Hoffa Energized the Crowd In Puyallup Friday Sept. 9th to Support Fred Meyer Workers
Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa rallied hundreds of union members and their community partners today in support of Teamster grocery warehouse workers in their fight for a fair contract at Fred Meyer.
Hoffa praised workers at Fred Meyer for their courage as they hold the line in a “war on workers” that is being waged by corporate elites and radical politicians on the American middle class.
Kroger reported over $75 billion in revenue in 2010. In the first quarter of 2011, Kroger’s profits were $432.3 million, an increase of 16%. Teamsters Local 117 represents approximately 16,000 members, with over 1,000 members employed in the grocery warehouse industry.
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Teamsters Local No. 760 Wins Mother Jones Award
Teamsters Local No. 760 is the first organization to be awarded this prestigious award twice
Each year at the Washington State Labor Council’, AFL-CIO Annual Convention they recognize, with the Mother Jones Award, 1 Organization and 1 individual, who best exemplify the tradition of Mary “Mother” Jones immortal statement “Mourn the dead, but fight like Hell for the Living!” The Mother Jones Award of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, has been recognized for more than 14 years as the state labor movement’s award that recognizes our own members in their struggle for dignity and respect for all working women and men in our state.
Teamsters Local 760 is the first Organization, in the history of this award, to have the great honor of being presented with this award two separate times. In 1999 Teamsters Local No. 760 received the Mother Jones award for the successful organizing in Grandview, WA of a food processing plant. The Local organized this plant three times with different owners over a three year period.
Now in 2011, Teamsters Local No. 760 received the award again for the struggle and victory at the KDNA radio station in Granger, WA. Teamsters Local No. 760 is the only Union to receive this award two times and is a testament to how this Union fights for the rights of all working women and men in our state, no matter who they are or the work they do.
John Parks, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local No. 760, upon receiving this award said “My thanks go out to the workers of KDNA for their steadfast support of the workers that were fired, the community, my staff, State Representative Phyllis Gutierez Kenny, the Governors Director of the Commission of Hispanic Affairs, Uriel Iniquez, the Washington State Labor Council, specifically Jeff Johnson and lastly to my dearly departed friend Roberto Maestas and his family for all their efforts in this historic victory within the farm worker community.”
Click here to learn more about Mother Jones
Click here for a list of past recipients of the Mother Jones Award
JC 28 Steps Up Fight to Protect Good Teamster Jobs
L to R: David Grage, Antony Murrietta, Doug Henderson, Liz Brown,Jason Powell and Scott Sullivan)
Tuesday July 27, 2011, members of Joint Council 28 took to the streets of Seattle, as part of a coordinated leafleting event of the Law Offices of Jackson Lewis, to protest the Union-Hostile Law Firm. Similar events took place in Los Angeles, Calif., San Francisco, Calif., Chicago, Ill., and New York City. Jackson Lewis is the top union-hostile law firm in the United States, and auto-giant BMW is using Jackson Lewis to help it outsource good, middle-class jobs at its parts distribution center in Ontario, California.
Leaflets were distributed highlighting how Jackson Lewis and BMW are destroying American jobs and a link to the website www.BMWUltimateMisery.com . “BMW got bailed out with nearly $4 billion in low-interest American taxpayer loans, and in exchange they’ve hired union-hostile lawyers to mock America’s plant closing laws,” said Teamsters Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox. “BMW is planning to layoff its longtime, dedicated workforce, and their Jackson Lewis lawyers keep sending us letters saying they refuse to discuss alternatives with us.”
For More Info and Current Press Coverage:
TEAMSTER MEMBERS PEACEFULLY OCCUPY THE WA STATE CAPITOL
Teamsters Rally For Change In Olympia – Special Session Begins!
A confederation of thousands of working people converged on Olympia yesterday to denounce the Legislature’s plans to cut an additional $2 billion from the State budget and to demand that the State raise revenue to preserve essential services in education, health care, and public safety.
Dozens of members of Teamsters Local 117 joined forces with teachers, health care workers, students, community activists, and members of the Occupy movement for a rally and a peaceful march around the Capitol Building. (read more)
Grand Daughter of Local 760 Member Wins $10,000.00 Scholarship
Pictured left to right Joseph and Elizabeth Stump (Parents), John Parks (L-760 S-T), Jim and DIane Stump (Grand Parents)
Local 760 is proud to announce that Lana Stump, whose grandfather Jim Stump retired Continental Baking, has received a $10,000.00 scholarship from the James R. Hoffa Fund.
To find out more about the James R Hoffa Memorial Scholarship, or one of the other scholarships available to the members/retirees of Joint Council of Teamsters No. 28 and their families, go to the Member Programs page of our website.
