Updates
First Student Monitors Join Teamsters
January 24, 2012(WASHINGTON) – First Student monitors in Olathe, Kan., have voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 838 in Kansas City, Mo. The 95 workers are uniting for better wages, benefits, respect and a voice on the job.
“I feel the industry that we’re in really needs to drive up their standards. We need better benefits and pay, especially given the jobs that we do,” said Patricia Heath, a First Student monitor.
The organizing committee of workers worked hard together throughout the campaign, rallying support behind their successful effort to gain Teamster representation. The monitors join the more than 200 school bus drivers at this location who were already members of Local 838.
“We’ve really come together throughout the whole process. There is communication now where none existed before,” Heath said.
“We’re hoping that we can add some stability to these people’s lives. We look forward to bargaining a great first contract for them,” said Billy Thompson, President of Local 838. “I welcome these workers to the Teamster family.”
The victory is the latest in an effort to organize private school bus and transit workers across the country. Drive Up Standards is a national campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more than 32,400 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.
Waste Workers At Republic In California Join Local 386
January 11, 2012By a 12-0 vote, 13 workers at Republic Services in Los Banos and in Atwater, in California, voted to join Local 386 in Modesto. The votes in the mail-in election were counted on January 3, 2012.
“The workers at the two locations are seeking fair treatment and respect,” said John Costa, Local 386 Vice President. “They also often work without breaks or lunches, and they are seeking affordable health care. Some of the workers pay more than $300 a month for health care.”
Republic sent someone from Phoenix to talk to the workers to persuade them to vote against forming a union, but the tactic failed miserably.
“The guys stayed firm. They just stared this person down and talked him down,” Costa said.
“We know contract negotiations will be difficult but we will work hard to address the workers’ issues,” Costa said.
“We have had several organizing victories at Republic in recent weeks and we hope to build on this momentum so that these workers gain a more secure future,” said Bob Morales, Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division. “Republic workers do a great job day in and day out and they deserve rights and protections that come with being Teamsters.”
Republic Waste Drivers Vote Teamsters
December 28, 2011(ATLANTA) – Republic Waste drivers in McDonough, Ga., voted 24-14 to join Teamsters Local 728 on Friday after a hard-fought campaign.
'This is a great victory for our union,” said Local 728 President Randy Brown. “It adds another unit to an existing group of Republic workers in the Atlanta area. It goes to show, yet again, that we can organize waste workers in the South.”
The organizing victory marked the seventh National Labor Relations Board election won by Teamsters Local 728 this year, including two at Republic.
The drivers were frustrated by wage cuts, intimidation, heavy workloads and management’s indifference to their problems.
“They piled more work on us. If you didn’t have 358 stops in one day, they took the helper off,” said Renard Henley, a Republic driver. “You’ve got a lot of people, after three years their body has broken down.”
“We deal with a lot of intimidation on the job. If you complain about anything, the first thing they tell you is ‘There’s the door if you don’t like that.’ We didn’t need to hear that. We’ve got a family just like they do,” Henley said.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.Teamster.org or follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.
Metal-Finishing Workers in Illinois Join Local 781
December 21, 2011By a 30-9 tally, workers at Micron Metal Finishing near Chicago voted to join Local 781 in Des Plaines, Illinois. There are 51 workers in the bargaining unit.
“The workers put industrial finishes on different metal parts,” said Paul Stripling, Local 781 President. “Their health care is very expensive and no one can afford to pay for it. The workers earn about $10.50 an hour so they also are seeking fair wages for the work they do.”
Safety is another major issue.
“Company safety procedures are on paper only,” Stripling said. He noted that the workers are concerned about inhaling dangerous chemicals and they want steps taken to improve safety and ventilation.
“I want to thank Local 781 Vice President Hernon Gomez for coordinating the campaign,” Stripling said. “We also had two Local 781 volunteer organizers, Gerard Adams and Wally Swanson, who received excellent training from International Union organizer Greg Chockley.”
The election took place in September.
Vitamin Company Workers Join Local 912
December 20, 2011Workers with Threshold Enterprises in California recently voted to join Teamsters Local 912. The 366 warehousing, manufacturing and packaging workers are seeking respect and better working conditions.
