in Wilmington, Ohio, he won't need a playbook to understand why they're worried about deep job losses at the local freight airport. Little known to those citizens, McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, played roles in the fate of DHL Express and its Ohio air park as far back as 2003. Back then, however, their actions that helped DHL and its German owner, Deutsche Post World Net, acquire the Wilmington operations resulted in expansion, not retraction.

In a private meeting Thursday, Wilmington residents will ask McCain for help in stopping DHL's proposal to quit using the airport as a hub, which could cost more than 8,000 jobs. DHL says that it wants to stay in the freight business but that it can stem financial losses if it can put its packages aboard the planes of a rival -- United Parcel Service -- before delivering them in DHL trucks. UPS flies out of Louisville, Ky., so the proposed change would render the Wilmington airport unnecessary.

None of that was anticipated in 2003, when McCain and Davis, who was a Washington lobbyist before managing the presidential campaign, first got involved. Several Wilmington civic leaders said that what happened in 2003 created an economic gain for their community, lasting several years.

But because that gain, and now the prospective loss, came from the decisions of a foreign-owned corporation, look for some Democrats and labor to seek to tie Wilmington's current troubles to McCain.

"Those jobs are on the chopping block because Sen. McCain and his campaign were involved in a deal that resulted in control of those positions being shifted to a foreign corporation, and there's no getting around that," said Joe Rugola, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.

Isaac Baker, a spokesman for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said, "This episode represents everything that's wrong with Washington, D.C."

The McCain campaign considers the criticism a stretch.

"At the time of the merger, no one anticipated an impact on jobs in Wilmington," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said.

The roles of McCain and Davis in the 2003 DHL deal have not been noticed in the current Wilmington flap. They were mentioned briefly, however, in a Washington Post story in June on Davis' lobbying work.

In 2003, Davis lobbied the Senate to accept the proposal by DHL to buy Airborne Express for $1.05 billion. Airborne Express at the time ran the airport and package-sorting facility in Wilmington.

Filings in the Senate show Davis' lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, was hired to help both companies deal with Congress, where objections over DHL's foreign ownership arose. Davis and a partner earned their firm $185,000 for the DHL-Airborne Express work that year, records show. They earned $405,000 more from Deutsche Post for work on other issues in 2004 and 2005, Senate records show.

Before the merger, some members of Congress, as well as UPS and Federal Express, cited concerns about a subsidiary of a foreign company controlling a segment of air commerce in the United States. Sen. Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, tried to insert language in a military spending bill to ban a foreign-owned carrier from flying military equipment or troops. That would have made the Airborne Express purchase less attractive to DHL.

McCain, of Arizona, and fellow Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi objected, saying it would be unfair to keep the Pentagon from using an air carrier it might someday need. McCain, then the chairman of the Commerce Committee, also objected to using a spending bill to set military policy.

"Moreover, Sen. McCain has a long-held belief that defense contracts should reflect providing our service members the best equipment and support while providing the best return to American taxpayers, irrespective of narrow and protectionist concerns," his campaign said.

He prevailed. After the merger, Ohio and local governments provided more than $400 million in incentives for road and facility upgrades, and DHL in 2005 moved its smaller air freight operation from northern Kentucky to Wilmington.

The move boosted the economy in Clinton County, which is between Columbus and Cincinnati. Bob Gray, an executive at the air park, estimates the net gain was about 1,000 jobs.

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McCAIN AND DHL DEAL ANALYZED
“McCain and the DHL Deal”

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Daily Record (08/07/2008) Kittitas County has contracted with a hearing examiner following a public hearing held Tuesday to take input into rules and procedures the hearings examiner will use.

The county commissioners contracted with Andrew Kottkamp of Wenatchee to be hearings examiner Tuesday. The one-year contract requires the county to pay $130 an hour for professional services and $100 an hour for travel. The hearings examiner will hold hearings the second and fourth Thursday of each month, said Darrel Piercy, director of Kittitas County's Community Development Services.

"It's possible the first hearing could be held Aug. 28," said Piercy. He said there are notification requirements for pubic meetings, so if there isn't time for an Aug. 28 meeting the first meting will be held Sept. 11.

The hearings examiner will conduct public hearings on subdivisions or plats, rezones when they are connected to a subdivision project, cluster
plats, development agreements, planned unit developments, resorts and wind farms when they are proposed within the east-county wind resource zone. These hearings are now conducted by the county Planning Commission.

