Teamster are winning the battle to save NYC horse carriages

Teamster Brother Steve Malone

The Teamster fight to save New York City's iconic horse carriage industry — and the jobs of 300 Local 553 members — is trotting along at full pace.

Since Mayor Bill de Blasio first announced his crusade to ban Central Park's horse carriages, Teamsters led by Joint Council 16 have locked arms with a diverse coalition of unions and other organizations standing in solidarity with the carriage drivers.

The mayor's war against the industry has suffered more setbacks since Teamsters held a spirited rally at City Hall last December. As Joint Council 16 tells us:

After he was elected in 2013, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio famously declared that he would ban Central Park's horse carriages on "Day One." 534 days later, the carriages are still rolling through the park, and a ban seems less likely than ever.

According to a report last week in the New York Post, de Blasio only has three City Council votes on his side in the key committee needed to move the ban legislation forward -- far short of majority:

Under the cover of budget negotiations, Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to persuade City Council members to pass his proposed ban on Central Park’s carriage horses — but is coming up lame, sources told The Post.

The sources said de Blasio has lined up no more than three definite “yes” votes on the 13-member Transportation Committee, the first step in moving his legislation to the full council for a vote.

This development followed a City Council briefing hosted by Joint Council 16 in May with Dr. Joesph Bertone who studied the stress hormones in carriage horses. Bertone presented his findings to the City Council, explaining that the horses were not stressed, the Daily News reported:

Joe Bertone, who specializes in equine medicine at Western University of Health Sciences, made the presentation to Democratic City Councilman Rafael Espinal and representatives for several other members, including Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan) and Carlos Menchaca (D-Brooklyn).

Bertone’s study examined the horses’ cortisol levels, which can spike during stress, and found the horses were chilled out.

Reports this spring revealed that the consulting firm hired to conduct a legally mandated, impartial review of the proposed ban was extremely biased:

The consultant is supposed to be impartial, and the city says it is. But drivers counter that the hired firm can't be trusted. Here's why: the president and CEO on the firm's website has lent support to NYCLASS, the leading group pushing the ban.

The firm also lists as a client the company long led by NYCLASS' founder. It's also working to develop the Far West Side. Horse carriage drivers say their stables are valuable real estate.

This glaring conflict of interests was enough to put de Blasio's ban bill even further off track.

The struggle continues for New York Teamsters and the livelihoods of the carriage drivers. But once again Teamsters are proving that when we fight back, we win!

Today's Teamster News 06.10.15

Teamsters
Teamsters Rally at Republic Airways Shareholders Meeting  Teamster.org  ...Today, Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company's annual shareholders meeting in Indianapolis. The pilots, members of Teamsters Local 357, are calling on shareholders to pressure Republic CEO Bryan Bedford to quickly reach an agreement that includes fair pay and benefits and reflects changes that have occurred in the airline industry since the last contract was signed in 2003...
Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill Fails Public Sector Workers, Raids Medicare  Teamster.org  ...In a letter sent to House representatives today, the Teamsters joined eight other labor unions in expressing their opposition to a bill that would renew Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) without protecting millions of public sector workers while raiding Medicare for funding. Public sector workers, who were included under the 2009 TAA renewal, will be left vulnerable if any future trade agreements lead to the offshoring of their jobs...
Hoffa: Overworking truckers is dangerous  Detroit News  ...Highways across Michigan and the U.S. have become increasingly dangerous for motorists. And that will only get worse if Congress approves a transportation spending bill that effectively keeps the suspension of rules in place that allow truck drivers to work longer hours, that permits larger double-trailers and that prevents the U.S. Department of Transportation from raising minimum insurance standards that have been frozen in place for the last three decades...
The Plan to Cut Truck Traffic By Changing How Trash Haulers Do Business  StreetsBlog  ...In the past five years, at least six New Yorkers have been killed, and many others injured, by truck drivers working for private trash haulers. Labor and environmental advocates have a plan they say will reduce these deaths by cutting down on inefficiencies in private trucking routes. “No driver out there wants to break the law,” said Plinio Cruz, who has worked as a trash hauler for 10 years and is an organizer with Teamsters Joint Council 16...
Teamsters And GardaWorld Cash Services Tentative Agreement Ratified   Teamsters Local 362  ...On June 4 a new collective agreement was ratified for GardaWorld Cash Services workers affiliated with the Teamsters Union. Ballots indicated that 93.5 percent of workers voted in favour of the new proposal. Over 450 workers are represented at GardaWorld Cash Services across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba...
Union Protects Andrew Distribution Members' Benefits, Working Conditions  Teamsters Local 727  ...Teamsters Local 727 secured a two-year contract extension for Andrew Distribution drivers and clerical workers. The agreement includes annual bonuses and employer-paid benefit increases for Local 727 Health & Welfare and Legal & Educational Assistance Benefits while protecting all other current working conditions and job security clauses. Members ratified the agreement, which expires May 1, 2017...
Republic Airways teamsters rally for new contracts  WISHTV  ...Republic Airways pilots and their families rallied outside the company’s shareholders meeting in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The slow progress of contract negotiations between employees and one airline has caused several to voice their frustrations. Members of the Teamsters local 357 and employees of Republic Airways attended the rally...