“We’re excited. We’re happy about this successful vote and to be able to change the lives of more than 360 people,” said Brad Sebring, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 912 in Watsonville, Calif.
The workers manufacture and package vitamins at two Threshold facilities in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley.
“They did a lot of work to organize because they want to see changes,” said Santos Lerma, President of Local 912. “They need job security. The workers haven’t had a wage increase in a couple years. Their health and welfare is costly to them. They want respect on the job.”
Victor Martinez has worked at Threshold’s manufacturing department in Scotts Valley for five years and is excited about being a Teamster.
“We feel like we’ve achieved something big and that we have a professional union behind us,” Martinez said. “Respect and fairness is what we need, and we are glad to have the union to protect us.”
Durham School Services Workers Vote 'Teamsters Yes!'
November 21, 2011(San Jose, Calif.)— Durham School Services drivers voted by a margin of two-to-one to become Teamsters Friday evening. The 116 workers are uniting for respect and a voice on the job.
“Now that we’re Teamsters, we will have the ability to make positive change at Durham. We want a voice on the job, compensation that reflects our work and higher safety standards for ourselves and the children we drive,” said Ernie Bejarano, a driver with Durham since 2003. “We’ve helped make this company profitable and we’re tired of the company just taking and taking from us.”
During their organizing campaign, Durham workers held a “Speak Out,” a meeting where they brought their concerns and working conditions to the attention of the community. Dozens of workers spoke about the struggles they faced and why they chose to form their union.
“Speaking out was a very powerful experience,” Bejarano said. “It taught us that we can’t be afraid. We have to better our lives and the Teamsters are going to help us do that.”
The workers will join Local 287 in San Jose, Calif.
“We are elated to welcome these workers to our union and into the Teamster family,” said Bob Blanchet, President of Local 287. “These are hardworking people who will make a great impact on our local and we look forward to helping them secure a strong Teamster contract.”
The victory is the latest in an effort to organize private school bus and transit workers across the country. Drive Up Standards is a national campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more than 30,900 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.
Florida Department of Corrections Officers Vote to Join Teamsters
November 17, 2011(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) – A majority of the nearly 20,000 correctional, probation and parole officers with the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) have voted to join the Teamsters Union, seeking strength and power on the job. The Teamsters’ victory in the election was announced today.
“This is a great day for Teamsters and FDOC officers,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “FDOC officers have shown that in tough times, they want a tough union to represent them. On behalf of the 1.4 million Teamster members, I congratulate these officers for joining the growing movement of public service workers nationwide seeking Teamster power.”
The vote for Teamsters Local 2011 was a decisive win over the Police Benevolent Association and the International Union of Police Associations.
Glynn Reeder, a sergeant with Florida State Prison in Raiford, was active in organizing his co-workers to join the Teamsters and was present at the vote count.
“The Teamsters have shown us that we can make positive change when we work together as a union,” Reeder said. “Now that we’ve won the election, we need to get everyone to become an active member of our new union so FDOC officers can change our destiny.”
“I’m very excited that all of us came together—probation, parole and correctional officers—to unite for a better future with the Teamsters,” said Becky Pastor, a correctional probation senior officer in Lake City. “We’ve learned that we are the union and it’s up to us to make the change we need.”
“We welcome FDOC officers to Teamsters Local 2011, a newly chartered local that will solely represent and serve the interests of FDOC officers,” said Ken Wood, International Vice President and Acting President of Local 2011, based in Tampa.
“These officers go to work every day to keep our communities safe and they deserve the best representation, which Local 2011 will provide.”
“This Teamster victory is a statewide referendum that FDOC officers want a new voice in the workplace and in Tallahassee,” said Michael Filler, Director of the Teamsters Public Services Division. “It’s time for elected officials and government administrators to value the thousands of public employees who protect communities against Florida’s inmate population. The Teamsters look forward to beginning that dialogue to correct the years of neglect within the Department of Corrections.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, including more than 240,000 public service employees. Visit www.teamster.org and http://fdocteamsters.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.
26 Toll Group Drivers Let Go for Organizing
November 3, 2011On October 27, drivers at Toll Group went to work wearing Teamster t-shirts to show their support for forming a union with Teamsters Local 848 in Covina, California. A delegation of drivers approached Toll management to demand recognition of their union while outside the company’s San Pedro facilities a delegation of more than 200 Teamsters, community residents, environmental activists and labor allies rallied in support of the drivers, ready to deliver a petition bearing 1,000 signatures urging justice for these men and women. The company’s response came two days later: 26 of the 70 drivers that worked for the company were let go and handed a final paycheck.
