Taking On Taking On - Teamsters Local 25

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1279_Local25_Spring07.qxp 4/6/07 11:21 AM Page 4 Business Agent Dedicated to Our Local Union Members Secretary-Treasurer Mark Harrington There have been many developments in the carhaul industry over the last few months. Allied Systems, the country’s largest hauler of vehicles, is poised to emerge from bankruptcy with a buyout by the investment group Yucaipa. Our Allied brothers have been working under very difficult conditions since the bankruptcy filing in 2005. Management has constantly pushed for the abolishment of the Teamster contract through the bankruptcy judge. Recently the Yucaipa Investment group made an offer that was accepted by the judge, clearing the way for Allied to emerge from bankruptcy. The other side is the Teamster rank and file must accept a 15-percent pay reduction. The International Union has put this out for a rank-and-file vote. The local will keep you informed on the outcome of that vote. In other carhaul news, Blue Thunder, perhaps the largest nonunion carhauler, has ceased operations. This has led to a windfall of freight for the other carriers. The PTS group, also recently purchased by Yucaipa, has been the main recipient of the work. Here in Local 25’s area, we have obtained the full General Motors account. The company is looking to hire between 20 and 30 drivers. In freight, New Penn is proposing a change of operations that will have a negative impact on our Billerica terminal. Local 25 is committed to fighting this change, as we believe the change will not have any positive impact on the overall operation of the company and will only hurt our dedicated workers. I have started negotiations with the Praxair group and our organizers have since organized two other groups of Praxair workers. I am preparing to negotiate on their behalf as well. I am also in negotiations with TD Banknorth with respect to the loaders and unloaders. I am also about to start negotiations with the Hingham DPW group as we recently held a proposal meeting with them. The Local 25 scholarship golf outing is scheduled for June 16. I urge you to sign up early. This event will sell out in no time. I recently attended the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conference. This conference was very educational and informative as we try to stay ahead of the curve on the ever-looming health care issues. Vice-President and Business Agent John Murphy I was in Dallas, Texas in mid- March for another round of negotiations with UPS Cartage Services Inc., (CSI), formerly Menlo. We spent three more days going over proposals and counter-proposals that brought our members closer to a new contract. We have asked the Town of Acton, as well as Xpedx, a paper company, for some dates at the end of March to start negotiations for a first-time contract with Acton’s 911 dispatchers, as well as a renewal contract for our xpedx members. President Sean O’Brien met with the North Shore Kennel Association about organizing all the dog owners who race their dogs at Wonderland Dog Track. This will hopefully give Local 25 more leverage in contract talks and help us with the slot machine issue at the tracks. We would like to see slots eventually come to the track, which would create numerous jobs. In freight, I will be heading down to the Eastern Region Review Committee meetings, where we will rule on a case involving subcontracting and lift gates at Local 340 in Maine. President O’Brien, Business Agent Tom Mari and I met with International Union Representative Brad Slawson and Local 295’s Attorney Walter Kane to discuss the upcoming DHL contract negotiations. The International Union has informed us that we will be on the national negotiating committee. In February, we held a Massport Labor Union Unity Council meeting at our union hall to discuss the need to band together on the upcoming contract negotiations, and the overall working conditions at the port. All the affected local unions have agreed to stand together and try to force Massport to treat its unionized employees with dignity and respect. Also at the port, we have just been informed that the board of directors has voted to require that all employees, whether union or not, pay 15 percent toward their health care, with a phase-in system starting in July. Logan parking employees will be sent surveys for the new contract. As soon as we get them back we will hold a proposal meeting. 2 | The SPOKESMAN | SPRING 2007 | www.teamsterslocal25.com
1279_Local25_Spring07.qxp 4/6/07 11:21 AM Page 5 Reports I have been elected to the position of Chairman of the New England Teamsters Federal Credit Union. In the past we have treated the credit union as a bank and ran it that way. The new board has changed that thinking and is now a lot more member friendly. Profit is not necessarily the number one priority, although we do need to be profitable. Last year the credit union paid out $241,000 more in dividends to our members than the year before. That is money that comes right off the bottom line. Our CD rates are way ahead of most banks and we have instituted a free checking account for our members in an effort to have our members think of us as their primary financial institution. We now have a process that allows us to grant mortgages in just two days in most cases. Our new GAP insurance is a great product and it is a third of the cost of what car dealers charge for an inferior product. We have expanded our board to include more principal officers from other local unions in an effort to get the rest of New England involved. We have relaxed our loan-approval guidelines to help our less fortunate members get the money they need when they need it. Coming soon: online bill payment. Down the road we plan a branch-sharing program where you will be able to walk into any credit union nearby and conduct business with the NETFCU. Finally, Ritchie Reardon, President and CEO of the credit union, and I will visit jobsites in an effort to bring more members into the Teamsters Credit Union. Business Agent Bob McAllister Since my January report, I entered into negotiations with the American Red Cross Blood Services. Talks were moving slowly so we brought the members in for an update and got a unanimous strike-authorization vote, which we used to set a deadline to get a contract. We finally negotiated an agreement that was brought to the members who ratified it by a 96 percent margin. We won wage increases of 3 percent across the board, maintained the current health benefits and improved the scheduling language while protecting seniority. Thanks to stewards Mike Zona, Mike Abbasciano and Barry Sullivan. The committee was great and remained strong and united throughout. I also went into negotiations with Cummins Northeast in Dedham. We settled that contract and got wage increases of 3.25 percent across the board. We maintained health benefits and improved vacation eligibility. We also negotiated a $500 signing bonus. Steward Wayne Silva and Mike Bustard were a major help on the committee. I held proposal meetings with Laidlaw Transit, Paul Revere Transportation (Roxbury Division) and the Town of Norwell school custodians, where we will be opening negotiations soon. We also put out a contract survey to the members at Paul Revere at Logan Airport and in Roxbury so that we will be able to prioritize our goals. At Manfi Stop & Shop, we settled a couple of grievances filed by drivers that were related to safety. The company wanted to discipline a driver who brought the truck to the garage to have safety related repairs done. An OSHA case was filed and the company withdrew the discipline. The other was an arbitration case that was settled. It resulted in the company making all its trucks non-smoking, which put them in compliance with the state’s Workplace Smoking Law and ensured the health of our 300 drivers. Business Agent George Slicis I began negotiations with the Norwal Company in Walpole, Massachusetts in late March. They are mechanics and I think that I will have this wrapped up quickly. Business Agent Bob Fabrizio and I will be working on proposals for Lindenmeyr Munroe, a paper company in North Reading, Massachusetts. Bob represents the Franklin, Massachusetts unit. We will be doing the negotiations together and will fight for what the members are looking for. I had a steward’s election at the Aramark Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Don McKenny is the new steward. I would like to thank Dennis Ferland for the great job that he has done at Aramark and I’m sure that Don will continue where Dennis left off. I recently had a meeting with the members from Good Humor Breyers ice cream to go over some changes in contract language regarding scheduled overtime as well as updating the matrix and the process of qualifying employees in different www.teamsterslocal25.com | SPRING 2007 | The SPOKESMAN | 3
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Taking On Taking On - Teamsters Local 25

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