Message from Phil Cooper
Secretary-Treasurer
September - October 2020
Secretary-Treasurer
September - October 2020
With the most important election of our lifetime up until now, I will start off with letting our members know that the Teamsters are asking you to Vote No on Prop 22! We want to encourage you to educate your family and friends to also Vote No on Prop 22.
What you need to know about Prop 22 - Billion Dollar corporations like Uber and Lyft are the ones that drafted and paid to put this proposition on the ballot. Prop 22 strips workers of the basic protections we all take for granted because of our strong Union contracts. Things like unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, overtime, workers compensation and health insurance are not afforded to these employees. The commercials paid for by these billionaire companies depict students or others using the app-based business to make a little extra money, but there are many people working these jobs that is their only source of income. The fact that they are called “independent contractors” prevents them from organizing and trying to get important benefits. They are working in dead-end jobs with no benefits. Please do not be fooled by these slick commercials, these “gig jobs” are going to affect many good Teamster Jobs. Our Union Brothers and Sisters at UPS are already having to deal with app-based delivery companies that can deliver packages at a lower rate because these employees have no benefits, no workers compensation, no unemployment insurance, no health-care, this is a race to the bottom.
You will hear more about why the Teamsters are asking for you to Vote No on 22 in the upcoming weeks. All Locals of Joint Council 42 have a point person that will be visiting your facility or even calling you on the phone to educate and encourage your no vote. Local 896 has asked Brother Dave Gonzales, former MillerCoors Irwindale Brewery employee, to be the point person for our Local. Dave will be attending important training session beginning on September 14th and will be passing on the information to the members over the weeks leading up to the November 3rd election. I want to personally thank Dave for stepping up for this very important cause.
Pepsi Riverside ratified their second contract since becoming members of Local 896, on August 27th. This was a very tough contract negotiation and the Pepsi committee was up to the task. After overwhelmingly turning down the company’s offer back in January of this crazy year, it took many months to get back to the table due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once we were able to continue negotiations, we were able to get a little more money for the most senior Pepsi Riverside employees, and this was enough to get the contract ratified. They are still not making the same wages as their Union Brothers in our other Pepsi facilities, but they are getting closer. Thanks again to the Pepsi committee members for the great job they did representing their fellow workers in these negotiations.
Our Northern California Brothers and Sisters at the Safeway Richmond facility are currently in negotiations being led by Local 896 President Brian Indelicato. Brian states that he has an excellent committee and once they are done getting what he believes will be one of the best Safeway Bev contract the members have ever seen, Brian will come to Southern California next year to lead the Safeway Beverage contract for our Southern California members.
On September 17th, our Coca-Cola Ontario/Fontana facilities will begin new contract negotiations. This company is still run by Coca-Cola of Atlanta, and we are expecting extremely tough negotiations. Our members make syrup and most of their customers have been hit hard by the pandemic. With customers like the Angels and Dodgers Stadium, the Staple Center, and other such venues, and with restaurants barely open and sales of soda being hit hard. These shops are not running even close to their normal capacity, but even with all of this, the members deserve a good contract and we all know that things will turn around hopefully very soon. One of our proposals will be to address the constant payroll issues that have lasted for way to long. It should not be that hard to pay their employees correctly on a weekly basis, but this company has struggled with this for over a year now. Even this week we were again dealing with payroll mistakes affecting some of the employees.
On a sad note, the MillerCoors Irwindale Brewery is now closed. On August 28th, the last of the remaining Teamster employees walked out of the plant for the last time. Except for a few members asked to help clean-up the place for a couple of weeks, the 28th was basically the last day for the workers of the facility. These were very good Union jobs that will not be easily replaced, but for over 40 years, the Irwindale Brewery was good to many of our fellow members. Those last few days were very emotional, with friends saying goodbye to their co-workers and wishing each other well; tears were shed, and hugs were shared. I want to wish all these members well and may they all find good Union Jobs!
I want to end with a comment, I heard from a Refresco San Bernardino manager who made the statement to an ex MillerCoors employee that if Teamster Jobs are so great, why don’t you get one of those? The answer is simple, good Teamster jobs are not that easy to get because there is no turnover! People do not usually leave good Teamster Jobs, unlike the turnover at the Refresco facility in San Bernardino!
Congratulations to: Anthony Marquez of MillerCoors on his retirement.