Teamster Rally in Richland draws 300 workers
Hundreds of Teamsters and other workers from the Hanford facility in Richland rallied in opposition to bills in Olympia attacking collective bargaining rights.
Check out the great television coverage on KDNU.
Led by Bob Hawks, Teamster Local 839 President, speakers criticized legislators in Olympia for attacking working families and Teamster 839 Steward and Head Start teacher Trista Tompkins motivated a cheering crowd.
Local 760 Wins Huge Victory for Employees of KDNA Radio
September 9, 2010 marks the end of a hard fought two year battle between Local 760 and KDNA Radio, a Spanish Language Public Radio Station. In the end, all of the workers who had been wrongly terminated by the management of KDNA Radio, were reinstated to their jobs and are now working under their first Union Contract. The fight that Teamsters Local 760 and the employees of KDNA won is only part of a larger fight that started long before the employees decided to stand up, fight for what is right and form a Union.
In the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s…
To read full story, click here to download the PDF.
Local 174 Wins Organizing Victory at First Student
“It has been a long battle at First Student. We have been fighting to represent the employees now for four years.”
“…the mechanics held strong. 100% of the eligibles voted, and 100% of them voted for Teamsters Local 174.”
Scholarship Recipient From Local 760 Says “Thank You” and Vows to Give Back To The Community
D. Chase Livingston, past recipient of a James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship and the grandson of David W. Livingston a deceased member of Local 760 in Yakima WA, credits the $10,000.00 James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship he received as getting him one step closer to “fulfilling my promise to myself and my community to work for the many fine people of Central Washington as a primary care physician.” To read the full text of his thank you letter click here.
To find out more about the James R Hoffa Memorial Scholarship, or one of the other scholarships available to the members/retirees of Joint Council of Teamsters No. 28 and their families, go to the Member Programs page of our website.
LOCAL 839 ACHIEVES 1st CONTRACT FOR NEW UNIT AT BEN FRANKLIN TRANSIT
In July of this year, the Coach Operators at Ben Franklin Transit saw the strength that could be gained by joining both the Dial-A-Ride Drivers and the Fleet & Facility Maintenance Employees, who organized into Local 839 in July of 2009, and voted to be members of Local 839. Now, less than six months after casting their vote to become members of Local 839, they have successfully bargained their first contract. “Negotiations went well for this first contract, just like the two other Transit agreements we have, due to the involvement of our membership and Stewards.” With the ratification, by the members, of the first contract covering the 92 Coach Operators Local 839 now represents 200 employees with Ben Franklin Transit.
Rally In Support Of Wisconsin Workers
An Attack On One Is An Attack On Us All!
Now is the time for workers across this country to stand with each other to fight back an all out assault on working men and women and the middle class of America. Teamster members across the country will be joining with other citizens, members of other labor unions, community groups and religious organizations over the next week to send a clear message to the politicians and corporate CEOs It’s not right for politicians to attack middle-class workers and their unions while CEOs and Wall Street are making record profits. These events will be coming to the steps of the capitol buildings in 20 states including Washington.
You have heard about the thousands of workers taking over the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin and how a handful of brave State Senators have left Wisconsin in support. Wisconsin State Legislators have been invited to “hide” in Olympia, WA on Monday.
When: 12pm – 1pm Monday, February 21, 2011
Where: Capitol Steps in Olympia
Driving directions and parking information
Please show your support and solidarity with all Public Union Workers. Also, please encourage your staff and members to attend. A public rally on the steps with other Washington State Labor Council Union Members begins at noon.
Print a window flier for your car, office or home.
For more information: International Brotherhood of Teamsters Website
Communities Statewide Lend Support to Picketing Correctional Employees
Correctional employees, from one side of the State to the other, received widespread community support
Washington State correctional employees, represented by Teamsters Local 117, continue to shine a light on the safety concerns they face on a daily basis as they protect the citizens of Washington State. These concerns have come to the forefront on the heals of two terrible assaults on correctional staff, the brutal murder of Officer Jayme Biendl at the Monroe Correctional Complex in January and the stabbing of an Officer at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla a few days ago.
Close to 1000 Teamster Correctional Employees, their families, and their supporters took their fight for safety out into their communities on Wednesday in an informational picketing action at 11 different locations across Washington State to demand that the Department of Corrections (DOC), the Governor, and the Washington State Legislature take immediate steps to improve staff safety at the DOC.
“We are still hopeful that the Governor and the Legislature will have a change of heart and support these critical bills to improve safety for Correctional Employees. This is not about the money, it’s about our safety,” said John Christy, a Correctional Officer at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Read more…
Teamster Members To Be Featured on TV News Special
Local 117 members featured in report on inmate-on-staff prison violence to air tomorrow on Q13 Fox
Q13 Fox will air a special investigative report tomorrow night on inmate-on-staff violence in our State’s prison system.