In other business Tuesday, the county and Teamsters Local 760, which
represents 28 front-line sheriff deputies, agreed to a five-year collective bargaining agreement. Five years is longer than the normal three-year contract.

"It's beneficial to everybody," said Kittitas County Undersheriff Clay Myers. "It makes it easier for long-term budget planning."

Myers said the contract calls for 5 percent annual cost of living increases, retroactive to January. A starting patrol deputy will earn $3,445 a month under the new contract.

County supervisors who want to use prisoners for labor will have to undergo a training session, county commissioners decided. Commissioner Linda Huber said the county worked out an interim agreement so that prisoners may be used at the fairgrounds. The training sessions will be conducted by a county employee who has been certified to do so.

"The inmates do good work," said Myers. "But they're still inmates." He said the public has to be safe and there has to be an appearance of safety.

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MORE MEXICAN TRUCKS
“Mexican truck program extended”

DOT ON MORE MEXICAN TRUCKS
“Two more years of Mexican trucks, DOT says”

eTrucker.com (08/07/2008) John H. Hill, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, announced Aug. 4 that the Bush administration's cross-border trucking demonstration project with Mexico would be extended for two years. "I am pleased with the success of our demonstration project, but the participation has been limited by the uncertainty of the project's longevity," Hill said.

Legislation to stop the program had been approved only days before, late July 31, by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

"As we approach the end of the one-year Mexican truck demonstration program, I have introduced bipartisan legislation that will terminate the program and force DOT to fully evaluate the results before it rushes to open the border," said U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. "All along, DOT has said this would be a one-year pilot, so I'm holding them to their word."

The program, which began Sept. 6, allows Mexican trucks to begin traveling beyond a 25-mile zone into the U.S. interior. U.S. trucks participating in the pilot program also are permitted to haul cargo deep into Mexico. Hill said a number of potential companies have been unwilling to invest the time and resources necessary to participate due to uncertainties concerning the project's longevity.

"We intend this extension to reassure trucking companies that they will have sufficient time to realize a return on their investment, and we anticipate additional participation with this extra time," Hill said.

DeFazio said DOT needs to look at how much the pilot has cost and the impact it has had on overall motor carrier safety. "This administration has been hell-bent on opening up our border, but over the past year has failed to show they can adequately inspect Mexican carriers while also maintaining a robust U.S. safety inspection program," he said. "The safety of the traveling public must come first before the administration's fantasies about free trade."

Hill said the two-year extension "will ensure that the demonstration project can be reviewed and evaluated on the basis of a more comprehensive body of data." Hill said that FMCSA has adhered to the law and exceeded requirements established by Congress, both safety and otherwise, for implementing North American Free Trade Agreement obligations. "To date, the project has shown that U.S. and Mexican carriers can engage in cross-border trucking operations in compliance with applicable laws and with no compromise to public safety or security," Hill said. "In fact, Mexican trucks and drivers have established compliance rates equal or better to those of U.S. trucks and drivers."

Last December, Congress attempting to end the pilot program by passing legislation banning funding to "establish" a program that allows U.S.-certified Mexican trucks to carry loads across the border and into the country. DOT argued that it interpreted "establish" as meaning to start a new program rather than to stop the current one that it says allows the United States to comply with its NAFTA commitments. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters also defended the program as one that will offer a financial boost for U.S. truckers doing business in Mexico.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said Peters "continues to flout the will of Congress" by extending the program two years. "Last year, despite strong bipartisan congressional objections, she instituted what was supposed to be a one-year pilot program, allowing a limited number of selected trucking companies from each side of the border greater access to U.S. and Mexican highways," Oberstar said. "When Congress voted to stop the program, DOT parsed the language of the law in such a way as to allow it to continue."

On Feb. 14, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco heard arguments about whether the Bush administration can go ahead with the program despite congressional attempts to stop it.

The Teamsters and environmentalists argued before the appeals court that the program will erode highway safety and eliminate U.S. jobs; they also say there are insufficient safeguards to ensure Mexican trucks are as safe as U.S. carriers. "It's outrageous that this program has been allowed to continue despite the fact that it's endangering American lives," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "How many people must die on our highways before the Bush administration wakes up?"