Condolences to the families and co-workers of: Belinda King (Anheuser-Busch) who passed away a couple of weeks ago, she will be missed.
What you need to know about Prop 22 - Billion Dollar corporations like Uber and Lyft are the ones that drafted and paid to put this proposition on the ballot. Prop 22 strips workers of the basic protections we all take for granted because of our strong Union contracts. Things like unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, overtime, workers compensation and health insurance are not afforded to these employees. The commercials paid for by these billionaire companies depict students or others using the app-based business to make a little extra money, but there are many people working these jobs that is their only source of income. The fact that they are called “independent contractors” prevents them from organizing and trying to get important benefits. They are working in dead-end jobs with no benefits. Please do not be fooled by these slick commercials, these “gig jobs” are going to affect many good Teamster Jobs. Our Union Brothers and Sisters at UPS are already having to deal with app-based delivery companies that can deliver packages at a lower rate because these employees have no benefits, no workers compensation, no unemployment insurance, no health-care, this is a race to the bottom.
You will hear more about why the Teamsters are asking for you to Vote No on 22 in the upcoming weeks. All Locals of Joint Council 42 have a point person that will be visiting your facility or even calling you on the phone to educate and encourage your no vote. Local 896 has asked Brother Dave Gonzales, former MillerCoors Irwindale Brewery employee, to be the point person for our Local. Dave will be attending important training session beginning on September 14th and will be passing on the information to the members over the weeks leading up to the November 3rd election. I want to personally thank Dave for stepping up for this very important cause.
Pepsi Riverside ratified their second contract since becoming members of Local 896, on August 27th. This was a very tough contract negotiation and the Pepsi committee was up to the task. After overwhelmingly turning down the company’s offer back in January of this crazy year, it took many months to get back to the table due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once we were able to continue negotiations, we were able to get a little more money for the most senior Pepsi Riverside employees, and this was enough to get the contract ratified. They are still not making the same wages as their Union Brothers in our other Pepsi facilities, but they are getting closer. Thanks again to the Pepsi committee members for the great job they did representing their fellow workers in these negotiations.
Our Northern California Brothers and Sisters at the Safeway Richmond facility are currently in negotiations being led by Local 896 President Brian Indelicato. Brian states that he has an excellent committee and once they are done getting what he believes will be one of the best Safeway Bev contract the members have ever seen, Brian will come to Southern California next year to lead the Safeway Beverage contract for our Southern California members.
On September 17th, our Coca-Cola Ontario/Fontana facilities will begin new contract negotiations. This company is still run by Coca-Cola of Atlanta, and we are expecting extremely tough negotiations. Our members make syrup and most of their customers have been hit hard by the pandemic. With customers like the Angels and Dodgers Stadium, the Staple Center, and other such venues, and with restaurants barely open and sales of soda being hit hard. These shops are not running even close to their normal capacity, but even with all of this, the members deserve a good contract and we all know that things will turn around hopefully very soon. One of our proposals will be to address the constant payroll issues that have lasted for way to long. It should not be that hard to pay their employees correctly on a weekly basis, but this company has struggled with this for over a year now. Even this week we were again dealing with payroll mistakes affecting some of the employees.
On a sad note, the MillerCoors Irwindale Brewery is now closed. On August 28th, the last of the remaining Teamster employees walked out of the plant for the last time. Except for a few members asked to help clean-up the place for a couple of weeks, the 28th was basically the last day for the workers of the facility. These were very good Union jobs that will not be easily replaced, but for over 40 years, the Irwindale Brewery was good to many of our fellow members. Those last few days were very emotional, with friends saying goodbye to their co-workers and wishing each other well; tears were shed, and hugs were shared. I want to wish all these members well and may they all find good Union Jobs!
I want to end with a comment, I heard from a Refresco San Bernardino manager who made the statement to an ex MillerCoors employee that if Teamster Jobs are so great, why don’t you get one of those? The answer is simple, good Teamster jobs are not that easy to get because there is no turnover! People do not usually leave good Teamster Jobs, unlike the turnover at the Refresco facility in San Bernardino!
Congratulations to: Anthony Marquez of MillerCoors on his retirement.
Condolences to the families and co-workers of: Belinda King (Anheuser-Busch) who passed away a couple of weeks ago, she will be missed.
