In April 2010, Giant Food, which operates nearly 200 grocery stores in the mid-Atlantic area, announced plans to outsource dry goods grocery distribution to C&S Wholesale Grocers. A Giant spokesperson cited a need to cut costs as a major reason for the outsourcing.
C&S has stated that it will close Giant’s DC-area distribution centers and move the work out-of-state to massive C&S warehouses in Harrisburg, PA. This would affect 430 family supporting jobs, mainly warehouse work, in the Washington, DC area. An additional 200 drivers who service the facility could also be affected. Since 1994, C& S has shut down over 20 warehouses in the U.S., costing local communities over 3,200 family-supporting jobs.
On March 13, hundreds attended a rally organized by the Teamsters at the Greenbelt, MD Giant. DC Jobs with Justice MC’d the demonstration, and UFCW turned out workers from area Giant stores in solidarity. The Teamsters targeted Giant again at a grocer’s conference on March 30th at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
A majority of the employees who work as Red Cross collection specialists and technicians in Atlanta have voted to join the Teamsters Union. This will be the first time a union will represent the 51 workers employed at seven sites throughout Atlanta.
“We had many strong supporters here for Teamster representation.” said Karen Moore, a five-year collection specialist for Red Cross. “It was really good to see everyone so happy after the vote.” Friday’s vote was 36-14.
This union’s organizing victory marks the third such victory in the south in the last three months. In early and mid-October, employees in Charlotte and Wilmington, North Carolina also voted for Teamster representation.
“All of these Red Cross employees demonstrated their unity with the Teamsters by wearing buttons and signing petitions,” said Ben Speight, organizer for Teamsters Local 728 in Atlanta.
“This victory came despite management hiring a very anti-union law firm that conducted numerous captive-audience meetings. Red Cross even promised they would give a flat-screen TV away to the first person who could answer the most questions correctly on an anti-union questionnaire.”
Teamsters Local 728 and the Atlanta Red Cross workers are looking forward to beginning negotiations for a strong Teamster
On January 30, 2010, consumers and union members performed a hilarious flash mob dance at the Washington, DC auto show to protest Fiat/Chrysler’s broken promises.
The $14 billion taxpayer bailout of Chrysler was meant to help save good jobs. Instead, Chrysler is threatening to throw professional auto delivery drivers onto the unemployment lines and replace them with less experienced independent contractors and “alternative” carriers, some of which are using flat bed trucks or other transporters that are not designed to protect cars over long distances. More than 5,000 jobs are at stake.
You can help the Teamsters and their consumer allies to end Chrysler’s dangerous new transportation policy in three ways:
Watch the video. Fiat Chrysler may be forced to back down from their plans to jeopardize car safety and union jobs if enough people view this video. It’s better than writing a letter.
Send it to your address book or post it to all your friends on Facebook or MySpace, AND ask them to get their friends to do the same thing.
Ten years after the Battle in Seattle, two thousand came together on a cold windy Saturday in Portland to once again say No to the WTO.
Spearheaded by the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign and Jobs with Justice and backed up by 75 labor, environmental, immigrant rights and social justice organizations, the D5 mobilization against the WTO was a great success. People came from throughout Oregon and the Northwest. JwJ Chapters in Eugene, Bend, Southern Oregon and Salem as well as Portland were well represented.
The March and rally were loud and spirited. Teamsters and turtles were back together again as the Teamster truck led the march with protesters dressed in turtle outfits close behind. Union locals and other organizations marched behind their colorful banners while radical cheerleaders and a rousing drum corps led us in chants and cheers. As there were in 1999, large puppets were sprinkled throughout the crowd. A contingent of unemployed workers marched behind an “Organize the Unemployed” banner.
The action highlighted the role “free trade” has played in the loss of jobs, environmental destruction, “forced” migration and
Editor’s Note: In October, Jobs with Justice released a report warning about the working conditions at the American Red Cross and the safety of its blood supply.
December 10- One week ago, more than 100 frontline blood collection workers employed by the American Red Cross and members of Teamsters Local 929 went on strike to educate the public about working conditions in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey area that could potentially put the region’s blood supply at risk.
These blood collection workers often work 14 hours a day, up to twenty one days in a row, driving to and from blood drives, unloading and loading heavy equipment, labeling blood donations, assuring the safe disposal of used needles, packaging blood, and transporting it for processing and testing. Workers are standing strong in Philadelphia, expanding picket lines around the city, and getting the word out about the Red Cross.
You can send a message to the Red Cross supporting these workers here: TAKE ACTION
Sean Rudolph works for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Over 1,700 Long Island bus workers won union representation last Friday after the workers launched a strong organizing drive with Teamsters Local 1205. The victory is the result of a hard fight by the workers, the union, and their allies. The employer, Baumann Bus, was in strong opposition to the union.
The workers—drivers, driver assistants, and mechanics—began organizing in the spring of 2009 and formed organizing committees in their nine different yards. The workers’ reasons for wanting a union were strong: they were not paid for the hours worked, were spending a large portion of their personal paychecks on health care, and experienced degrading workplace conditions. When the employers got word that the workers were organizing, they started attaching anti-union letters to their paychecks, boldly stating, “Don’t sign up with the Teamsters—tell them we don’t want them around here!”
The workers filed ten unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board before November 1st, 2009. The charges include: spying on workers who are speaking to one another about the union; telling Latino and Haitian workers that they must be U.S. citizens to vote in the union; and scaring the workers into believing that if a union is voted in, the
In April 2010, Giant Food, which operates nearly 200 grocery stores in the mid-Atlantic area, announced plans to outsource dry goods grocery distribution to C&S Wholesale Grocers. A Giant spokesperson cited a need to cut costs as a major reason for the outsourcing.