Global Labor & Trade
GOP aiming for Friday trade vote, but snag remains  Politico  ...House leaders, confident but not yet certain they have the support to pass sweeping trade legislation, are aiming to bring the package to a floor vote by the end of this week — even as they rush to resolve a last-minute hangup over how to pay for aid to displaced workers. The vote to grant President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a massive Pacific Rim trade deal will be extremely tight...
Survey: Obama's Trade Proposal a Tough Sell for Most Americans  NBC  ...Despite a heavy push by President Barack Obama for a sweeping multinational trade deal, a majority of Americans echo the concerns of labor unions and a number of Democratic members of Congress that the trade accord will negatively impact U.S. workers and companies. Two-thirds of Americans say protecting American industries and jobs by limiting imports is more important than allowing free trade...
Unions, Seniors Groups Urge Congress Not To Cut Medicare To Fund Trade Assistance  Huff Post  ...An already difficult road for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the House of Representatives got bumpier on Monday, as controversial Medicare cuts were brought into the mix. Labor unions and senior citizens' groups are launching efforts to lobby House members against a bill that includes $700 million in proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements for doctors and hospitals. The cuts would be used to fund a $2.5 billion extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance funding...
U.S. Shifts Stance on Drug Pricing in Pacific Trade Pact Talks, Document Reveals  New York Times  ...Facing resistance from its Pacific trading partners, the Obama administration is no longer demanding protection for pharmaceutical prices under the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to a newly leaked “transparency” annex of the proposed trade accord. But American negotiators are still pressing participating governments to open up the process that sets reimbursement rates for drugs and medical devices...
House Expected to Vote Wednesday to Repeal Country-of-Origin Meat Labels Due to a Trade Agreement Provision That Is Replicated in the TPP  Public Citizen  ...The threat to consumer laws posed by the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will be on full display Wednesday when the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass legislation to repeal the U.S. policy requiring country-of-origin labels on meat sold here. This law is just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have been repealed or weakened to comply with provisions in previous trade agreements that also are included in the current draft of the TPP deal...
Meet RCEP, a Trade Agreement in Asia That's Even Worse Than TPP or ACTA  EFF  ...If we described TISA as a treaty you've never heard of, RCEP has been even more obscure. RCEP can be compared with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), except that rather than being driven by the United States, it is being driven by the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the addition of their trading partners from the broader Asia-Pacific region including most notably India and China, who are absent from the TPP pact...
New EIA Report Details Trade Deal Failure to Support the Environment  Huff Post  ...On June 4, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) published a new briefing paper that demonstrates how free trade agreements fail to lift up environmental standards. Their report, focused on the failure to enforce environmental obligations in the U.S.-Peru trade pact, is particularly timely given that proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal have claimed that its still-secret environment chapter will lift up environmental safeguards...
Supporting NAFTA Was the Kiss of Death for Democrats --Why Dems Should Think Twice About Voting for TPP  Alternet  ...t’s serious flashback time for those involved in the 1993 debate over the North America Free Trade Agreement. With the “fast track” trade vote expected as early as this Thursday, a Democratic president is once again twisting arms and dangling rewards in a desperate effort to muster votes for a corporate-driven trade deal...
Argentina strike: Transport hit by second major walkout  BBC News  ...A major transport strike in Argentina has brought parts of the country to a standstill as unions protest against high taxes and inflation. The 24-hour walkout - the second in three months - affects bus, train, plane and underground services. Swathes of the capital Buenos Aires ground to a halt after people were unable to reach their jobs...
Cambodia’s Draft Union Law ‘A Major Step Backward’  Solidarity Center  ...Cambodia’s draft trade union law would violate the right to organize and be a major step backward for workers, Human Rights Watch said yesterday in a letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Cambodian government has told the media that the trade union law will be enacted in 2015, but has not made a draft public nor provided opportunities for feedback from workers, unions or the public...

