A Teamster shop steward exposes unfair employer

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdpxCtiJ8_sKPqYJxENbSEWQUxB9QxMWihXYBC1xVLZ7pt5HlZ688GawRHso0fUX_nTQ7ToeHCWdbI04nbax_AuMugLbijZn3zJlPgsRQto89P-CPe2MW_4LkVABiLUeLjm_d0Gz35BwY/s1600/teamster+steward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdpxCtiJ8_sKPqYJxENbSEWQUxB9QxMWihXYBC1xVLZ7pt5HlZ688GawRHso0fUX_nTQ7ToeHCWdbI04nbax_AuMugLbijZn3zJlPgsRQto89P-CPe2MW_4LkVABiLUeLjm_d0Gz35BwY/s320/teamster+steward.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teamster Local 439 members and Brother Joseph Trujillo,<br />shop steward.</td></tr></tbody></table>Our <a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamster</a> brother Joseph Trujillo is a shop steward from <a href="http://www.teamsters439.com/index.html" rel="nofollow">Teamster Local 439</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California" rel="nofollow">Stockton, Calif.</a>, and he asked us to help expose the unfairness of an employer.<br /><br />We're happy to oblige:<br /><br />Here's what Brother Trujillo told us: <br /><blockquote>My fellow Brotherhood. I'm a shop steward out of Local 439. We are in negotiations for a new contract, but the company is trying to railroad us out of our health and welfare as well as wage increases. The company is <a href="http://www.uscold.com/" rel="nofollow">UNITED STATES COLD STORAGE</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy,_California" rel="nofollow">Tracy, Calif</a>. </blockquote><blockquote>Here are the details, Our contract expired March 1, 2012. We have been through numerous negotiating meetings, as the company has been very adamant in wanting US to give up our Teamsters healthcare, and go with their company plan only because it will cost them less -- as well as only offering US a 20-cent increase upon signing ratification.  </blockquote><blockquote>We've been persistent and have given them a final proposal to stick with our NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GENERAL TEAMSTERS FUND PLAN, and there is still their issue with the new Obamacare argument. It has upset ALL members here at OUR Tracy, Calif., plant, and it's an insult of only a 20-cent increase with no backpay!</blockquote>We constantly hear about these kinds of attacks on workers. It's time to <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/stopthewaronworkers" rel="nofollow">stop the war on workers</a>! <br /><br /><ul class="uiList body contentListWidth _4kg" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.909090995788574px; line-height: 12.727272033691406px; list-style-type: none; margin: 2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="border-width: 0px;"></li></ul><br />

439 negotiations Teamsters A Teamster shop steward exposes unfair employer

Teamster Local 439 members and Brother Joseph Trujillo, shop steward. Our Teamster brother Joseph Trujillo is a shop steward from  Teamster...

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Today's Teamster News 10.14.13

