Message from Phil Cooper
Secretary-Treasurer
August 2020
Secretary-Treasurer
August 2020
I know you’ve heard this before, “the upcoming election is the most important election in your lifetime”, but I have to say this time it is true. We have a Republican President that has stated many times that if a national Right to Work (for less) bill comes across his desk, he will sign it without hesitation. Now most of you know that Right to Work Laws are aimed at hurting Unions by making them weaker and will shrink Union membership by even more than it is today. Weaker Unions means weaker contracts, weaker contract enforcement, and makes it even more difficult than it already is to organize new shops and members.
We have a Democrat Congress woman that has taken the “Hero’s Act” something that most of us can agree on that is great for the workers of this country and added the “Grow Act” to the bill. The Grow Act is a composite type of retirement that will hurt Pensions all over the country. The Grow Act allows company’s to leave pensions like the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension, one of the strongest pensions in the country, and negotiate into the composite type of pension that leaves all of the liability on the workers and none of it on the company.
We have Billionaires throwing millions of dollars to get Proposition 22 passed this November in California. In the upcoming weeks, you will see the Teamsters pushing NO on Prop 22! You, the Union members, are the key to protecting our good jobs! Prop 22, bankrolled by billionaires, is pushing the “Gig Economy” The Gig economy in this case is what we call the Uber/Lyft agenda. These jobs, controlled by billionaires, are coming after our good jobs! Their agenda is to provide jobs without a minimum wage, no workers comp, no sick days, no paid FMLA, no unemployment benefits, no right to become organized and finally, no pension and Healthcare! Defeating Prop 22 will be paramount to protecting our way of life and our Unions! This will be a fight for each one of us.
We have Republican members, Democrat members, Independent members, and even non-registered members. We have contract language in most of our contracts that allows members to donate as little as one dollar a week to D.R.I.V.E., which stands for Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education. We cannot use your dues to fight bad legislation or bad politicians. When I say bad, I am referring to bad for labor. When the Teamsters endorse a politician or fight to defeat bad legislation, they only consider one thing; that one thing is it good or bad for Labor! We do not care your party affiliation; we care if you are going to protect workers and Unions. We do not care if you are a billionaire, we care about what legislation you are throwing money behind is good for you or the workers.
So, when you see the Teamsters endorsing a candidate, or asking you to help fight a proposition to defeat legislation, you can rest assure that they have done their homework and what they are telling you has been thoroughly vetted. So yes, the 2020 November election is one of the most important elections in your lifetime! Your Union jobs are on the line. Vote! Vote! Vote!
Please be careful at home and at work. The COVID Virus, while we had it on the run for a while, has returned with a vengeance. Many of us know someone this time around that has contacted the virus and our Local now has had two members die from the virus since April of this year. While your Union continues to demand the businesses where you work continue to provide a safe environment, it has been a struggle with some employers. You need to take your safety into your own hands by wearing a mask as much as possible, washing your hands frequently, and by staying away from large crowds! If you are sick, please do not come to work, I’ll say that again, if you are sick, please do not come to work! The best way to stop the spread of the virus is to use common sense and follow the guidelines above. Your Union agrees that all of you deserve “Hero’s Pay” for coming to work everyday during this pandemic and we will continue to try and negotiate with your employers these additional monies.
At the writing of this article, we find the local in video call negotiations with Coca-Cola Victorville. While the Coca-Cola members in our Los Angeles agreements received a very economical contract a few months ago, the Company’s position is the members working in Victorville do not deserve the same due to the lower cost of living in the High Desert. The company does not sell their products any cheaper in the area, they just feel the workers do not deserve the same wages. We will be back at the table soon and our position will be the same, these drivers deserve parity in wages and benefits with their fellow Drivers! We also have the same issue in our Pepsi Riverside negotiations where that company also does not believe the pay scale in Riverside should match that in Buena Park, 30 miles down the Freeway. These negotiations will also resume at the end of July and If we cannot come up with a fairer agreement in both negotiations, you might be asked to honor a picket line in front of your facility in the near future.
Since my last article, Reyes Coca-Cola has now decided to close the Lancaster branch and shift the work to the Sylmar facility. Our five members have been offered work in Sylmar, but this is a huge interruption in their lives.
We have canceled the July Union meeting, but the Local has purchased the ability to use the IBT Zoom meeting capability and will have our first Zoom meeting in August. Please keep an eye on your Union Boards for more information about future meetings using this format.
