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Local 853’s Oakland union hall was turned into a vaccine clinic on Saturday, March 27. The Alameda County Central Labor Council, a co-tenant in our building, brought together their affiliated unions to do outreach to their members. In all, 430 union members were excited to get the Johnson & Johnson “one and done” vaccine.

“This event was about union solidarity at its best,” said Local 853 Secretary-Treasurer Rome Aloise. “Even though we could only serve a handful of Local 853 members, we were part of a much bigger event that helped union members in Alameda County and throughout the Bay Area.”

In a remarkable video statement supporting the right of workers to join unions, recorded on February 28, President Biden has completely upended not only his predecessor but almost every president over the last century. The statement was released as nearly 6,000 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama are voting in a union representation election.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZpUD9KgYc4&feature=youtu.be

“I have long said that America wasn’t built by Wall Street; it was built by the middle class…and unions built the middle class. Unions put power in the hands of workers. They level the playing field,” Biden said in the opening to his two-minute statement. “They give you a stronger voice for your health, your safety, higher wages, protection from racial discrimination and sexual harassment. Unions lift up workers, both union and non-union and especially black and brown workers.”

The statement asserted that the National Labor Relations Act is about encouraging unions, not just tolerating them. “Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union. The law guarantees that choice. And it’s your right, not that of an employer, it’s your right. No employer can take that right away.”

In response, Local 853 Principal Officer Rome Aloise stated in a letter to Biden, “For the last 46 years I have been organizing and negotiating for workers and union members, and your video—the frankness, the honesty, the total commitment and sincerity of your words, actually brought tears to my eyes. I never thought I would see a President of the United States make such a bold and honest statement to workers about the value of union representation.”

He continued: “Hopefully, with the help of changes in the antiquated labor laws that now govern union organizing and negotiations, and with leadership like yours, we can begin to bring back the middle class, assist the underprivileged and forgotten in our society, and end the cycle of poverty that can only be solved by good-paying, decently-benefited jobs, with pensions that allow workers to retire in dignity.”

Closing out, Aloise said, “I want to thank you on behalf of my members and especially from an old organizer that has been given hope for the future!”

The concrete work at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is covered under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). “Unions work hard to get PLAs on big projects because they create a level playing field for wage rates,” says Business Rep Stu Helfer. “It means that non-local companies can’t come to the expensive Bay Area and underbid the local wages and conditions.”

Helfer adds that he’s been able to make language improvements in the PLAs, leveraging that language for improved coverage.

As part of the union’s routine monitoring of construction work in the area, Helfer noticed that Elite, a Sacramento-based company, had set up a portable batch plant for the SFO project and had started doing work there. “We’ve dealt with them before,” he says, “each time, discovering that they were underpaying their workers based on California state’s prevailing wage rates.”

Helfer says that the union started monitoring this job and collecting data on it. He adds that the union has had to utilize some creative methods for monitoring when the work is going on, because it’s all behind security fences that the union can’t get through.

As a result of Local 853’s labor compliance monitoring and research, the 15 drivers working on that project are now being represented by Local 853 while that project is ongoing.

Helfer wanted to give credit to Secretary-Treasurer Rome Aloise for his long-term vision of creating a labor-compliance program at Local 853.

Helfer adds that the Labor Compliance program and the language that we’ve gained under PLAs has resulted in about 400 drivers working as Teamsters in any given month.

Deadline: Extended to March 8, 2021

The deadline for this year\’s James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund (JRHMSF) Academic and Vocational/Training Program scholarship applications is now March 8. The fund looks forward to a record number of applications from high school seniors who are the sons, daughters, or financial dependents of Teamster members.

The scholarship awards range from $1,000 to $10,000 for Academic scholarships and $500 to $2,000 for Vocational/Training Program scholarships.

The application process is online and can be reached here.

Additionally, the JRH Scholarship Fund, through its administration firm, ISTS, offers tuition discounts to various colleges and universities. The information on the tuition discount program can be found here. (The tuition discount program is independent of the JRHMSF and does not require that a student be a recipient of a JRHMSF award.)

When the pandemic struck in March, the entire economy came to a screeching halt. Travel, hospitality, sports and the arts were the first to shutter. But it was clear that not everything could stop. People needed food, health care, and a variety of services and somebody needed to do that work. Often, those somebodies were Teamsters.

Our members working in package and non-restaurant food delivery were working overtime. Retail, like Costco, was booming. Construction was deemed essential as well. And of course, if our members are working, the Local’s Business Reps have to be working, too.

On the downside, we predict that as many as 20% of our members have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Our members working in the concession and sporting industry for the Warriors, A’s, and Giants have been out of work for the entire year. School bus drivers aren’t driving, and only a few of the tech bus drivers have regular work. Those who service the travel and hospitality industry, like laundry workers and those in parking lots and car rental agencies are mostly not working either.   

Hopefully, the vaccines that have been produced in record time will start getting distributed—first to health care workers and those in nursing homes who have been the hardest hit, and soon after, they’ll be available to essential workers. Unfortunately, it may be a long winter before that distribution happens.

Whether you’re working or not, we hope that all members will continue to be safe and follow the guidelines to stay that way: wear masks or face coverings; stay six feet apart from others where possible, and don’t gather indoors with people NOT from your own household.

If you think you have symptoms, get tested immediately. If you learn that you were in contact with someone who has symptoms or a positive test, get your own test, and isolate yourself immediately until you find out the results.

Currently, California and federal law ensures that your employer must cover your salary for up to two weeks if you have had a positive test, if you’ve been ordered by a doctor to isolate or quarantine, or if you are waiting at home for a test result. If you have questions about whether you should expect to get COVID-related pay, contact your business rep.