Teamsters Local 355

Local and National Union News

Teamsters stop UNFI from outsourcing jobs in Florida
Apr. 17, 2023 | After a vigorous argument from the Teamsters, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled in favor of 80 drivers at United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) in Sarasota, Fla., refusing to accept the company’s plans to outsource jobs to notorious nonunion employer J.B. Hunt. The decision by the NLRB protects jobs and safeguards the rights of UNFI workers seeking union representation with Teamsters Local 79 in Tampa, Fla. Teamsters

Teamsters extend largest strike against Amazon in the U.S.
Apr. 15, 2023 | Today, Amazon delivery drivers represented by Teamsters Local 396 in Southern California escalated their unfair labor practice (ULP) strike against the company by picketing at Amazon’s DAX5 warehouse in the City of Industry, CA. This marks the latest picket extension by Amazon Teamsters in their unprecedented strike, now the largest and longest strike against the company in the U.S. The extension arrives weeks before the one-year anniversary of the Palmdale-based workers’ vote to organize with Local 396, becoming the first union of Amazon delivery drivers in the country. The drivers demand that Amazon address low wages and dangerous working conditions. Learn more here.

Reminder: Applications available for the 2024 Local 355 Scholarship Awards
Apr. 11, 2023 | Applications are now available for the children and stepchildren of Local 355 members who seek to fulfill their dreams through higher education. There are no tests and no lengthy application process. The deadline for application submission is May 3. The scholarships will be awarded during the May 2024 regular monthly membership meeting. Additional information and application here.

Teamsters warehouse workers ratify first contract at Sysco Louisville
Apr. 8, 2023 | More than 100 warehouse workers at Sysco Louisville have overwhelmingly ratified a first Teamsters contract in Kentucky. The new four-year agreement includes improved safety standards, better working conditions, more paid time off, and substantial wage increases, with some members seeing 29 percent pay bumps. The workers have been in negotiations for a first contract since they voted to join the Teamsters in September. In early March, Local 89 members unanimously authorized a strike if needed. Learn more here. Why this matters: There is strength in numbers -- Sysco Baltimore drivers and warehouse workers are Local 355 members.

Final rule clarifies employee representation during OSHA inspections
Apr. 3, 2023 | Teamsters applaud OSHA for finalizing the new Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process, which affirms the right to worker representation during OSHA workplace inspections. This is an important step toward ensuring the integrity of inspections and preventing employers from abusing the process in order to hide unsafe working conditions from regulators. The rule is effective May 31, 2024. Learn more about the rule here.

Older articles here.

Elsewhere in the News

VW Workers in Tennessee Vote; Test Union Ambitions

Apr. 17, 2024 | ORGANIZING | Last fall the United Automobile Workers union won big pay increases from the Detroit automakers, and the impact rippled quickly through the nonunion auto plants scattered across the South. Afterward, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai and Tesla raised wages for their own hourly workers in the U.S., none of whom are unionized. On production lines in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and elsewhere, those pay increases have been referred to as the “U.A.W. bump.” Now 4,300 workers at VW’s plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., will test whether the union can achieve an even greater bump. They began voting today on whether to join the UAW, and the prospects of a union victory appear high. About 70 percent of the workers pledged to vote yes before the union asked for a vote, according to the UAW. New York Times

Union Labor Would Bring Strongest Workforce to Rebuild Key Bridge

Apr. 16, 2024 | COMMENTARY | When President Joe Biden came to Baltimore to survey the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, he made a promise all of Baltimore and the region desperately needed to hear. “We’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible. And we’re going to do so with union labor and American steel,” Biden said, adding that he had a “simple reason: They’re the best workers in the world, and that’s not hyperbole.” No, it’s not hyperbole. It’s fact. Union labor, along with our signatory contractors, time and again have led miraculous rebuilds after accidents and natural disasters. Our skill, training and ability to quickly mobilize are vital in restoring infrastructure and communities. We saw it last year with the I-95 bridge in Philadelphia and in the aftermath of that fateful day, Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. And we need to see it again in Baltimore… The Baltimore Banner PHOTO: FLICKR

Week Ending 04/12/2024

• Key Bridge collapse is a story about deregulation
• ‘We are the workforce that this country needs’
• The 32-hour workweek is ours for the taking
• NLRB refuses to bow to Space X, Amazon pressure
• Divided Amazon union lurches toward leadership election
• Steelworkers push back against $14B deal for U.S. Steel as vote looms
• With Teamster support, Kentucky governor vetoes driverless vehicle bill
• New Jersey expands discrimination protection to members of labor unions

The Charleston Cigar Factory Strike

Apr. 12, 2024 | LABOR HISTORY | The Charleston Cigar Factory Strike was a labor strike that involved workers at the Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina, from October 22, 1945, to April 1, 1946. The strike resulted from the company refusing to institute raises and racial discrimination. The modern version of the gospel hymn and civil rights anthem that would become popular in the 1960s, We Shall Overcome, was first performed by striking worker Lucille Simmons, during the strike. The strike began on October 1, 1945, when Harold F. McGinnis, manager of the Cigar Factory, fired a Black male worker after a White female supervisor accused him of taking familiarities with Black female workers. Most of the Black women workers at the factory, who comprised 60% of the workforce, viewed the firing as racially motivated. BlackPast.org