State & Living Wage Battles
State Officials Deciding How Voter ID Law Will Work At Polls  WFMY  ...The State Board of Elections held a public hearing in Winston-Salem Tuesday night to get feedback from voters about how the voter ID law should work at the polls. The board of elections has a proposed list of rules that voters got to comment on during the two-hour hearing. "Voting is fundamental, it's extremely important. We take it very seriously, it's what we do every day. It doesn't surprise us that folks have feelings that run deep on these issues"...
The real story behind Scott Walker’s war on higher education  Salon  ...On its face, today’s Wisconsin story appears to be about budgets and entitlement. Citing the need to save money, the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin Legislature at the end of May voted 12-4 to cut $250 million from the university’s budget and eliminate tenure from state law, enabling the governor-appointed Board of Regents to fire professors whenever they declared it time to “redirect” a program...
The People Who Clean Our Homes And Care For Our Children Just Won Big  Think Progress  ...Last week, domestic workers — those who care for children and clean inside people’s homes — won two surprise victories securing more rights in Connecticut and Oregon. Oregon has considered a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for many years, but then last week it gained traction. Connecticut’s bill is a good deal narrower...
County Board passes resolution opposing 'right to work'  Web Times  ...The La Salle County Board overwhelmingly expressed its opposition to "right to work" laws by passing a resolution with a 23 to 2 vote. Before the meeting, a crowd gathered outside of the Ottawa Knights of Columbus in support of the resolution...
Walmart Raised Wages In April. It’s Already Seeing The Benefits.  Think Progress  ...After it raised wages for employees in April, Walmart said on Friday that it’s already seen lower turnover and an increase in job applicants. “Our job applications are going up and we are seeing some relief in turnover,” CEO Doug McMillon said at a media briefing after its annual shareholders meeting. The company’s performance has been suffering recently thanks to understaffed stores, among other things...
LA City Council Expected To Give Final Vote On Minimum Wage Ordinance  CBS  ...Members of the Los Angeles City Council are expected to make a final vote Wednesday on an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years. If the ordinance receives unanimous approval, wage increases will take place on the first of July each year...

U.S. Labor
Applebee’s Is Trying To Limit Workers’ Ability to Sue the Company When Their Wages Are Stolen  In These Times  ...Workers in the restaurant industry are routinely the victims of wage theft. For workers without a union, suing the company is one of the few ways to recover those wages. But a legal fight led by the restaurant chain Applebee’s against the National Labor Relations Board is aiming to further limit workers’ ability to sue the company over disputes on the job...
Chipotle is Giving Their Hourly Employees Paid Sick Leave, Vacation Time, and a College Reimbursement  Alternet  ...In addition to sick leave and vacation, workers will also be eligible for tuition reimbursements. A spokeswoman for the company announced that Chipotle will reimburse 90% of tuition and fees up to the IRS's $5,250 per calendar year limit. These benefits will be offered to all hourly employees after one year of work and to managers and salaried employees without any wait...
Striking Texas refinery workers say reach tentative pact with Marathon  KFGO  ...Negotiators for Marathon Petroleum Corp and union workers at the company’s Galveston Bay, Texas, refinery reached a tentative agreement on Monday for a four-year contract, pointing to the end of a walkout that has lasted four months, said local union officials. Before strikers can leave their picket lines outside the 451,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, Texas, United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 13-1 and Marathon will have to complete a return-to-work agreement and union members will have to vote on the contract...
SEIU Local 668 ratifies one-year contract benefiting thousands of workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania  Times Leader  ...Pennsylvania’s second-largest Service Employees International Union on Monday ratified a one-year contract covering nearly 2,000 workers in five local counties. Approved by a “significant margin,” the contract agreed to by SEIU Local 668 guarantees a freeze on health care benefits, a 2.25 percent step increase, and preservation of future bargaining rights, according to union president Tom Herman...
AFSCME members rally as contract with state nears expiration   State Journal-Register  ...In advance of the deadline, the union has planned more than 100 public events across the state this week to raise awareness about services provided by state employees and to urge support for a new contract. According to an AFSCME bargaining bulletin obtained by The State Journal-Register in May, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration is seeking "deep cuts to health insurance benefits" that the union said could drive up employee costs by more than 500 percent...