Supporters of the plan say letting more Mexican trucks on U.S. highways will save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. And they say U.S. trucking companies will benefit since reciprocal changes in Mexico's rules permit U.S. trucks new access to that country.

"Since 75 percent of our trade with Mexico moves by truck, transportation efficiency is key to the competitiveness of our manufacturers, ranchers and farmers," Hill said. "This project supports our economy by saving consumers' money, reducing shipping costs and giving U.S. trucking companies and drivers new opportunities. At a time of surging goods exports, we could hardly choose a worse time to turn our back on open trade and investment and embrace a protectionist agenda, especially in the very sector that makes trade in goods and services possible."

In addition to DeFazio and Oberstar, H.R. 6630 also was introduced by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), ranking member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; and Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.), ranking member on the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. "Given the record of DOT, without further congressional action, it can be assumed they will fully open the border to Mexican trucks without addressing significant safety concerns," DeFazio said. "This legislation is necessary for the protection of the traveling American public."

Hoffa praised the House officials for introducing the bill. "I commend Representative DeFazio and the members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for taking a stand to protect the lives of American drivers and their families," he said. "This bill makes it as clear as day that Congress wants the border closed to dangerous trucks."

Oberstar said the announcement of the program's two-year extension being made on the first day of the congressional recess "is certainly no coincidence. When Congress reconvenes in September, I intend to move our bill as quickly as possible, and make certain that the voice of Congress is heard loud and clear at the Department of Transportation, and that this program is finally shut down."

The extension of the demonstration project is discussed in a Federal Register notice issued Aug. 4; the notice is available as a four-page PDF by clicking here. FMCSA so far has granted authority to 27 Mexican carriers to operate a total of 101 trucks in the United States under the program, and the agency has allowed 10 U.S. carriers to operate a total of 52 trucks in Mexico.

NAFTA TRUCK DEVELOPMENTS
“Don't put the brakes on NAFTA trucking agreement”

The free trade movement is taking a beating this month. Prospects for new market-opening trade deals dimmed considerably last week with the collapse World Trade Organization talks in Geneva. Now Congress is preparing to renege on an important commitment in an existing trade deal - the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is moving legislation aimed at preventing the Bush administration from fulfilling NAFTA's promise to give Mexican truckers full access to U.S. roads. This bill is just the latest congressional attempt to keep Mexican long-haul trucks off U.S. roads.

Under NAFTA, the United States had committed to giving Mexican trucks unrestricted access to U.S. roads by 2000. This is a treaty obligation - one made under a Democratic president. But congressional Democrats, spurred on by a protectionist-minded Teamsters union, want to renege on it. They've fought every administration move to honor that commitment over the past eight years.

A lawsuit seeking a costly environmental review held up plans for a one-year demonstration to show that Mexican trucks could safely navigate U.S. roads until 2004, when the U.S. Supreme Court said there was no need for such review. The high court ruled that the president had the authority to open the nation's southern border to Mexican trucks, as NAFTA dictates.

Still, it wasn't until last fall that the first Mexican long-haul trucks rolled across the border as part of that pilot project. The legislation voted out of committee late last week seeks to block administration plans to extend the demonstration project for two more years.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sierra Club and other groups fighting to keep Mexican trucks south of the border cite environmental and safety concerns. In fact, the threat of foreign competition is what motivates this opposition. Mexican long-haul trucks crossing the border have to meet the same safety and pollution standards as U.S. trucks.

Indeed, Mexican trucks have long been allowed to operate up to 20 miles north of the border. A comprehensive review of thousands of Texas Department of Public Safety inspection reports by a University of Texas researcher showed that Mexican trucks crossing into the United States had no more safety violations than U.S. trucks. If there have been concerns about meeting emission standards, it is because this restricted, 20-mile access encouraged the use of older, short-haul trucks. The use of Mexico's modern long-haul trucks is economically feasible only with full access to U.S. roads.

It's time Congress ended its long fight to protect the U.S. trucking industry and allowed the administration to honor our treaty obligation. This attempt to keep Mexican trucks off U.S. highways only robs U.S. and Mexican consumers of the benefits promised under NAFTA.