<a href="http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1241573/negotiations-between-teamsters-and-cn-derail" rel="nofollow">Negotiations between Teamsters and CN derail</a>  Teamsters Canada   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents some 3,300 conductors, trainmen, yardmen and traffic coordinators at Canadian National (CN), are gearing up for a fight with the railway company...<br /><a href="http://dobetternissan.org/2013/10/compa-report" rel="nofollow">Report outlines how Nissan in Canton, Miss., is violating international human rights standards of workers who want to organize and bargain collectively</a>  Do Better Nissan   ...in the Canton plant, according to the report, Nissan has launched a campaign of fear and intimidation to nullify these rights...<br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-11/federal-workers-stretch-last-paycheck-until-shutdown-ends.html" rel="nofollow">Federal Workers Stretch Last Paycheck Until Shutdown Ends</a>  Bloomberg   ...The average federal employee earned an annual salary of $76,353 in 2012, and the lost income is exerting a drag on the economy as well as forcing employees who live paycheck-to-paycheck to figure out how to cover their bills until the shutdown ends...<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/oct/09/worlds-wealthy-where-russia-rich-list?CMP=twt_gu" rel="nofollow">The world's wealthy: where on earth are the richest 1%?</a>  The Guardian   ...Amid a record high for average global wealth its figures reveal striking inequalities – such as 35% of Russia's riches in the hands of 110 people...<br /><a href="http://www.economicpopulist.org/" rel="nofollow">Don't Count on a 1.5% Social Security Increase, the Figures Have not Been Released Yet</a>  Economic Populist   ...The problem with this headline announcement by the press is the social security cost of living increase has not been announced yet and is highly dependent on government inflation statistics for September...<br /><a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/19334-the-tragedy-of-greece-as-a-case-study-of-neo-imperial-pillage-and-the-demise-of-social-europe" rel="nofollow">The Tragedy of Greece as a Case Study of Neo-Imperial Pillage and the Demise of Social Europe</a>  Truthout   ...A public debt crisis has been used as an opportunity to dismantle a rudimentary social state, to sell off profitable public enterprises and state assets at bargain prices, to deprive labor of even its most basic rights after decades of hard-fought struggles against capital, and to substantially reduce wages, salaries and pensions, creating a de facto banana republic...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/the-end-of-the-nation-state.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0" rel="nofollow">The End of the Nation-State?</a> (opinion)  New York Times   ... though most of us might not realize it, “nonstate world” describes much of how global society already operates. This isn’t to say that states have disappeared, or will. But they are becoming just one form of governance among many...<br /><a href="http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55927&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electionlawblog%2FuqCP+%28Election+Law%29" rel="nofollow">Breaking: Judge Posner Admits He Was Wrong in Crawford Voter ID Case</a>  Election Law Blog   ..."we…. weren’t really given strong indications that requiring additional voter identification would actually disfranchise people entitled to vote..."<br /><a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/10/why-ceo-pay-will-keep-rising-to-even-more-insanely-unjustified-levels-while-ordinary-workers-fare-worse.html" rel="nofollow">Why CEO Pay Will Keep Rising to Even More Insanely Unjustified Levels While Ordinary Workers Get Squeezed</a>  naked capitalism   ...Even casual scrutiny will tell you that the current ridiculous levels of CEO pay bear no relationship to anything other than their highly developed rent extraction skills...<br /><br /><br />

CEO Pay European debt crisis government shutdown Greece negotiations rail social security trade union busting voter suppression Today's Teamster News 10.14.13

Negotiations between Teamsters and CN derail  Teamsters Canada   ...The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents some 3,30...

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Today's Teamster News 09.22.13