Miscellaneous
Mortgage Lender CEO Will Pay $1 Million Out Of His Own Pocket To Resolve Charges He Bilked Clients  Think Progress  ...Despite saying he did nothing wrong, a mortgage lending executive has agreed to make a personal $1 million fine payment as part of a $20 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) over allegations that he paid his employees to bilk their clients. RPM Mortgage CEO Robert Hirt will pay a million-dollar penalty out of his own pocket, and another $1 million fine will come from the corporate treasury...
By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years  The Guardian  ...Looking at our data for the US against admittedly less reliable information on police killings elsewhere paints a dramatic portrait, and one that resonates with protests that have gone global since a killing last year in Ferguson, Missouri: the US is not just some outlier in terms of police violence when compared with countries of similar economic and political standing...

Today's Teamster News 08.06.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Back John Liu For NY Senate  New York Daily News   ...“John Liu is a true friend of New York workers who has time and again put himself on the line to be their voice in government,” said Teamsters Joint Council 16 President George Miranda in a campaign statement Monday...
UVM, Teamsters Reach Two-Year Settlement  Insurance News Net   ...The University of Vermont has successfully completed negotiations on a two-year contract with the Chauffeurs, Teamsters, Warehousemen and Helpers Union No. 597. The union represents full-time and regular part-time police officers, service officers, and dispatchers employed by the university...
Simplot Employees Vote To Strike  Jamestown Sun   ...After a day-long union meeting, employees of J.R. Simplot went on strike, picketing outside the potato processing plant in Grand Forks about 6 p.m. Monday...
Mediators Seek Deal In Philadelphia Transit Case  Philadelphia Inquirer   ...SEPTA has been in federally supervised mediation with that union as well as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers since 2010. Engineers are seeking raises of at least 14.5 percent over five years, about 3 percentage points more than SEPTA has offered...
Trade
Samsung Chops Order To China Supplier That Used Child Labor  CNET   ...Samsung will significantly reduce orders to one of its mobile parts suppliers after uncovering the use of child labor at a Chinese facility...
Congress Sends Obama Letter on TPP and Vietnam Human Rights  Trade Reform   ...Thirty five Congress men and women from both parties sent President Obama a letter last week expressing serious concerns about including Vietnam in Trans Pacific Partnership talks. Vietnam is a serial abuser of human rights...
TPP Talks In Ottawa: Brunei’s Brutal Sharia Law Raises Questions About Future Of Trade Deals  Trade Reform   ...One of the 12 countries involved in the talks is Brunei. The tiny petro-state of half a million people on the southeast Asian island of Borneo recently adopted harsh new Sharia laws, including the death penalty, by stoning, for adultery, gay sex and insulting the Koran. Other elements of the law include prison sentences for pregnancy outside of wedlock or failing to pray on Friday, and amputations or whipping for theft and drinking alcohol...
State Battles
Scott Walker Is Reeling As Wisconsin Governor’s Race Is A Dead Heat  Politicus USA   ...A new poll of Wisconsin brings more bad news for Gov. Scott Walker as the Wisconsin Republican is locked in tie with Democrat Mary Burke 47%-47%...
Mackinac Center offers teachers form to withdraw from MEA during 'August window'  MLive   ...The Mackinac Center, a vocal opponent of the Michigan Education Association, is giving disgruntled teachers a form letter to use in voicing their desire to leave the union during the "August window..."
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Cuts Schools, Pensions While Preserving Fund For Corporate Subsidies  International Business Times   ...Months after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said budget constraints forced him to push for pension cuts and mass school closures, an analysis of government documents reveals the city has $1.71 billion in special accounts often used to finance corporate subsidies...
Protests Greet Lawmakers, Corporate Officials Gathering In Dallas As New Arm of ALEC Is Announced  Truthout   ...More than 98 percent of the organization's funding comes from corporations and corporate foundations, with the infamous petrochemical billionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, serving as some of the organization's largest donors...
ALEC's Jeffersonian Project Pushes to Amend the Constitution  truthout   ...ALEC is urging state legislators to pass state resolutions calling for a constitutional convention in order to pass a federal balanced budget amendment...
War On Workers
CEO exit pay under attack among Fortune 500  Forbes   ...The latest example: McKesson shareholders narrowly failed to pass a resolution calling for the company to sharply reduce the massive exit pay package in store for its handsomely compensated CEO...
Poll Finds Widespread Economic Anxiety  Wall Street Journal   ...A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that despite the steady pace of hiring in recent months, 76% of adults lack confidence that their children's generation will have a better life than they do—an all-time high...
Mays Orders End To Kellogg Lock-Out  Memphis Daily News   ...U.S. District Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays has ordered an end to the lock-out of union workers at the Memphis Kellogg plant....
Walgreen Decides Not to Pursue Overseas Tax Inversion  Wall Street Journal   ...Walgreen Co. has decided not to relocate its corporate headquarters, people familiar with the matter said, amid complications in pulling off the transaction and a backdrop of heavy political pressure from Washington to end the controversial tax-avoidance move...
After breaking labor laws, LinkedIn is ordered to pay $6 million in lost wages and damages  Pando   ...LinkedIn and the Department of Labor have reached a settlement that requires the professional social network to pay $6 million to 359 current and former employees in lost wages and damages. This comes after a DoL investigation found that LinkedIn failed to document and compensate workers for overtime hours, in a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act...
Miscellaneous
KSU President Gives Up Over $90,000 Of His Salary To Boost Lowest-Paid Campus Employees  Lexington Herald-Ledger   ...Raymond Burse, interim president of Kentucky State University, has given up more than $90,000 of his salary so university workers earning minimum wage could have their earnings increased to $10.25 an hour...

