Teamster solidarity takes it to the streets

From Hollywood to the LA Docks, from Oakland City Hall to the Port, and at SF City Hall and the Federal court house

Teamsters have joined with unions and community groups in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles in four large demonstrations over the last three months to call attention to the plight of working people and their communities, and specifically, to improve working conditions and contracts.

Most recently, the march from Hollywood to the Docks began on April 15th in Hollywood, where actors represented by the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists face immediate contract negotiations. The march concluded on April 17, at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, where Longshore workers represented by the International Longshore Warehouse Union face contract negotiations in July.

All along the 28-mile, three-day march, route workers and community members held events highlighting the issues impacting working families such as the Governor's proposed budget cuts, a lack of affordable housing, and the healthcare crisis.

Bay Area Teamsters went to L.A. for the event and joined Teamsters and members of 30 other Southern California unions to hear, among others, General President James Hoffa rally the 5,000 demonstrators to get involved in the 2008 elections, which he dubbed a once in a life time opportunity.

Good jobs, clean air for Oakland

On March 17, more than 300 truck drivers, West Oakland residents, and labor/community activists marched from Oakland City Hall to Port headquarters in Jack London Square to demand that the Port create a new model for trucking services; one that would improve air quality and offer workers the opportunity to join a union. The group presented poster-sized letters to Mayor Ron Dellums and to Port Commissioners Victor Uno and Margaret Gordon. "We must end the sweatshop-on-wheels system that has drivers waiting for hours without pay while spewing diesel fumes into the community," said Teamster Port Director and Joint Council 7 President Chuck Mack.

Supporting United mechanics

On March 5, hundreds of supporters, including Teamsters, United Airlines (UAL) mechanics, Bay Area union members and elected officials, joined Teamsters Union General President Jim Hoffa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at a rally on the steps of City Hall to protest a plan by UAL to outsource nearly 4,500 jobs at its San Francisco International Airport maintenance facility.

The rally coincided with efforts by Local 856 and other Locals around the nation to organize the United mechanics into the Teamsters union. By the end of March, the mechanics overwhelmingly chose the Teamsters Union as their collective bargaining representative by a vote of 4,113-2,631.

Stop cross-border trucking

The Teamsters, Sierra Club and Public Citizen sued the Bush administration in August, 2007 to try to stop the cross-border program, which the U.S. agreed to as part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. The groups argue that the crossborder 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.

On February 12, when the case was finally being heard by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, hundreds of Teamsters and supporters marched and packed the courtroom where an apparently divided three-judge panel heard arguments in the case.

Several tractor trailers were parked outside the courthouse and hundreds of union members and environmentalists protested the program.

The court's decision should come out this summer.