<a href="http://mtstandard.com/news/local/local-teamsters-no-st-james-healthcare-settle-strike-averted/article_5e50027c-2271-11e3-9af2-0019bb2963f4.html" rel="nofollow">Local Teamsters No. 2, St. James Healthcare settle; Strike averted</a>  Montana Standard   ...Local Teamsters No. 2 and St. James Healthcare have settled their long-ranging collective bargaining issues — thus averting a Sept. 23 strike...<br /><a href="http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/09/20/5229676/teamsters-continue-to-lawfully.html" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Continue To Lawfully Picket Funeral Home Giant SCI</a>  Teamsters Local 727   ...Since pickets began on July 2, SCI has continued its history of bargaining in bad faith with its employees, even after meeting for ongoing negotiations on Sept. 17...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/community-teamsters" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Women’s Conference Closes with Focus on Activism</a>  teamster.org   ...The 2013 Teamsters Women’s Conference in New Orleans closed on Saturday with a call to action from the 1,000 Teamster women in attendance, as well as from their fellow Teamsters throughout North America...<br /><a href="http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/obamas-corporate-export-council-ignores-dismal-export-data-backs-more-of-the-same-trade-deals.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eyesontrade+%28Eyes+on+Trade%29" rel="nofollow">Obama’s Corporate Export Council Ignores Dismal Export Data, Backs More-of-the-Same “Trade” Deals </a> Public Citizen   ...Somehow the room full of corporate representatives and government officials, “<a href="http://trade.gov/pec/">the principal national advisory committee on international trade</a>,” which exists to “promote export expansion” and “discuss and resolve trade-related problems,” made it through two hours of prepared speeches without once acknowledging that we’re <a href="http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/02/obamas-export-promise-falls-18-years-behind-schedule-as-exports-decline-under-ftas.html">18 years behind schedule to meet Obama’s goal to double exports</a>...<br /><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-09-20/5-years-after-financial-crisis-big-banks-are-still-committing-massive-crimes" rel="nofollow">5 Years After the Financial Crisis, The Big Banks Are Still Committing Massive Crimes</a>  zero hedge   ...The executives of the big banks invariably pretend that the hanky-panky was only committed by a couple of low-level rogue employees. But studies show that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/09/fraud-bosses-206m">most of the fraud is committed by management</a>...<br /><a href="http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/09/jpmorgan-found-to-have-violated-both-banking-and-securities-laws-in-920-million-settlement/" rel="nofollow">JPMorgan Found to Have Violated Both Banking and Securities Laws in $920 Million Settlement</a>  Wall Street on Parade   ... This is where the high risk trading was done, in the insured bank, using insured deposits. It is this aspect that has stunned Congress and brought in the FBI and Justice Department...<br /><a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/few-jobs-means-bad-jobs?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+beat_the_press+%28Beat+the+Press%29" rel="nofollow">Few Jobs Means Bad Jobs</a>  Center for Economic and Policy Research   ...There are always employers offering bad jobs, but workers don't take them in a good economy. In a bad economy they have no choice...<br /><a href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/09/founder-of-.html" rel="nofollow">Founder of Beanie Babies to Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion</a>  TaxProfBlog   ...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Warner">Ty Warner</a>, CEO of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Inc.">Ty Inc</a>., which makes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_Babies">Beanie Babies</a>, has agreed to plead guilty to tax evasion and pay $53.6 million in penalties in one of the largest offshore tax evasion cases in history...<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-19/how-germany-s-alw-got-busted-for-the-largest-food-fraud-in-u-dot-s-dot-history" rel="nofollow">The Honey Launderers: Uncovering the Largest Food Fraud in U.S. History</a>  Bloomberg   ...Andrew Boutros, assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, had put together the case: Eight other ALW executives, including Alexander Wolff, the chief executive officer, and a Chinese honey broker, were indicted on charges alleging a global conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey going back to 2002...<br /><a href="http://madeinamericathebook.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">Loss of Economic Exceptionalism</a>  Made in America   ...the U.S. does not provide more upward mobility than other nations do; if anything, young Americans’ economic fortunes are more tied to those of their parents than is true in other western nations...

bank criminality corporate tax avoidance funeral directors Jobs JPMorgan negotiations TPP Today's Teamster News 09.22.13

Local Teamsters No. 2, St. James Healthcare settle; Strike averted  Montana Standard   ...Local Teamsters No. 2 and St. James Healthcare ha...

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Why the Teamsters charged a funeral giant with lawbreaking