Today's Teamster News 01.14.14

UPS Freight Teamsters Approve 5-Year Pact  Transport Topics   ...UPS Freight employees in the Teamsters union approved a five-year agreement that gives workers a total $2.50 per hour wage boost...
Three county union contracts nearing vote  Times Leader   ...Luzerne County Council in Pennsylvania is expected to vote this month on three new collective bargaining agreements with unionized workers, including members of Teamsters Local 401 in Wilkes-Barre...
After 2 strikes and 18 months, school bus drivers approve contract  Poughkeepsie Journal   ...After 18 months, two strikes and multiple charges filed, school bus drivers and monitors with Teamsters Local 445 approved a contract with Poughkeepsie-based Durham School Services that will improve working conditions and safety…
WV: Freedom Industries Has Ties to Koch Brothers  DailyKos   ...If news reports have left you with the impression that Freedom Industries - the company that has contaminated the water supply serving 300,000 people (and who knows how much wildlife) in nine West Virginia counties - is a rinky-dink Charleston operation, that might be because the media isn't mentioning its influential ties...
Lack of oversight questioned in West Virginia chemical spill  Salon   ...Reports question why state and company officials were so slow to respond to the leak...
Boeing Goes to Pieces  The American Conservative   ...Aerospace execs sell their industry to Japan­—one part at a time...
GOP lawmakers propose allowing 7-day work week in Wisconsin  Associated Press   ...Wisconsin manufacturing and retail workers could volunteer to work seven days straight without a day off under a bill two Republican lawmakers are circulating on behalf of the state's largest business group...
Per Capita Income: Wisconsin vs. Minnesota  Econbrowser   ...Real per capita income in Wisconsin has lagged Minnesota a cumulative 2.2% (log terms) since 2011...
Florida House panel votes to ban new red-light cameras  Daytona Beach News-Journal   ...Installation of new red-light cameras would be banned across the state under a bill that passed a key committee in the Florida House Thursday, signaling a renewed debate over the devices’ use to catch traffic light violations...
EU report reveals massive scope of secret NSA surveillance  DW   ...Moraes and his fellow rapporteurs showed themselves unconvinced that the NSA's only goal is the fight against terrorism, as the US government has claimed. In their draft report, European politicians suspect that there are instead "other power motives," such as "political and economic espionage."...
An Investment Manager's 2014 Update on the Top 1%  Who Rules America?   ...Wealth and income are streaming to the very top of the system and, particularly, to those who are direct or indirect beneficiaries of the financial industry. Professionals and workers have slipped further behind...
New report says millions of women at risk of falling into poverty, economic ruin  NBC News   ...a staggering number of women across the country are still teetering on the verge of poverty and economic disaster...
A Farewell to Retirement Security  In These Times   ...Here’s what the loss of pensions at Boeing means for U.S. workers...
BP loses bid over Gulf oil payouts  BBC News   ...BP has lost an appeal to cancel the terms of its multi-billion-dollar settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.  A US federal appeals court upheld the terms of the original 2012 settlement...
Now Neiman Marcus appears to have been hacked, too  Washington Post   ...Hours after we learned that the hack against Target was much worse than initially feared, the retailer Neiman Marcus has also admitted it was compromised during the holiday season...
Now We Know: JPMorgan Chase Is Worse Than Enron  Truthout   ...It's beginning to look as if JPMorgan Chase has had a hand in every major banking scandal of the last decade...
Feds investigating Christie’s use of money intended for Sandy relief  Salon   ...According to a CNN report, federal investigators are now looking into whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie steered Sandy relief funds to a firm that promised to feature him and his family in its ads to promote tourism at the Jersey Shore...
Unseasonably harsh weather kept a quarter of a million Americans home from work last month  Salon   ...And that was before the polar vortex...

