Local 137

Members get trained on hazardous materials

Twenty-three Local 137 members completed a week-long Hazardous Material Instructor Training class sponsored by the Northern California Teamsters Apprentice Training (NCTAT) in partnership with the IBT. The members came from a variety of trades including freight, ready-mix, county, fiberglass manufacturing, and construction.

Everyone who attended the class spoke very highly of the curriculum and how well the class was taught. Instructor Ron Hermanson was pleased at the attendance and participation from Local 137’s members. To top it off, all of the participants were paid for attending this very informative class.

“It was good to get the different trades together in a classroom setting,” said Secretary-Treasurer Dave Hawley. “The interaction of the members is great for the Teamster organization.”

Local 287

 

Counselors and administrative staff at the House on a Hill were eager to join Local 287 to help them fight for job security. (L to R: Molly Buland, Barbara McConnell, Georgia Coleman, Delia DeLaGrande)
Counselors and administrative staff at the House on a Hill were eager to join Local 287 to help them fight for job security. (L to R: Molly Buland, Barbara McConnell, Georgia Coleman, Delia DeLaGrande)

Bringing a union to House on a Hill

By a margin of 19-3, the 25 counselors and administrative employees at the House on the Hill, a women’s residential treatment facility in San Jose, voted in March to be represented by Local 287. “We look forward to negotiating a contract and starting to represent these new members as soon as this month,” said Local 287 President Bob Blanchet.

The company originally hired a union-buster, whose website stated that she charged $750- 1150/hour. However, when this and other shenanigans by the former Executive Director came to light, it brought down heat from the County, the agency’s key funder, and the Executive Director was fired shortly thereafter.

“We learned that our facility was ready to merge with another company that pays less and would have let go some of our group,” said Delia DeLaGrande, progam coordinator at the House for 11 years. “We wanted someone to be on our side to protect us. As the union drive heated up, the merger fell through and the executive director was fired.”

“Our intention was to keep what we have, in terms of job security and wages. We’re happy with the way things are now. But it took going to the union to start a fire.”

Georgia Coleman, an alcohol and drug counselor at the House for more than a year, agrees. “We felt it would be beneficial to have the Teamsters on our side, to be a voice for us when we can’t speak for ourselves. I like working here; what I want is a contract and job security.”

Molly Buland, a counselor for three-years says that the future at the House wasn’t looking good. “I want us to continue having the quality of work here and the security, with the union there to help and advocate for us. I felt good about the process.”

Barbara McConnell, who’s worked at the House as a clerk for the past five years, says that the group’s biggest fear was what would happen if the House merged with another company. “We were told that we’d be laid off and have to reapply for our jobs. We saw other facilities where this happened and people didn’t get hired back. We decided to take action to protect our jobs and salaries. My fiancé is a Teamster so he gave me Bob’s card. We needed something done and done fast and Bob got the job done.”

McConnell says that the House program is sacred to the employees. “We care a lot about the women. We do a lot of good. I’d just like to thank Bob Blanchet for getting things done for us quickly and being there and supporting us. I’m proud to be a Teamster.”

Local 315

Unity and solidarity drive First Student workers to join Local 315.
Unity and solidarity drive First Student workers to join Local 315.

School bus drivers vote for union

First Student school bus drivers in Concord voted by an overwhelming 32-3 margin for representation by Teamsters Local 315 in Martinez. The bargaining unit will include 42 drivers in total.

The workers initially came to the union seeking a seniority system and improved route bidding procedures, as well as affordable and improved health benefits. “We’re just happy now. We needed a voice and job security,” said driver Sylvester Williams.

“This is a very strong showing of support for the union,” said Local 315 Secretary-Treasurer Dale Robbins. “We’re hopeful and optimistic that we can get a contract negotiated and ratified before the drivers start bidding for routes and prior to the beginning of the new school year. I am extremely proud of the drivers’ unity and solidarity and for the hard work our organizer, Jim Sveum, devoted to this campaign.”

Local 350

California Waste workers win sizeable subcontracting grievances

As a result of two recent arbitration awards, Local 350 will be distributing more than $100,000 in lost wages to the members at California Waste Solution (CWS) in San Jose.

Two arbitrators sustained Local 350 grievances protesting subcontracting of bargaining unit work by CWS. The two arbitration decisions came as a result of a number of grievances the local union filed when CWS subcontracted work from its Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) and from its shop. One arbitrator concluded that CWS violated the MRF contract in the way it transferred recycling materials to its facilities in Oakland and to its customers. The second arbitrator concluded that CWS violated the driver/ mechanic contract by outsourcing its tire-repair work. Both arbitrators ordered the work returned to the unit and a “make whole” remedy.

Secretary-Treasurer Robert Morales is very thankful to the local union business agents and to attorney Andrew Baker for their hard work.

Three union election victories

In two separate drives at Allied Waste Republic Company in San Carlos, 70 employees voted to be represented by Local 350. This included 35 dispatchers, customer service reps and bookkeepers and 35 mechanics, welders and utility employees. The union is currently in negotiations for a first contract.

Twelve maintenance employees at Sanitary District West Bay, located in Menlo Park, voted for Local 350 to represent them and the union has settled a contract for these new members.

“We are pleased to represent these workers and are confident that they will appreciate the benefits of being Teamsters,” said Secretary-Treasurer Robert Morales.

Local 533

Teamsters sweep top awards in bus safety competition

Drivers from Teamsters Local 533 swept the top awards in the annual Wild West Roadeo bus safety competition held in March on Victorian Square in downtown Sparks. The union was the principal sponsor of this year’s safety event in which professional drivers compete by running obstacle courses and showing their skills in maneuvering competition.