No one should be surprised that funeral giant SCI would lie and break federal laws during contract talks. SCI has in the past hired gun-toting goons to spy on its workers during negotiations.<br /><br />The $3.8 billion company buys neighborhood funeral homes, siphons money from the community and tries to impoverish its workers.<br /><br />SCI is currently in contract negotiations with Chicago-area funeral directors and drivers who are members of <a href="http://www.teamsterslocal727.org/">Local 727</a>. The Houston-based corporation is demanding the workers agree to elimination of their pension, increased health care costs and a wage freeze for new hires. And it's not as if the company is hurting. Its stock went up 56 percent in the last year.<br /><br />SCI is also lying to the employees and negotiators. That's against the law. The <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/unfair-labor-practice-charges-filed-against-funeral-giant-sci">press release</a> from Local 727 explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">On or about June 24 and 25, in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), SCI engaged in bad faith bargaining with the union by making unlawful omissions and misrepresentations in memos issued to its employees and negotiators.  Additionally, SCI issued memos that contained implied threats to interfere with employees’ current benefits in violation of section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA.</blockquote>The funeral directors are asking the public for support. (You can help by signing this online petition <a href="http://www.integrityinillinois.com/online-petition.html">here</a>.)<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_xLJFXbdJS7zZHEdek8rtuK4FWFE1rWs97R7yMCTu9HSzc7AhlCSFWMVQNLVbJ7Mb9W-PyMoPq932zMPYcJ34EIpUIGuoZZofLqZ5tliUOurJD6l0SdPTPJ6aJ9tTzADa4bG9OiQCsqqK/s1600/funeral+directors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_xLJFXbdJS7zZHEdek8rtuK4FWFE1rWs97R7yMCTu9HSzc7AhlCSFWMVQNLVbJ7Mb9W-PyMoPq932zMPYcJ34EIpUIGuoZZofLqZ5tliUOurJD6l0SdPTPJ6aJ9tTzADa4bG9OiQCsqqK/s320/funeral+directors.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teamster funeral directors rally for fairness</td></tr></tbody></table>Local 727 placed an ad in the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/">Chicago Tribune</a> and tried to place the same one in the Chicago Sun-Times. But the Sun-Times refused to carry it. <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/sun-times-refuses-union-advertising">John T. Coli, secretary-treasurer of the Local, said</a>.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Sun-Times obviously does not want to offend a consistent revenue source. It’s ironic that a  newspaper that makes its money off the First Amendment would do this.</blockquote>Here's the ad, which warns of a labor dispute:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">We, the undersigned funeral directors and drivers, are proud to be able to assist grieving families in their greatest time of need, and we have dedicated our lives and careers to this important service. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Over the last seven years, we have made sacrifices — including wage cuts and freezes — in order to help SCI. Now, the company wants to eliminate our pensions and slash our benefits. Their shameful actions could force us out on strike and cause further harm to the Chicago community...</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTOsefVB6EeVUsVxxYdmWsuduEwgRru_iboOjTJSwpTAsJgKUERuJ4Czn7274x1OKLb_xfzZ46EXjqBu2JE1AIJo-h1tXVZmIMhF1GSAbEfEQ21LmcUTiJ96A3LOC0tJ_IsA-gOe9NEN1W/s240/SCI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTOsefVB6EeVUsVxxYdmWsuduEwgRru_iboOjTJSwpTAsJgKUERuJ4Czn7274x1OKLb_xfzZ46EXjqBu2JE1AIJo-h1tXVZmIMhF1GSAbEfEQ21LmcUTiJ96A3LOC0tJ_IsA-gOe9NEN1W/s240/SCI.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These walls hide real nasty behavior</td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">As funeral directors and drivers, we are not nameless, faceless workers; we are licensed professionals who have spent years fostering strong relationships with the families we serve. SCI needs to know they cannot treat us this way. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In the event of a labor dispute, please visit IntegrityInIllinois.com or call (312) 206-4123 to be directed to alternative funeral facilities.</blockquote>About the guns:  Six years ago, the Teamster funeral directors were caucusing in a South Side hotel room between negotiating sessions with SCI. A female Teamster negotiator left the room and returned to find a large man who was clearly carrying a gun listening at the door. He tried to intimidate her, but she brushed past him. Funeral directors fanned out across the hotel grounds and identified several more armed goons. The Teamsters immediately filed unfair labor practice charges with the <a href="http://www.nlrb.gov/">National Labor Relations Board</a>.<br /><br />For more information, go to <a href="http://www.integrityinillinois.com/">www.integrityinillinois.com</a>.

funeral directors negotiations SCI Why the Teamsters charged a funeral giant with lawbreaking

No one should be surprised that funeral giant SCI would lie and break federal laws during contract talks. SCI has in the past hired gun-toti...

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