The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee met last week with ABF Freight to continue negotiations for a new national agreement to succeed the ABF NMFA which expires on June 30. Progress was made on a number of supplements. At the national table, the parties discussed significant issues including the union’s objection to any inward facing cameras and in-cab monitoring and the union’s objection to the use of autonomous equipment. The union also presented its initial economic proposals to the company. The parties are meeting again this week in Kansas City to continue negotiations.
For the entire time you will be a Teamsters 853 member, you will hear from the leadership to get involved with your union. We throw out slogans like “We are stronger together”, and “Strength in numbers”.
But what does it really mean to get involved with the Teamsters 853 union? What can one member do to help. And how does that effort translate into helping our members or working women and men in general?
Three new members make a huge impact.
This is the story of Three Premier Recycler members in San Jose who stood up to testify to the San Jose City Council on wage theft. Their testimony contributed to convincing several council members to aggressively and publically stand up to Premier Recycle and advocate specifically for the workers and their contract.
Roughly a year ago, Premier Recycle workers in San Jose voted to unionize their workplace as Teamster 853 members. For the past year, Premier Recycle has employed standard union-busting tactics to stall a Union contract from moving forward. The longer they stall, the better it is for them.
So recently, Teamster 853 members Alex Obeso, Ramon Castillo, and Mike Flores from Premier Recycle, along with Business Agent Jesse Casqueiro and Vice President Ray Torres, took the opportunity to make statements to the San Jose City Council on wage theft in their industry.
Around the same time, a letter was written on behalf of three of the San Jose city council members to the company that owns Premier Recycle. This excerpt sums up the tone of the letter.
“We are well acquainted with the strategies you are all implementing to intimidate your workers from organizing and ensuring a quality workplace. We have heard concerns of safety & wage theft claims, falsification of votes, unwarranted surveillance and a general environment of hostility, division and divisiveness among other unfair labor practices. Let it be known that we take jeopardizing the wellbeing of working families as a personal issue. The resilience and strength of San José is built upon the labor of the working-class. This is an understanding that many of our Council colleagues share. ”
San Jose Councilmember, Peter Ortiz
Read the whole letter from three San Jose council members to the owners of Premier Recycle.
This is the power of participation of just three members of Teamsters Local 853, who stepped up and decided to get involved. Their actions resulted in securing strong allies in government who will advocate for workers everywhere.
So when you say, “I’m just one member of Teamsters Local 853, what can I do?” We say a lot!!! Now you know just one way members can change things for the better.
There are also simple ways to get involved in your union.
A contract proposal meeting for S. Martinelli & Co was held this past weekend. “This is a contract where inflation hit us hard because we had negotiated the previous agreement during Covid.” Said Ralph Campos, Business Agent for Teamsters Local 853.
“The members are ready and eager to do what is necessary to achieve a new contract with wages that reflect the hard work they do in the bottling world known as S. Martinelli juice and cider. As proud as they are to work for a good employer like S. Martinelli, they are even more proud to be Teamsters when it comes down to being United in an effort to boost their current contract.” Said Steven Lua, President of Teamsters Local 853.
Last week General President Sean O’Brien put out a statement that National would not begin to bargain until all supplements are complete. The NorCal committee had the week of April 10th as the 3rd and final week scheduled for negotiations but we have to make this a priority for our members. We met on Monday April 17th as a committee and have continued negotiations throughout the week with our Chairman Mark Hawkins and Local 70 S/T Marty Frates leading the charge from Washington DC. We are working diligently and through late hours because that is what our members deserve. We continue into in-person negotiations next week with NorCal in hopes of accomplishing a completed supplement.
An important update will follow next Friday, April 28th.
Please sign up below to stay tuned for more updates, and planned parking lot meeting dates in May for San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Cruz. The fight is just getting started.
In a world where Corporations spend huge amounts of money and time to aggressively prevent workers from unionizing, Unions have a secret weapon. The truth. The truth that Unions provide better wages, benefits, working conditions, and safety for workers in just about every industry across the Country.
But Unions don’t have the millions to go dollar for dollar against these union busters. But we do have the ability to tell the truth, spoken by those who know: the workers who do the jobs.
That’s exactly what DHL workers in Sunnyvale did yesterday at a rally to support over 1000 non-union DHL workers in Ohio and Kentucky who have an upcoming union vote.
When we say that Teamsters 853 members need to be involved in the Union process, this is what we mean. Simply hearing from members that wear the same DHL uniform that Union is better for their future will give those workers the confidence they need to vote UNION YES!
The below messages were sent to those 1000+ members.
Thank you, DHL Sunnyvale, for stepping up for these workers.
The Nor Cal Committee met with the company this week for the third and final round of negotiations prior to the start of National negotiations. The session ended on 4/14/23 with no real movement. The company was given a history lesson on the origin and intent of long-standing language. The company’s committee has nobody on their side of the table with any bargaining history. They respond to our concerns with what they “believe” the language means. We don’t believe what the language means; we know what the language means!
The Company continues to sidestep on making any progress on resolving issues that they create. Unresolved issues include but are not limited to, seniority issues, grievance procedure, pay issues, workweeks, ice machines and employee health and safety. Reallocation of funds isn’t going to cut it for a company that posts record profits in the billions each year.
The Nor Cal Committee has no patience in the company’s shell game negotiating tactics. “NOT INTERESTED” seems to be the mantra for the company. They are “NOT INTERESTED” in providing accurate seniority lists, “NOT INTERESTED” in providing ice. The company has made it loud and clear they are “NOT INTERESTED” in a contract.
Teamster 853 members Alex Obeso and Ramon Castillo from Premier Recycle, along with Business Agent Jesse Casqueiro and Vice President Ray Torres, made statements to the San Jose City Council this week.
Their statements were made to convince the San Jose City Council to extend wage theft protections to public works projects. They were successful in their efforts.
These efforts to give voice to working women and men and to participate in public discourse for legislative initiatives are critical to successfully protecting working men and women.
Thank you, Alex and Ramon, for stepping up to help.
