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Local and National Union News
Teamsters to Amazon: ‘We are done asking nicely’
Dec. 9, 2024 | The Teamsters “are done asking nicely for Amazon to stop breaking the law,” said the union’s president, Sean O’Brien, who has given the e-commerce giant a Dec. 15 deadline to agree to collective bargaining dates. “Thousands of Amazon workers around the country have courageously united to take on one of the world’s most abusive employers,” O’Brien said. “Amazon has a legal obligation to recognize the Teamsters and to start negotiating. Time has run out for this trillion-dollar company." Learn more here.Teamsters file charges against Costco
Dec. 4, 2024 | The Teamsters have filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against Costco for blatantly violating federal labor law and the national master agreement in a calculated effort to undermine workers’ rights and disrupt the collective bargaining process. In the past 48 hours, Costco’s upper management has escalated its illegal and reckless behavior. The company expelled union representatives from stores, harassed and intimidated workers for wearing Teamsters buttons and attire… Once celebrated for its “pro-worker” image, Costco is now prioritizing Wall Street profits over its workforce, betraying both its stated values and the workers who built the company into the world’s third-largest retailer. Talks were suspended in August but negotiations for a new national master agreement covering more than 18,000 Costco Teamsters nationwide will resume next week. [Why this matters: Teamsters Local 570 in Baltimore represent more than 900 Costco workers at four Maryland locations.] Read the Teamster press lease here.Bigfoot Beverages Stops Recognition of the Teamsters Amid Strike
Dec. 3, 2024 | Bigfoot Beverages, the Oregon-based drinks distributor, has stopped recognizing its workers union amid an ongoing strike. Union representatives say the move is illegal. The workers have been on strike for more than 70 days, seeking a contract that retains their pensions, rather than transitioning to a 401(k). According to the union, this is required for employees to qualify for the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust. However, in an internal memo shared with KLCC from Nov. 26, Bigfoot Beverages said it was now ceasing collective bargaining, and moving forward with its latest contract offer. Learn more here.
Elsewhere in the News
Mass Deportation Threats Put US Food Supply at Risk
Dec. 12, 2024 | US ECONOMY | The political winds are stirring as the President-elect rehashes his past promises to initiate what he calls the ‘largest deportation program’ the United States has ever seen. With estimates claiming nearly 40% of the workforce behind some of the country’s most fundamental industries, particularly agriculture and food processing, Trump's approach raises serious questions about the future of the American food supply chain. Immigration is often at the forefront of heated debates, especially when it intertwines with agricultural labor. Throughout the United States, around two-thirds of the nation’s crop farmworkers are immigrants, with nearly 40% lacking legal work authorization, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Pinnacle Gazette
Teamsters: Atlanta Card-Check Majority a Pre-Holiday Win at Amazon
Dec. 10, 2024 | ORGANIZING | In an indication of progress in a major union organizing drive, the Teamsters are reporting “a major win outside the NLRB election process” by gaining a card-check majority among workers at the giant Amazon warehouse in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Ga. Hundreds of workers, many of them drivers at the DGT8 warehouse, signed petitions and National Labor Relations Board union election authorization cards. Pay, or lack of it, safe working conditions and respect on the job are common themes of all the local warehouse drives. People’s World [Note: Nine Amazon locations and more than 7,000 Amazon workers have now joined the Teamsters across the country.]
Wisconsin Court Ruling Restores Collective Bargaining Rights
Dec. 9, 2024 | WORKERS’ RIGHTS | Wisconsin public worker and teachers unions scored a major legal victory Monday with a ruling that restores collective bargaining rights they lost under a 2011 state law that sparked weeks of protests and made the state the center of the national battle over union rights. That law, known as Act 10, effectively ended the ability of most public employees to bargain for wage increases and other issues, and forced them to pay more for health insurance and retirement benefits. Under the ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost, all public sector workers who lost their collective bargaining power would have it restored to what was in place prior to 2011. ABC 7 Chicago
Week Ending 12/07/2024
• How to fly union
• Stop the slowdown
• Labor unions vs. working people
• One-day strikes are in
• Can Trump eliminate the Dept. of Education?
• US looks to end subminimum wage for workers with disabilities
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette now longest strike in the US. And it’s not over.
• Labor board judge rules Exxon’s Texas refinery union lockout was legal
• Watch: Amazon’s union busters threaten and verbally abuse NY Teamsters
• Unions call on congress, union members to support Social Security Fairness Act
• The labor documentary Amazon probably doesn’t want you to see:
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