 

JUDICIOUS STALL IN U.S. SENATE
“Senate Stall to Let Next President Tip Court Balance”

Bloomberg News (08/07/2008) An election-year standstill in Senate confirmation of George W. Bush's judicial nominees will give the next president a chance to tip the ideological balance of U.S. appeals courts that decide such issues as job discrimination, national security and pollution-cleanup disputes. The Democratic-controlled Senate has stopped filling vacancies on appeals courts, which in many respects have greater impact than the Supreme Court. The high court decides about 70 cases each year, while the 13 appellate courts issue thousands of rulings.

A carryover of the 10 vacancies would have the greatest effect if Democrat Barack Obama defeats Republican John McCain in November. It would let Obama move quickly to put his stamp on the courts after eight years of nominations by Bush. Six of the 13 U.S. appeals courts are closely divided between Republican and Democratic appointees.

In a McCain presidency, ``it is not inconceivable that every circuit could have a majority of Republican-appointed judges,'' said Mark Levy, a Washington lawyer who supervised government appellate-court litigation under President Bill Clinton. Obama might be able to appoint enough judges so almost half the appeals courts would be dominated by Democratic nominees, he said.

The Senate's judicial-confirmation slowdown is typical for the last year of a president's term, particularly when the opposition party controls the Senate. California Democrat Dianne Feinstein called it ``standard operating procedure'' for both parties.

10 Confirmed
Still, Republicans say Senate Democrats are being stingier than they were at the end of Clinton's presidency. The Senate has confirmed 10 of Bush's appeals-court nominees since early 2007, compared with 15 confirmed during Clinton's last two years in office under Republican Senate control.

“It's not par for the course,” said Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. Democrats are stalling because they are “convinced that Obama is going to win'” the presidency and “fill these judgeships,'” the senator said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, declared the near-moratorium on filling judicial vacancies last week as Congress began a five-week recess. Leahy said he wants enactment of “a whole lot” of legislation before considering any more judicial nominees, including Bush's eight candidates for appeals courts.

Among those likely to be left behind is Peter Keisler, Bush's selection for a vacancy on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Keisler's nomination has been pending in the Senate since his nomination in June 2006.

“Fast Track” Hatch accused Democrats of blocking Keisler because “he would be on a fast track to the Supreme Court. They don't like that.”

Two nominees for the 4th Circuit, Robert Conrad and Steve Matthews, have drawn opposition from liberal advocacy groups such as People For the American Way, based in Washington.

In addition to the vacancies, Congress is considering legislation to expand the appellate courts and let the next president appoint another 12 judges.

A decision last month by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates the election's potential impact. The court in Richmond, Virginia, which has four vacancies among 15 seats, has been instrumental in limiting the rights of suspected terrorists held in military detention.

By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled July 15 that Bush had authority to hold Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri without trial as a military prisoner although the suspected al-Qaeda operative entered the country legally in 2001.

Chance to Challenge
On a separate question in the case, one judge in the majority joined the four dissenters to rule that al-Marri still must be allowed to challenge his detention in federal court.

“Within a year of getting into office, Obama will be able to flip that circuit” from control by Republican appointees to a Democratic-appointed majority, said Curt Levey, director of the Committee for Justice, a Washington advocacy group that supports conservative judicial nominees.

The next president will also get the chance to reshape the 2nd Circuit in New York and the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia. Both courts are evenly divided among Republican and Democratic appointees. Vacancies and retirements could also lead to realignment of the 1st Circuit in Boston.

McCain has told Republican conservatives he would continue to appoint judges in the same mold as those nominated by Bush, though no one can predict how a president's appointees would decide particular cases.

“Equitable Balance”
Judges picked by Obama likely would strike “a more equitable balance between liberty and national security,” said Michael Gerhardt, who teaches law at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

The last appellate judge confirmations were in June, as Leahy warned colleagues the time was fast approaching when the Senate would approve only nominees supported by him and leaders in both parties.

Levey said two nominees may pass that test and win confirmation after the election. Nominees Glen Conrad for the 4th Circuit and Paul Diamond for the 3rd Circuit faced no opposition when they were confirmed for trial-court judgeships. Leahy was noncommittal on whether they will be confirmed.

“The last chance for the controversial nominees” will be in September, Levey said. Republicans may try then to pressure Democrats to confirm one by blocking legislation, “if they can find the right bill to hold hostage,” he said.

Democrats are playing “a short-sighted game, because around here what goes around comes around,” said Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn. “When the shoe is on the other foot, there is going to be a temptation to respond in kind.”