For the fourth year in a row, Teamsters driver Rex Schrock won the Grand Champion Award, automatically qualifying him to advance to nationals. The 12-year RTC veteran bested 58 other contestants and took home $1,000 in first place money for winning the Best of Transit trophy. Schrock won the Grand Champion Award by outscoring Best of Charter winner Tommy Parker of Reno, who drives for Amador Stage Lines. Amador is not a union signatory company. Schrock then got icing for his cake on an icy afternoon by winning $257 in a cash raffle drawing.

Teamsters Felipe Tango and Gerald Waters took second and third place money in the Best of Transit category, $500 and $250, respectively. All three drive for RTC Ride, the Sparks-Reno- Washoe County public transportation system.

Drivers navigated their 19-ton vehicles between tiny tennis balls aligned for parking, orange barrels for precision in narrow spaces and other maneuvers designed to test safety skills.

Local 6o1

Diamond Walnut members ratify solid second contract

Secretary-Treasurer Lucio Reyes successfully negotiated a second contract between Diamond Foods Inc. and Teamsters Local 601, that the members ratified on March 24. The new contract provides improvements on everything ranging from strong protections of seniority, better working conditions, average wage increases of 2.5% each year, pension increases, and Level 2+ Health and Welfare that includes numerous protections.

However, like any story of struggle and triumph, this has not been easy. Workers at Diamond Walnut were on strike for 14 years, finally achieving a first contact on March 28, 2005. This second contract is the result of the commitment, hard work and determination of the members and Reyes. “The first contract is the foundation, the second contract is the structure that together we will build upon for a powerful future,” Reyes told the members at the ratification vote.

Local 853

The first of 14 new Gillig-made buses for the Whatcom Transportation Authority (WA)
The first of 14 new Gillig-made buses for the Whatcom Transportation Authority (WA)

Gillig and its union workers are a stimulus success story

According to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, because of the Obama Administration’s stimulus package, the Gillig Corporation has not only been able to retain its workforce in threatening times, but has added workers and is even working a shift on Saturdays. The workers at Gillig have been proud members of Local 853 for more than 30 years.

The Secretary highlighted the work of Gillig and its workers in his monthly blog and talked to both the company’s president, Denny Howard, and to Local 853 Secretary-Treasurer Rome Aloise.

“I’ve been with Gillig for 32 years, so I’ve been watching the transit industry for decades,” says Howard. “I have never seen the local funding in such desperate straits as today.

“In a typical year industry-wide, agencies buy about 5,000 buses. With the stimulus, it’s up to 7,000 for last year, this year, and next year. But, if the stimulus hadn’t come through, the market would have dropped 40% to 3,000 buses a year for last year, this year, and at least through next year.

“That would have devastated our employees. I’ve heard the talk about the stimulus not creating enough jobs, but you never read a statistic about the number of jobs saved. We would have had to lay off 175 workers—more than 25% of our people.

“The stimulus has been just a tremendous success. We’re one of the last made-in-America busmakers. We’ve been in business since we started making buggies and carriages in 1890, and we’ve had a great cooperative relationship with our workers.

Aloise shared his experience from the union side. “I travel around to transit districts, urging them to buy American because there’s a ton of competition from foreign manufacturers. Having a partner like Gillig really makes that job easier for me.”

“And the Recovery Act does, too,” he added. “It offers cash-strapped agencies the incentive they need to upgrade their fleets. Until now, it’s been the only thing standing between us and complete disaster. Going forward, it will ensure employment.”

Secretary LaHood was pleased to share the real scoop on the Recovery Act’s effectiveness. “It inspires all of us at DOT as we continue working hard to create more good jobs for American workers.”

Local 948

Kozy Shack workers vote for union

Next time you eat some Kozy Shack pudding or jello, know that the men and women who make it are your union brothers and sisters. When those 105 workers in Turlock decided they wanted union representation, nothing the company tried to do to dissuade them worked. In an NLRB election held on April 7, they voted 59-41 to join Teamsters Local 948.

The organizing drive started in December when one employee, Richard Cruz, came to the union hall to learn about the union. He said that the workers were particularly unhappy because the company took away their Christmas bonuses. Organizer Javier Garcia sympathized, but told Richard that he’d need to collect union cards from 80% of the workers to make the effort worthwhile. “He got us 90%. That was a great start.”

Kozy Shack quickly brought in a union buster. Just three days after the election petition was filed, the company starting holding captive audience and one-on-one meetings, and giving special treatment to some workers to try to buy them off.

The company also claimed that some workers were supervisors, when they were really leads. “We sat through four days of hearings to prove what we knew was true. We have to thank Maricela Rodriguez and Rosario Del Toro, because they were brave enough to testify that they were brought in by a temp agency and not, in fact, hired by the two leads. And we recognize Sergio Alvizo and Arturo Martinez because they stood up to say that they were not supervisors,” said Garcia.

“In spite of the company’s acrobatic maneuvers to harass and belittle the workers and to postpone and derail the election, the workers stood their ground and voted for the union,” said Garcia, who also acknowledged Matilde Calderon, who was the observer on the union side.

Garcia says he worked hard on the campaign, but all the credit goes to the workers. “The leaders stood fast. I’m in awe of their resilience and fortitude. The company was shocked by the strong union showing.”

Once the NLRB certifies the election, the union will approach the company to demand bargaining. “The workers elected Sergio Alvizo to serve as principal and Matilde Calderon to be the alternate on the bargaining committee,” said Garcia. He also recognized Local 601 for coming out on Union Visibility Day, Local 386 for helping on election day, and the staff of Local 948 for all of their back-up support.