Congratulations to: Katya Asturi - AB Van Nuys, Jaime Chua – Millercoors, Ruben Tapia – Millercoors, Kelvin Antoine - Pepsi San Fernando, Ignacio Calderon – Millercoors, Michael Jerabek - RCCB Carson, Margie Candelaria - AB Van Nuys, Roger Rueter – Millercoors, Michael Kucala - AB Fairfield, James Brabec - AB Fairfield, Erwin Arceo - AB Fairfield
Condolences to the families of: Linda Watson (Reyes Coke - LA), Vicente Ortega (Coke USA)
We have a Democrat Congress woman that has taken the “Hero’s Act” something that most of us can agree on that is great for the workers of this country and added the “Grow Act” to the bill. The Grow Act is a composite type of retirement that will hurt Pensions all over the country. The Grow Act allows company’s to leave pensions like the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension, one of the strongest pensions in the country, and negotiate into the composite type of pension that leaves all of the liability on the workers and none of it on the company.
We have Billionaires throwing millions of dollars to get Proposition 22 passed this November in California. In the upcoming weeks, you will see the Teamsters pushing NO on Prop 22! You, the Union members, are the key to protecting our good jobs! Prop 22, bankrolled by billionaires, is pushing the “Gig Economy” The Gig economy in this case is what we call the Uber/Lyft agenda. These jobs, controlled by billionaires, are coming after our good jobs! Their agenda is to provide jobs without a minimum wage, no workers comp, no sick days, no paid FMLA, no unemployment benefits, no right to become organized and finally, no pension and Healthcare! Defeating Prop 22 will be paramount to protecting our way of life and our Unions! This will be a fight for each one of us.
We have Republican members, Democrat members, Independent members, and even non-registered members. We have contract language in most of our contracts that allows members to donate as little as one dollar a week to D.R.I.V.E., which stands for Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education. We cannot use your dues to fight bad legislation or bad politicians. When I say bad, I am referring to bad for labor. When the Teamsters endorse a politician or fight to defeat bad legislation, they only consider one thing; that one thing is it good or bad for Labor! We do not care your party affiliation; we care if you are going to protect workers and Unions. We do not care if you are a billionaire, we care about what legislation you are throwing money behind is good for you or the workers.
So, when you see the Teamsters endorsing a candidate, or asking you to help fight a proposition to defeat legislation, you can rest assure that they have done their homework and what they are telling you has been thoroughly vetted. So yes, the 2020 November election is one of the most important elections in your lifetime! Your Union jobs are on the line. Vote! Vote! Vote!
Please be careful at home and at work. The COVID Virus, while we had it on the run for a while, has returned with a vengeance. Many of us know someone this time around that has contacted the virus and our Local now has had two members die from the virus since April of this year. While your Union continues to demand the businesses where you work continue to provide a safe environment, it has been a struggle with some employers. You need to take your safety into your own hands by wearing a mask as much as possible, washing your hands frequently, and by staying away from large crowds! If you are sick, please do not come to work, I’ll say that again, if you are sick, please do not come to work! The best way to stop the spread of the virus is to use common sense and follow the guidelines above. Your Union agrees that all of you deserve “Hero’s Pay” for coming to work everyday during this pandemic and we will continue to try and negotiate with your employers these additional monies.
At the writing of this article, we find the local in video call negotiations with Coca-Cola Victorville. While the Coca-Cola members in our Los Angeles agreements received a very economical contract a few months ago, the Company’s position is the members working in Victorville do not deserve the same due to the lower cost of living in the High Desert. The company does not sell their products any cheaper in the area, they just feel the workers do not deserve the same wages. We will be back at the table soon and our position will be the same, these drivers deserve parity in wages and benefits with their fellow Drivers! We also have the same issue in our Pepsi Riverside negotiations where that company also does not believe the pay scale in Riverside should match that in Buena Park, 30 miles down the Freeway. These negotiations will also resume at the end of July and If we cannot come up with a fairer agreement in both negotiations, you might be asked to honor a picket line in front of your facility in the near future.
Since my last article, Reyes Coca-Cola has now decided to close the Lancaster branch and shift the work to the Sylmar facility. Our five members have been offered work in Sylmar, but this is a huge interruption in their lives.
We have canceled the July Union meeting, but the Local has purchased the ability to use the IBT Zoom meeting capability and will have our first Zoom meeting in August. Please keep an eye on your Union Boards for more information about future meetings using this format.
Congratulations to: Katya Asturi - AB Van Nuys, Jaime Chua – Millercoors, Ruben Tapia – Millercoors, Kelvin Antoine - Pepsi San Fernando, Ignacio Calderon – Millercoors, Michael Jerabek - RCCB Carson, Margie Candelaria - AB Van Nuys, Roger Rueter – Millercoors, Michael Kucala - AB Fairfield, James Brabec - AB Fairfield, Erwin Arceo - AB Fairfield
Condolences to the families of: Linda Watson (Reyes Coke - LA), Vicente Ortega (Coke USA)
