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Hoffa Urges Teamster Leaders To ‘Fire Up Our Base’

General President Jim Hoffa urged Teamster leaders today to “fire up our base” heading to the November 2 elections to help elect candidates who support working families.

“We’ve got to fire up our base and make sure our members are registered and they vote,” Hoffa told more than 400 leaders attending “Tackling Tough Times: The Teamsters Fall Divisional Summit.” The summit brought together leaders from the Warehouse, Public Services, Solid Waste and Recycling, Industrial Trades and Newspaper, Magazine and Electronic Media divisions.

“Go back to your barns, your states and your locals and talk to your members about the important issues in this election,” Hoffa said. “Let’s go out and reclaim America .”

Hoffa urged leaders to fight back against apathy among members as the November 2 elections approach. The effort to get members interested and involved is not like passively watching a sporting event on TV.

“This is a contact sport,” Hoffa said. “We’ve got to be engaged in this contact sport every day.”

Hoffa discussed the importance of getting more members signed up for DRIVE, Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education, the Teamsters political action committee.

“We need to increase membership in DRIVE so that we will have the resources to fight for our members’ interests,” he said.

 

Teamsters and YRCW Reach Tentative Agreement

The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) announced today that it reached a tentative agreement with YRCW that sets the foundation for a comprehensive financial restructuring and a viable, sustainable company.

Details of the tentative agreement will be made available to the membership after being reviewed with local union and pension fund leaders next Wednesday, September 29.

“The recession continues to wreak havoc on the trucking industry and threatens our members’ jobs,” said Tyson Johnson, Teamsters Freight Division Director and co-chairman of the TNFINC. “Unfortunately, as workers all across the country know too well, the economy has not improved as quickly as we had hoped. The sluggish economy and smaller customer base leaves us in a position today where we face very, very difficult decisions.”

Additional information will be posted at www.teamster.org as it becomes available.

 

What is the Employee Free Choice Act?

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) respects that the right to join a union is a fundamental freedom, just like freedom of speech or religion, and that employees should be able to do so without interference from management.

  • Majority Rules, Not the Boss: Currently, a majority of workers can sign up for a union, but the company can veto that decision and demand an election. This allows the company to fire or harass workers, and threaten that it will close the workplace, in order to coerce workers into voting against a union. Under EFCA, if a majority of employees sign cards indicating they want a union, the company has to recognize the union, as long as it is certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

  • Fair Resolution of First Contract Disputes: Now, even when workers have won the right to be represented by a union, and even though both sides are required to bargain in good faith, companies can drag out the first contract negotiation process for years. EFCA creates a fair process for resolving first contract disputes.

  • Strong Remedies to Protect Workers’ Rights: Currently, companies face only minimal penalties if they violate employees’ rights to form a union or negotiate a first contract. EFCA would level the playing field by requiring the NLRB to take immediate legal action to reinstate workers fired for union activity and assess triple damages against companies that punish or fire employees for engaging in protected organizing activities.

Keep out unsafe Mexican trucks

There is no question that Mexico is a much more dangerous place than the United States . So the idea of allowing unsafe trucks from Mexico unfettered access to our highways, risking the lives of U.S. drivers and endangering our national security, is outrageous.

Congress recently shut the border to these dangerous trucks, and Mexico has retaliated by raising some tariffs. Supporters cry protectionism. But the United States shouldn't be bullied by Mexico .

When the North American Free Trade Agreement was passed in 1994, the United States had a $1 billion trade surplus with Mexico . Last year, the trade deficit had ballooned to $64 billion. That's hardly protectionism.

What this debate is really about is safety and security. Mexico hasn't met our safety standards.

 

In fact, a Feb. 20 State Department alert warns U.S. citizens about driving in Mexico, urging travel during daylight hours on main roads if driving can't be avoided.

An escalating drug war there also puts our national security at risk by destabilizing Mexico along the U.S. border. More than 7,000 people in the past year have been killed.

Recent media reports document that Hezbollah uses the same southern narcotics routes as Mexican drug lords to smuggle drugs and people into the United States .

"They work together," Michael Braun, retired assistant administrator and chief of operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, told The Washington Times. "They rely on the same shadow facilitators. One way or another, they are all connected."

The U.S. Justice Department recently filed lawsuits against Union Pacific Railroad Co., seeking $37 million in damages for allegedly failing to prevent its rail cars from being used to smuggle drugs into the country.

Do we really want to open our border to trucks from Mexico , letting them travel freely throughout the United States without the ability to track them? I don't think so. Most Americans agree, which is why Congress shut down the program.

Mexican trucks and drivers aren't required to meet the same safety standards as U.S. trucks and drivers. Mexican trucks are older, dirtier and more dangerous.

Limits on the hours a driver can spend behind the wheel are ignored in Mexico . U.S. truck drivers are taken off the road if they commit a serious traffic violation in their personal vehicle. Not so in Mexico .

The Bush administration opened the border to dangerous trucks from Mexico in 2007, with a few of the safest trucks handpicked to participate in a pilot program. But alarmingly, U.S. officials were unable to determine when a participating Mexican truck entered the country or where it went. The Department of Transportation's inspector general reported that no conclusions could be made about the trucks' safety record.

A NAFTA tribunal ruled in 2001 that the United States has the right to enforce safety standards. So when Mexico keeps its end of the bargain, we can keep ours.

James P. Hoffa is president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

 

 

DRIVE


Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education
 

Big Business spends big money in Washington to influence members of Congress and push their anti-worker plans. They outspend working families on politics by more than 15-1.

Through grassroots political action and aggressive lobbying on Capitol Hill and in State Houses and City Halls across America, Teamsters have stopped some of the worst attacks on working people.

But Big Business is pushing their agenda harder than ever. That means we have to fight back stronger than ever. And we have to move forward with our own programs, like improving job safety, fighting for affordable childcare, and stopping abuses by corporate health providers and insurance companies.

You can take a stand for working families by contributing to DRIVE – the Teamsters’ political action committee. Your contribution will support grassroots action by Teamster families to stand up to Big Business interests.

And your membership to DRIVE will help elect political candidates who care about working people.

Contributions to DRIVE support a wide range of Teamster activities:

·         Keeping members and their families informed on the key issues that affect our future, including voter guides that show the records of our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

·         Rallies, news conferences, advertisements, and phone banks to build support on issues of concern to working people.

·         Voter registration, and financial support for political candidates who will stand up for working families. DRIVE is non-partisan and independent from any political party.

Click here to download DRIVE fliers on important issues.

NOTE: Federal Law prohibits soliciting or accepting DRIVE contributions from the general public. Only Teamster members, exempt Teamster employees and the family members of both groups are allowed to contribute to DRIVE. Any contributions from the general public will be returned to the donor.

Send your comments to: DRIVE@teamster.org

 

 

Congress Modifies Diabetes Exemption for Drivers


Assessments OK, Then Interstate Access Is Allowed
August 26, 2005
Starting in November, a new law takes effect allowing diabetic drivers who are treated with insulin to drive state-to-state, or interstate.
The law was signed in August and will take effect on November 8, 2005. Under the old rules, a driver wishing to drive interstate needed to show three years of prior intrastate experience.
The new law allows commercial drivers who are insulin-using diabetics to apply for an exemption to the medical qualification regulation. These drivers will be assessed on an individual basis and if the assessment shows an insulin-using diabetic is otherwise qualified under the Federal Motor Carrier Regulations, they will be allowed to drive in interstate commerce.
For more information, visit the Teamsters Safety and Health Department section of the union’s web site. A fact sheet about the new law is available at: http://www.teamster.org/resources/sh/shfacts.htm