Relief for Teamsters affected by Hurricane Sandy

Shortly after Hurricane Sandy hit U.S. shores in late October 2012, the outpouring of Teamster support for those affected was tremendous.

“Teamsters care. It’s in our DNA,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President, after reports of Teamsters loading trucks with relief supplies, delivering them to staging areas, working with the Red Cross and other groups, and doing a lot of the heavy lifting that comes with rescue and recovery efforts after a natural disaster of that magnitude.

After the storm, Teamsters in the stricken areas worked long hours in horrific conditions to get storm-struck areas back to normal—or at least a semblance of normal. But Teamsters who weren’t close enough to physically help still dug deep and donated to the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fundto help out those Teamsters who had to rebuild themselves.

A couple of months ago, relief checks from the Teamsters Union made their way into the hands of Teamsters whose property was severely damaged.

It was ugly outside on the day Mike Klein got his check from the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund. “It was raining, I was upset, but getting that help from the Teamsters Union brought some light into my day,” said Klein, a Local 831 Teamster who works for New York City’s Department of Sanitation. Klein is one of many Teamsters who, despite being affected by the hurricane personally, worked through the deadly aftermath.

“We live in an evacuation zone and knew an evacuation order was coming. A year earlier, during Hurricane Irene, we were also ordered to evacuate,” said Klein, who lives on Long Island and works in the Bronx. “We rode out Irene at home. My wife didn’t want to leave the house. It wasn’t that bad. We had a little damage…lost some shingles but we didn’t lose power. We thought it would be the same this time.”

But it wasn’t. Hurricane Sandy turned out to be one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history. It was the second-costliest hurricane in American history after Hurricane Katrina. It cost tens of billions of dollars in damage, destroyed thousands of homes, left millions without power and caused dozens of deaths, including some Teamster members and their families.

“We’re on the water, on the bay side. We were completely destroyed. We were allowed to go back in and then directly out a week or so later to get our belongings. We couldn’t stay there, though. We had to go back and forth, back and forth to get our things. The place was in bad shape. Our foundation was destroyed. Engineers said we had to get it redone. A lot of things have to be redone—all the plumbing and electric, for example.” It took months before he and his family could get back into their home, incurring many expenses along the way.

“When we got back in, obviously we hadn’t had a chance to repair much yet. The insurance money hadn’t come through yet. We did what we could just to be in the house…to have a roof over our heads,” Klein said. “It’s hard to describe to people what it was like to watch the houses on either side of me get ripped apart.”

Normalcy has since returned to his life thanks, in part, to the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund.

“When I came home from work with the check from the Teamsters, it brought my wife to tears,” Klein said.

“You don’t know what that relief fund has meant to our members. We have sanitation workers that live and work in New York City and our claims were really high,” said Harry Nespoli, President of Local 831 in New York City, which represents sanitation workers. “I went out to Rockaway, Coney Island, Staten Island—all the hardest-hit areas. It was devastating. Many of our men were there working in the neighborhoods with their own homes wiped out. They were living and sleeping in the garages. They worked 12-hour shifts. We had guys that took the trucks out on their own time and worked for nothing, just to help.”

Joey Manuel was one of those workers who went right into work directly after the storm despite the trauma of losing his own home.

“This whole experience has really changed my life,” said Manuel, a steward and clerk with the New York City Sanitation Department. “After an experience like this, you see how fragile life can be. It’s there at one point and it could be gone the next.”

Manuel was watching football on TV when he noticed water rising outside of his house. There wasn’t much at first…just a sidewalk underwater. It’s didn’t take long for it to get worse.

“Sure enough the whole corner of my block is soon underwater…within half an hour, me and my mother were paddling through it. We didn’t realize the whole basement had been filling up underneath us. It has an 8-foot ceiling and it filled up then started coming in the rest of the house,” he said. “I told my mom that we had to get out so we got in the car, which was ankle deep in water in the back yard by then. By then the whole neighborhood was full of water. The car got submerged while we were in there with all of our personal belongings that we were trying to take with us. We had to get out because water was coming into the car. I open the door, water rushes in. I get out, get my mom out and bring her back to the house. We go up to the top floor and stay there.”