In a report entitled, “Inmates in Charge: Our Prisons Exposed,” Q13 Reporter Dana Rebik interviews a panel of Local 117 members at the Monroe Correctional Complex.
The report will air both on Q13 Fox at 10:30 P.M. and on Joe TV at 9:30 P.M. on Thursday March 17th. Q13 Fox coverage extends through most of Western Washington. If you live in Eastern Washington and have cable, you can watch the report on Joe TV at 9:30 P.M. on Thursday March 17th.
The full report will also be available for viewing on the Local 117 website after it airs.
Joint Council 28 Participates in L.A. Labor Rally
Teamsters From Joint Council 28 Local Unions Were Among The Nearly 30,000 Labor Activists At A Rally in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday March 26, 2011.
Approximately 10,000 Teamsters from across the Western United States including, from Joint Council 28, Locals 117 (Tukwila), 231 (Bellingham), 690 (Spokane), 760 (Yakima) and 959 (Alaska) joined the nearly 20,000 members of other Labor Organizations and Politicians to send a clear message to Stop the War on Workers.
The Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, had the following to say today on Huffington Post:
The City of Los Angeles has a message for Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and municipal and state governments all across the country: collective bargaining works. Yesterday, I stood with leaders from the Coalition of LA City Unions to deliver that message by announcing that we have reached a tentative agreement to save the City $400 million dollars over the next three years and do away with furloughs for 19,000 City employees.
This was a watershed moment for LA and cities across the nation.
Over the past few months, we have seen workers, teachers, librarians, police and firefighters, vilified as the source of our budget problems. Some states have even gone as far as outlawing collective bargaining in a misguided attempt to dismantle public employee unions.
As a former union organizer, my first instinct is always to walk the picket line with my brothers and sisters from labor. But as mayor — as CEO of the City of Los Angeles — I know that we have to balance our budget. We have to make structural changes. We have to put the City on a path towards fiscal sustainability.
And that is precisely what we did, together with our labor partners. Instead of pointing fingers and laying blame, we invited our employees to the negotiating table. We recognized that they are our partners — not our enemies — and that we can all agree on one thing: the current system of benefits is simply unsustainable. Read the source story here.
Read other Recent Media Reports on the LA Rally:
Tens of Thousands March In Los Angeles (The California Press Report)
Thousands March in L.A. for Union Rights (Southern CA Public Radio)
Union Among Groups Continuing Fight Over Mexican Trucking Pilot Program
Although the Governments of both Mexico and the United States are satisfied with the terms of the agreement signed by their respective Transportation Secretaries Wednesday July 6, 2011 in Mexico City, not everyone else is.
Union and Non-Union truckers all understand the problems that allowing Mexican trucks unfettered access to U.S. highways will bring and vow to continue their fights to protect the citizens of the United States. James Hoffa the General President of the Teamsters Union, in a press release July 6, 2011, says “Opening the border to dangerous trucks at a time of high unemployment and rampant drug violence is a shameful abandonment of the DOT’s duty to protect American citizens from harm and to spend American tax dollars responsibly,”
Hoffa said DOT cannot guarantee the safety of Mexican trucks.
“Mexican trucks simply don’t meet the same standards as U.S. trucks,” he said. “Medical and physical standards for Mexican trucking firms are lower than for U.S. companies. And how can Mexico enforce highway safety laws when it can’t even control drug cartels?
Read Recent Press on This Issue:
JC 28 Teamsters Show Solidarity To S. CA Sisters & Brothers
On Saturday July 9, 2011 and Sunday July 10, 2011 sisters and brothers, along with family members, from Local 117 (Tukwila, WA) and Local 174 (Tukwila, WA) as well as Local 986 (S. El Monte, CA) converged on the Seattle BMW Dealership to show support for their sisters and brothers from Local 495 (Covina, CA) who are being threatened with the loss of their jobs in a distribution facility currently owned and operated by BMW.
Teamsters in Washington State as well as across the United States are leafleting in front of BMW Dealerships in order to shine a light on the actions of this huge multinational corporation who received $3.6 billion dollars in secret U.S. government bailout loans then turned around and decided to destroy over 100 good, family supporting jobs at its Ontario, CA distribution facility, and replacing them with inexperienced outsourced workers. The distribution facility has been represented by Teamsters Local 495 for 40 years and has repeatedly been one of the corporations most profitable and productive operations. Listen to how these actions by BMW will affect the long term women and men at this distribution facility and their families.
BMW Rally from Alas Media on Vimeo.
Check with your Local Union to see how you can assist The members of Local 495 in fighting to retain their jobs.