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WAL-MART’S REPUBLICANISM
By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist

(August 4, 2008) Every now and then the owners of mammoth anti-union Wal-Mart publicly show their true corporate soul. They did so during the past couple of weeks, urging their employees or as they call them their associates to vote for John McCain in 2008 if they know what is good for them. In other words, they told them, they had better vote Republican or they will soon be pounding the pavement looking for new jobs. The IBT, JC-28 and Local 174 have long been vocal opponents of this vicious, greedy Company.

There are many reasons the Teamsters Union has hated Wal-Mart. It treats its workers horribly. It wraps itself in the American flag while at the same time selling cheap imported materials often put together in third-world countries by children.

WHAT ONE GROUP HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS
Here are some words to consider, from an AFL-CIO’s Working Families e-Activist Network August 1, 2008 press release, addressing what it called Wal-Mart’s “New Low.” It said in part:

“Today marks a new low for Wal-Mart. No, not low prices; low and dirty anti-worker tactics. We've known for years that Wal-Mart has violated labor and anti-discrimination laws and ruthlessly fought efforts by its workers to form unions. And now, according to The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is so intimidated by the very possibility of a unionized workforce that its supervisors have been holding mandatory meetings essentially telling employees to vote against Democrats and Barack Obama this November.

“Wal-Mart is taking this outrageous step because the Democrats and Barack Obama have committed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain for fair wages, health care, decent working conditions and a real voice on the job. All of America's workers have the right to freely decide whom to vote for independent of employer pressure and intimidation.

“Wal-Mart's reported actions are just one piece of a large and well-organized effort by corporate America to continue exploiting America's workers by preventing them from forming unions. With our economy struggling and workers' wages stagnant, it is critical that we fight workplace intimidation and other heavy-handed corporate tactics. CEOs and Big Business already have too much influence in our political system and telling their employees whom to vote for is simply unacceptable.

“Corporate giants like Wal-Mart have been suppressing workers' wages and passing along health care costs to hardworking taxpayers like you for years. Wal-Mart executives are getting rich, while we're being left behind. They understand what is at stake in this election, and so do we — a real voice at work for fair pay, health care for all, equal treatment, safe workplaces, and a secure retirement. And Wal-Mart is ready to use its incredible corporate power as America's largest private employer to corrupt the political system to safeguard its profits.”

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE ITSELF
The WSJ article, entitled "Walmart Warns of Democratic Win," speaks for itself. Using scare-tactics reminiscent of its 2006 "voter education" program, Wal-Mart has organized a nationwide campaign to steer its workers away from voting Democratic this election. Check out the article yourself.

Read more about Walmart's outrageous strong-arm tactics here.

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OAK HARBOR MEMORANDUM

DATE: JULY 29, 2008

TO: ALL MEMBERS SIGNATORY TO THE OAK HARBOR FREIGHT LINES LABOR AGREEMENT — LOCALS 81, 174, 231, 252, 324, 483, 589, 690, 760, 763, 839 & 962 and Joint Councils 28 & 37

FROM: AL HOBART, BOB PAFFENROTH, JUSTIN "BUCK" HOLLIDAY & KEN THOMPSON — JOINT COUNCIL OF TEAMSTERS NO. 28 NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE

RE: OAK HARBOR FREIGHT LINES MEDIATION UPDATE

Message

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We met with Oak Harbor management's negotiating team again on Monday, July 28, 2009.

We have very little progress to report from our second mediation session. To date, the Company has not come forward with a finalized comprehensive proposal. The Company's current offer would:

• eliminate health care coverage for current and future retirees,
• move you onto a substandard health care plan,
• freeze the Company's contributions to your retirement fund,
• eliminate paid sick leave,
• prevent Class B dockworkers from obtaining health and welfare benefits,
• allow the Company to use subcontractors to replace office workers, and
• deny new clerical employees any pay raises.

On July 25th, the Teamsters Union and Oak Harbor employees filed unfair-labor-practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Oak Harbor has engaged in "bad faith bargaining." The charges address Oak Harbor’s alleged violations of U.S. labor law, including negotiating directly with employees and illegally forcing union members to remove union insignias from the workplace. The filing of these serious charges is just another sign that the Teamsters will take action to show Oak Harbor that it needs to learn to respect its employees.