Through it all, Manuel and his mom were dodging boats floating down their street, power lines coming down and other hazards. In the end, his home was almost completely destroyed, but he still went to work that day.

“I was a zombie,” he said, but he realized there were people—his neighbors, friends and family—that still needed help. So he got to work, like hundreds of other Teamsters. Manuel recently got his check from the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund.

Teamster magazine wrote about the union’s reaction to the storm in the Winter 2013 edition and had this to say about the city’s sanitation workers:

New York sanitation workers, members of New York City’s Local 831, quickly became the most popular people in storm-ravaged neighborhoods. Even President Barack Obama referred to their hard work, mentioning the sanitation workers “who sometimes don’t get credit but have done heroic work.”

Those Teamster sanitation workers cleared more than 300,000 tons of debris from neighborhoods after the storm. The Staten Island Advance newspaper reported,“The Sanitation workers arrive like heroes in Staten Island’s devastation zone…New York City’s Strongest are showing up in force—with bulldozers, dumpsters, and hundreds of workers on duty at a time, clad in gloves and dust masks, doing the back-breaking work of cleaning up, neighborhood by neighborhood, in the hardest-hit zones.”

“We really appreciate everything from the Teamsters. It really helps,” Manuel said.

“Getting that check with the Teamster name on there made them feel good. The checks went to buying groceries, some are still making repairs on their homes,” Nespoli said. “It’s not so much the money, though. It’s that people care. New York had never been hit anything like this before and it was good to see other people, our Teamster brothers and sisters, reach out and help. I was really proud of the Teamsters on this particular front. It meant a lot.”

Teamsters take a stand at Randall’s Island

Despite the rain, today’s rally in New York City was a success.  

More than 80 union members showed up at Randall’s Island to protest the Frieze New York Art Show’s discrimination against union workers.  

Members of the following unions showed up to take a stand for working families: Teamsters Locals 817, 807, 210, 917, 553, 814 and 202; District Council of Carpenters; Painters DC 9; Operating Engineers Local 30; and IATSE Locals 1 and 829. Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, chair of the NYC Parks Committee (pictured) has been one of the most prominent voices on this issue. 

Unions weren’t the only ones to call out the sponsors of the big-money event. At least one artist whose work is being exhibited at the art show got involved. Art in America magazine has the story:

In the midst of setting up her booth at the Frieze Art Fair, Los Angeles dealer Susanne Vielmetter was presented with a last-minute problem. One of the artists she's showing, Andrea Bowers, disagreed with the fair's decision to hire non-union workers (an issue that plagued the fair last year as well). Two days before Frieze's preview, which is this Thursday, May 9, Bowers had decided to display a pamphlet and a written statement calling out Frieze's anti-union labor practices.

 Here’s what George Miranda, International Vice President and President of New York’s Joint Council 16, had to say:

"By refusing to pay living wages to the workers who built the Frieze fairgrounds, Frieze Art Fair and sponsor Deutsche Bank are blemishes on the New York community. Frieze and Deutsche are driving down standards for working people in the art and exhibition industry while taking advantage of the New York City taxpayers who subsidize our parks. The Teamsters will always fight for good jobs in New York, now and for the long term. We are so honored that artists like Andrea Bowers are standing up for workers and speaking truth to the powerful corporations in the art and banking worlds."

Calling all New York Teamsters

Teamsters and other labor unions in and around New York will rally tomorrow, May 9, protesting the Frieze New York Art Show’s continued discrimination against New York City’s union workers.

 According to Joint Council 16:  

Labor leaders have repeatedly reached out to the organizers of Frieze New York and their local events coordinator, Project Glue, LLC without response. The unions have demanded that the New York City Parks Department look into altering the permitting process for major private events in order to better evaluate labor standards. Last week, a hearing was held to shed light on the festival’s use of public park space at Randall’s Island and its consequences for New York City residents and workers.

 Labor unions involved in the event include: Teamsters Joint Council 16, the NY District Council of Carpenters, Painters DC9, Operating Engineers Local 30 and IATSE Locals 829 and 1.

