Teamsters Local 355

Local and National News

Hoffa: Washington lawmakers must do right by workers
May 5, 2021 | The Teamsters and other unions for years have been urging lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to prioritize the needs of working people, given that the wealthy in this country have never done better. Finally, elected officials… Continued

Bainum continues his quest for Tribune, The Sun as time runs out
May 3, 2021 | Bainum notified Tribune Publishing last Wednesday that he planned to have $300 million in financing that would go toward a revised offer valuing the company at roughly $680 million, according to three people with knowledge of the proposal. As part of the would-be arrangement, $200 million would come from his own fortune. The additional $100 million would come from new debt. The proposal is not quite firm. His offer is contingent on his finding a backer who will take on Tribune’s flagship paper, The Chicago Tribune… New York Times

Local 355 mourns the passing of Brother George Lucas
Apr. 30, 2021 | It is with deep sadness that we inform our members that Brother George Lucas recently lost a battle with COVID-19. A longtime Teamster, Brother Lucas worked for more than 10 years as a loader at US Foods until 2016 when the company closed its Severn, Maryland facility, and at the time of his death, he was a driver for ABF Freight System. Condolences and cards for his family may be sent to Victory Ministries of Christ, 240 S. Hilton Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21229.

Teamsters take a stand to keep American families united
Apr. 29, 2021 | The Teamsters are urging Congress to take up soon-to-be-introduced legislation being discussed in a House subcommittee hearing today that would help fix the nation’s broken immigration system by halting the separation of U.S. families that have both legal and undocumented members. The union is coming out in favor of the American Families United Act in part to support 20-year member Jason Rochester, a Georgia UPS worker. Rochester and his wife Cecilia have been separated since 2017… Continued

Local 355 mourns the passing of Brother Amos Batts
Apr. 28, 2021 | It is with great sadness that we inform our members of the sudden death of Amports Teamster Amos A. Batts. A senior rail crew member with 15 years of service at Amports, Inc. in Baltimore, Brother Batts died of a heart attack at his home on April 20, 2021. A public viewing will be held Monday, May 3, 2021, 3:30 pm - 7:00 pm at Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services, 4905 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212. Brother Amos’ Celebration of Life can be viewed via Live Stream Tuesday, May 4, 2021: Wake at 2:30 pm, service at 3:00 pm at www.vaughncgreene.com

American Families Plan helps workers bring balance to daily lives
Apr. 28, 2021 | The following is a statement from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa about today’s unveiling of President Biden’s American Families Plan, a sweeping measure that lifts up hardworking Americans by expanding education opportunities, mandating paid leave, subsidizing child care, and health care for low- and middle-income workers and providing tax relief to the middle class. “The modern American family is being pulled in a million different directions that make it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. The current pandemic has especially placed additional strains on women workers…” Continued

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Elsewhere in the News

Workers Strike Back: Inside the New Labor Movement

May 5, 2021 | LABOR’S FUTURE | We are living through a revivified effort among workers—more likely to be women and people of color and nurses, teachers, and AI scientists rather than soot-covered white men, but nonetheless radicalized like miners of a century ago—to secure more rights, including greater say in how their companies operate. Because empowered workers are the surest path to being able to make positive change and improve the world. In this special package on the present and future of this new worker moment, we profile the leader electrifying this renewed fight, explore novel approaches to growing workers’ power, and showcase employees in Bessemer, Alabama, to present the face of today’s American workforce… Fast Company

Essential Workers Did Not Ask to be Heroes

May 4, 2021 | COVID-19 | […] Essential workers had “heroism” foisted upon them by corporate employers who quarantined in palatial estates and ordered their groceries online, and we, satisfied that these “heroes” were selflessly sacrificing themselves in our service, did not ask any questions. These workers, however, did not ask to be heroes – and those who died did not ask to be martyrs. We do owe them a thank you, to be sure. But, more than anything, we owe them a fairer, more equal, and more democratic society… On Labor

Weekly News Wrap-Up: 4/30/2021

• May Day preview: PRO Act to take center stage
• ‘One step closer to justice’ for CA port truck drivers
• Listen: PRO Act could help unions organize workplaces
• Biden names trade expert as ‘Made in America’ director
• Labor board to hear objections to Amazon election May 7
• Volume continues to surge at UPS to start the year
• Flight Attendants union leader: It’s safe to fly. With masks on.
• The Amazon union drive showed us the future of US labor
• Polls show that working people want a voice at work
• Unions applaud OSHA for advancing Covid safety standard to protect workers
• The union-busting consultant spreading far-right conspiracy theories
• Best labor movies to watch on International Workers’ Day

Organized Labor Puts Heat On 3 Demcrats to Support PRO Act

Apr. 29, 2021 | POLITICAL/LEGISLATIVE | Senators who haven’t yet voiced support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act might soon hear from more constituents on the matter. The AFL-CIO labor federation says it’s spending seven figures on television and radio ads aimed at bolstering Senate support for the PRO Act, which would make it easier for workers to join unions. The ads will run in Arizona, Virginia and West Virginia, states with moderate Democratic senators whose support, or lack of it, could determine the bill’s fate… Huffington Post

On A Day to Mourn Workers Who Died On the Job, COVID-19 Looms Large

Apr. 28, 2021 | HEALTH & SAFETY | This Workers Memorial Day has a different timbre than previous ones, which have tended to focus on explosions, transportation accidents, falls, trench collapses, and other easily measurable events, as opposed to chronic, work-related diseases, which develop over time and take an estimated 95,000 lives a year. The COVID-19 pandemic has added a fearsome, invisible layer of risk to all of this. And the government agency responsible for workplace health and safety enforcement, which turns 50 today, is under pressure to do something about it. … Center for Public Integrity