In the coming weeks, we hope Oak Harbor will come forward with a comprehensive final proposal that we can present for your review.

Stand Strong,
Your Negotiating Committee

cc: Tyson Johnson, IBT Freight Division Director & Southern Region Vice President; Gordon Sweeton, IBT Central Region Vice President

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REPORT ON SICK TRUCKER WRECKS
An Associated Press Review of a Study printed in a recent issue of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Newspaper

(July 29, 2008) In its Contracts Local 174 meets head-on the problem of its Truck Driver members and illness. That is to say, when they are seriously ill, they don't drive. But there are many drivers not covered by good Union Labor Agreements, who do drive when they are really too sick to be doing so.

The A.P. Report was written by writers Hope Yen and Frank Bass. Their article starts out:

"Tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to deadly crashes on highways. Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press.

"The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more."

You can read their entire story, and consider the many details of the study here.

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IBT PORT ORGANIZING CONTINUES
Hoffa Joins Thousands of Workers to Support Clean and Safe Ports in Oakland; Calls for a Sustainable Clean Trucks Program

The scene in Oakland during the rally.

(July 28, 2008) Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa joined more than 3,000 Environmental, Community and Labor advocates at a march and rally Tuesday, July 22nd, to call for clean air and good jobs at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, CA, through the implementation of a comprehensive Clean Trucks Program.

The event was co-sponsored by the Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports, the California Labor Federation, and the Central Labor Council of Alameda County. Rally participants carried signs reading “Clean Air & Good Jobs” to deliver the message that it is time to stop poisoning the environment with deadly truck emissions and make the industry responsible for modernizing the Port truck fleet.

Local 174 Executive Board member Gary Bolen and Joel Johanneck, Yellow Transportation, were on hand to lend their support to the effort on behalf of themselves and their Local’s membership.

HOFFA LAYS OUT THE FUNDAMENTALS
“Port drivers are on the front lines of this fight for clean air and good jobs,” said Teamsters General President Hoffa.

“They toil away every day earning poverty-level wages and can’t earn enough to pay for the maintenance of their older trucks, which are pumping out toxic pollution. This coalition of Environmental, Community and Labor activists has come together for a common cause — to curb pollution in our Ports and create good-paying jobs for Port drivers.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums helped kick-off the march to the Port. Thousands of marchers gathered at a rally site in Jack London Square in the shadow of the Port of Oakland to show their support.

Oakland could be become the second Port to adopt a sustainable Clean Trucks Program following the Port of Los Angeles, which unanimously approved the plan earlier this year.

Oakland Mayor Dellums and Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa spoke at the Labor rally, which aimed at pressuring the Port of Oakland to require that trucking companies hire drivers as employees instead of just using them as independent contractors.

BOLEN’S AND JOHANNECK’S OBSERVATIONS
"You can really see the pollution these old port trucks cause by the haze and stale air cast across Oakland's Bay area. We were glad to get back to the Northwest, where the air is cleaner," Gary Bolen said.

Bolen added, the California Air Resources Board found that West Oakland residents are about 2-1/2 times more likely to get cancer than other people living in the Bay area. According to the American Lung Association, one in five West Oakland children has asthma, and the West Oakland area has the highest asthma hospitalization rate in California.

Joel Johanneck commented on how poorly these Port trucks were maintained — missing fenders, mud flaps, bald tires, broken windows and very little maintenance. He talked briefly with one of the Port drivers who spoke broken English, who told him, “I make very little money and have a hard time supporting my family. No extra money. Not good."

After clearing expenses, Johanneck noted, many truck drivers make as little as $8 per hour and receive no benefits. Big Box Retailers and Steam Ship Companies are fueling a race to the bottom, forcing trucking companies to compete by undercutting each other and paying drivers less. Many companies have shifted to "independent contractors" status rather than employees, to avoid paying payroll taxes, Social Security, Medicare and Workers Compensation.

In March, 2008 the Los Angles Harbor Commission voted unanimously to approve a comprehensive and sustainable Clean Truck Program that requires the trucking industry to buy and maintain a clean technology fleet and to employ truck drivers who currently operate as independent contractors. The IBT and other organizations are fighting to have the Port of Oakland adopt a similar agreement.

NOTE: Local 174 members Gary Bolen and Joel Johanneck took the photos included in the PhotoBucket slideshow linked to above!

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