The rally will coincide with the fair’s invitation-only VIP preview. Here are the rally details you need to know:

When: 10 a.m., Thursday, May 9, 2013

Where: Randall’s Island, near Icahn Stadium, 20 Randall’s Island, New York, NY 10035

Who: Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, various labor unions

 

New York City Council hearing slams terms of art permit

Teamsters and other union members gave testimony on Thursday, May 2, at a hearing called by the chair of the New York City Council Parks Committee. Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-East Harlem), chair of the committee, convened the hearing to shed light on the use of public park space at Randall’s Island for private interests and its consequences for New York City residents and its workers.

Joint Council 16 Teamsters, including members from Locals 807 and 817, testified alongside workers from the New York City Central Labor Council, NY District Council of Carpenters, Operating Engineers and IATSE Local 829.

One of the main issues was the upcoming London-based Frieze Art Fair, which made its debut in New York City last year using workers who were paid below the local union rate and many of whom were from outside New York state. The New York City Parks Department testified that Frieze NY was paying $200,000 for use of Randall’s Island over eight weeks. At over 250,000 square feet, that is less than $1 per square foot noted Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley.

"New Yorkers should not be on the hook for corporate art welfare." said George Miranda, President of Teamsters Joint Council 16, “Our employers pay much higher fees for the use of the Armory and this clearly is a way to undercut them.”

Labor leaders are calling for transparency in the permitting process and for the city to create minimum work standards for productions similar to Frieze NY.

“Residents from my district cannot afford to attend this event, families are displaced from the park, workers are clearly being paid substandard wages, and I question whether or not the safest working conditions are being adhered to,” Councilmember Mark-Viverito said. “There is a lack of transparency that we are going to investigate.”

Teamsters Joint Council 16 honored by NYC leaders

Hoffa swears in the executive board.

Prominent New Yorkers praised Joint Council 16 for improving the lives of working men and women on Wednesday as Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa swore in the executive board.

George Miranda, the joint council's president, was honored by a proclamation presented by Comptroller John C. Lui, along with former Comptroller Bill Thompson and future Comptroller Scott Stringer. It read: 

For decades of service devoted to improving the lives of working men and women; for always standing up for the rights of immigrants; for tirelessly and effectively representing the Latino union members; and for his tremendous contributions to ht e City of New York.

Miranda and the comptrollers.

Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council and mayoral candidate, brought a proclamation from the City Council. It read, in part:

The City Council of the City of New York is proud to honor the Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 16 for their outstanding leadership and service...

Quinn presents the proclamation.

Also joining the ceremony were members of Graphic Communications Conference/IBT Local 406-C, newly affiliated with Joint Council 16, including President Michael LaSpina and GCC Vice President At Large George Tedeschi. 

GCC and IBT

Sworn in wereSworn in were President George Miranda, Vice President Harry Nespoli, Recording Secretary Greg Floyd, Secretary-Treasurer Demos Demopoulos, Trustee Lou Calemine, Trustee Thomas Gesualdi, Trustee, Lou Smith.

The joint council is one of the Teamsters' oldest and includes 120,000 members in 33 locals in New York City and surrounding areas, as well as Puerto Rico.

Teamsters rally: 11K in OH, 10K in IL, ??K in NY

Teamsters "Stop the War on Workers" signs bobbed atop a sea of placards at enormous rallies in Chicago, Columbus and New York City today.

Teamsters from Joint Council 41 got fired up at the "We Are Ohio" rally in front of the Ohio Statehouse. The demonstration kicked off the campaign to repeal SB5, the law that strips government workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Joseph at Plunderbund offers this report:

I just got home from today’s rally at the Statehouse and I have to say I was impressed. This was definitely one of the best organized rallies I have been to so far – and I’ve been to almost all of them. Unofficial estimates put attendance at over 11,000, they had a good line-up of speakers and the crowd was fired up. More importantly, the effort to sign up signature gatherers for the referendum effort was in full swing.

With this level of organization and this level of enthusiasm, I fully expect SB5 referendum signatures gathered in record time.

Teamsters from Joint Council 25 rallied in downtown Chicago with 10,000 other union supporters, according to the Associated Press.  We saw one t-shirt that explained what Chicago's rally was all about. It said, "Wisconsin Today, Illinois Tomorrow." Wisconsin state Sen. Chris Larson -- one of the Fab 14 -- told the crowd the union movement is just getting started.

And in New York, Teamsters joined the "Rally for Jobs and Justice" in Times Square along with thousands to protest public sector job cuts.  We don't have a crowd count yet but we do have this video of the event. George Miranda, president of Joint Council 16, helped organize the rally with the New York City Central Labor Council.

Photos to come.