SECRETARY-TREASURER'S REPORT
By Chuck Mack
SECRETARY-TREASURER'S REPORT
By Chuck Mack |
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There's a lot to report in this issue of the Local 70 news, but nothing more important than the election of Barack Obama.
To call the election historic states the obvious. It is…but it's also an indication of how far we've come as a nation. Twenty-five years ago, even ten years ago, it was inconceivable that an African American could be elected President. The words anything is possible in America mean much more today than they did a month ago.
Obama's victory is an important step in ending division based on race, color, creed or gender. It's an important step in uniting our people and nation as one. We look forward to working with the new President to restore the opportunity for American workers to achieve the American dream.
Closer to home, we also won some key races. Jerry McNerney was re-elected to Congress, District 11, by a solid margin and Joan Buchanan defeated a well-financed opponent, Abram Wilson, to take the 15 th Assembly District seat.
We've got some electeds that we can work with and count on to support Teamster members and their families.
At a special-call meeting in early November, members ratified an Executive Board recommendation to buy the building and property at 400 Roland in Oakland . It's taken a while but we've bought a good piece of property.
The price was right, slightly under $3 million.
The location is good. It will be easily accessible to our members.
And we have almost twice as much room for offices, storage and conferencing than we did at Hegenberger. The meeting room will not be as large as our auditorium, but once completed will comfortably seat over one hundred members.
I want to thank you for your patience. This has been a long process but we wanted to be comfortable that the recommendation by the Board was the right one for our members.
Over the next couple of months, we will renovate. If all goes well, we hope to be relocated by the end of January.
Not all the news is good. DHL announced in mid-November that they were severely cutting their U.S. operations. The company has lost about $1 billion a year for the past five years. They were under significant pressure to make changes. They did and they're in many ways non-sensical.
We're extremely frustrated. Just this year, we negotiated a new agreement with the company – one based on growth. Before the ink was dry, they started to cut their operations. It has been one idiotic decision after another.
Our members deserve better. We will join the International and demand the company bargain with us over their decision. We want economic assistance for members laid off and a continuation of health benefits.
We also have sent a very clear message – no subcontracting or out-sourcing of bargaining unit work.
We will keep you advised as we move forward.
We've had several organizing campaigns over the last few months. Bob Aiello was successful in organizing MV Transportation in Union City . We have the company under contract in Livermore and are looking forward to negotiating a new agreement that will dramatically improve the wages, benefits and conditions of the Union City drivers.
There are two other campaigns ongoing. We've filed for an NLRB election at HFS, a company that distributes to Starbucks stores throughout the Bay Area. There are about 150 workers at HFS. The company has Teamster contracts in Chicago , Seattle and Los Angeles .
We've also got a campaign at Stericycle. The forty-plus workers there drive and work
in-plant. Stericycle was under contract with the Local at one time. They decertified and this is an opportunity to bring them back in.
Pilar Barton of Joint Council has taken the lead on the Stericycle campaign.
The campaign to organize Port drivers continues. We're working with our coalition of community, environmental and inter-faith groups in Oakland . We've made significant progress and hope to have a decision by the first part of the year.
As in Los Angeles and Long Beach , the opposition is formidable. They are intent on perpetuating this flawed independent contractor system. Why? It's all about the money.
We're on the right side of this issue and I expect the Port Commission to do what's right and adopt the Comprehensive Truck Management Program that we've offered.
As you read elsewhere in this edition of Local 70 news, there will be an increase in Pension benefits in 2009. Granted, 1.2 percent accrual is less than this year's accrual, but a pleasant surprise given the turmoil investment markets have experienced. An indication of how strong our Plan is.
We're also pleased that our pre-1985 retirees will receive an additional check next Spring.