Australian Trip Doesn't Help
With his last $8 in his wallet, Alberto Quiteno said goodbye to his wife and teenage daughters last Friday and traveled 8,000 miles to Melbourne to plea to his employer, the Australian logistics giant, Toll Group, for humane working conditions in the United States.
In his carry-on, Alberto had carefully packed a petition signed by 62 (out of 75) co-workers that local management had previously refused to accept. Along with it was a copy of a letter he sent to Toll Group CEO Paul Little before his journey to outline the mistreatment and local management missteps. Hearing no response, Alberto headed to LAX and boarded a plane, joined by officials representing America’s largest transportation union, the 1.4 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
It took an overseas pilgrimage to grab front-section seating at the $8.6 billion corporation’s annual shareholder meeting to nab the undivided attention of the top brass. Alberto even landed a meeting with Mr. Little and another top executive, CFO Brian Kruger. Mission accomplished? Wrong. The 17-year port driver was stunned to learn he had no job to return to once he flew home.
That’s right, after a 30-minute face-to-face and cordial encounter with the retiring executive and his successor, Quiteno—along with 25 other Toll drivers—were all sacked.
The final paychecks of “The Toll 26” were dated and cut on Thursday, October 27, when employees from both the day and night shifts, in a show of unity, clocked in to work wearing T-shirts of the union they desperately want to represent them. That same afternoon 200 community residents, environmental and labor advocates picketed in support of the drivers outside the company’s San Pedro facilities, complete with 1,000 hand-gathered signatures urging justice for the workers who are the backbone of the port economy.
The workers filed another set of retaliation charges at the labor board on Monday, adding a new layerto an ongoing federal investigation. But first, some more backstory from Down Under.
The Toll shareholder meeting was quite the spectacle. Alberto’s allies roamed inside the halls circulating a new white paper by investor analysts with evidence that Toll’s instigation of a contentious low-road relationship with their truck drivers at American ports—at odds with their constructive labor approach in Australia—is a risky move that impairs the company’s reputation, operations, and relations with their retail customers.
Outside, Aussie Toll employees and officials from the Transport Workers Union staged a “sausage sizzle.” It was a lampoon-like BBQ fundraiser for their cash-strapped mates in the U.S., larded with a heavy point: Toll’s non-union employees at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newark and New Jersey do not earn a fair day’s wage for a hard day’s work like their 12,000 unionized counterparts in Australia.
And in the virtual arena, the Teamsters and the Transport Workers Union together launched a website to detail the grim truth at Toll Group in their new joint effort, aptly titled GrimTruthAtTollGroup.com.
The result of Alberto’s presence and his backers? Mr. Little was forced to publicly defend his actions which include banishing his truck drivers to filthy, unsanitary outhouses that lack running water. There would be no “riding off into the sunset” for Mr. Little after what should have been his final “legacy” presentation to shareholders, thanks in part to the scrutiny and negative press of Toll’s U.S. operations.
Take action to help these workers. Send an email and tell Toll Group to respect the rights of American workers to organize.
First Student Drivers, Monitors Join Teamsters Local 610
November 2, 2011(Maryland Heights, MO)—School bus drivers in Washington, Mo. voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 610 on Wednesday. The 95 drivers and monitors are seeking fair wages, a voice on the job and an end to favoritism.
“My co-coworkers and I are hard working men and women who deserve to be treated fairly and with respect. We should share in some of the wealth of this corporation because we help make this company successful each and every day,” said First Student driver James Parson. “Now that we’re Teamsters, we will have a voice.”
The organizing committee of workers worked hard together throughout the campaign, rallying support behind their successful effort to gain Teamster representation.
“The committee is very strong. These workers really showed a united front throughout their entire organizing campaign,” said Jeffrey Hall, Vice President and Business Agent at Local 610. “I’m excited to welcome these workers to the Local 610 family.”
The victory is the latest in an effort to organize private school bus and transit workers across the country. Drive Up Standards is a national campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more than 30,900 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information.
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