By BARRY BROADCalifornia Teamsters

Public Affairs CouncilAcross California, huge numbers of

Teamsters registered to vote, didphone calling, walked precincts,talked to co-workers, and even trav-eled to battleground states. This effortclearly paid off in a number of impor-tant California elections.

However, when the longest, nasti-est, and most contentious electioncampaign in U.S. history came to anend on November 2, George W. Bushwas re-elected President and Republi-cans increased their majority in theU.S. House of Representatives andU.S.Senate.

President Bush has already prom-ised to “spend the political capital” heearned in the election by privatizingsocial security. Stay tuned.

In California, one of the bluest ofthe “blue” states, John Kerry resound-ingly defeated President Bush—sodon’t expect a lot of visits by theBush-Cheney team in the next fouryears. Barbara Boxer handily won re-election to her U.S. Senate seat andvoters re-elected the entire Congres-sional delegation.

In State Legislative races, despite avigorous campaign by GovernorS c h w a r z e n e g g e r, the Democrats re-tained all of their seats. Just sixmonths ago, the Republicans werepredicting that they would capture theState Assembly and gain seats in theState Senate. The Governator’s coat-tails were very short indeed!

The biggest disappointment for or-ganized labor was the very narrow de-feat of Proposition 72, which would

have created minimum standards fore m p l o y e r-based healthcare for em-ployers of 50 or more employees. TheGovernor’s opposition almost certain-ly made a difference in the Proposition72 fight. Nevertheless, the closenessof the election means that the issue ofhealth care coverage is very muchalive. We live to fight another day!

For in-depth numbers and percent-ages, please go to the Secretary ofStates’ website at www.ss.ca.gov.

T EAM S T E RServing more than 70,000 Teamsters and their families

Volume 49, Number 5 December 2004/January 2005

San Francisco Teamsters areback at work at 14 hotels after sixweeks. A two-week strike at fourhotels by UNITE-HERE Local 2quickly turned into a six weeklock-out at 14 hotels; more than4,000 union members were onwhat became a very noisy picketl i n e .

Members of Teamsters Local856 who work at these hotels re-spected Local 2’s picket line.They were all relieved to go backto work under a 60-day cooling-o ff period on November 23.

“We believe that Local 2 willwin its fight with these multina-tional hotel chains,” said Local856 Secretary-Treasurer MikeMcLaughlin. “And we’re goingto be there to help them.”See complete story onPage 5.

Teamster strength in California can’t overcomenational results

Hotel lock-out endswith cooling-off period

Teamsters andUNITE-HEREreturn to workfor holidays

Teamster port driver rep Gilberto Soto killed in ElSalvador. Story on page 3.

Wishing all current, retired and future Teamsters a very happy

holiday season and a prosperousNew Year.

From the staff and officers of Teamsters Joint Council 7

Happy Holidays!Felices Fiestas!

Meilleurs Vieux!

Teamsters Local 856 members who work in SF hotels celebrate returning to work at meeting November 23

Filmmaking used to be a big indus-try in San Francisco, providing hun-dreds of jobs. From Bullitt and DirtyH a rry to Mrs. Doubtfire and T h eS t reets of San Francisco to N a s hBridges, San Francisco was a movie-making town providing incrediblescenery and local color.

That was then. Looking to savemoney and hassle, the industry hasfled San Francisco over the last sever-al years. Now Stefanie Coyote, a loca-tion manager and Teamsters Local 85member, is working to bring it back.And she has a team of Teamsters toback her up.

Eight weeks into her new job asExecutive Director of the San Francis-co Film Commission, Stefanie sayss h e ’s feeling “outrage, enthusiasm,f r u s t r a t i o n . . . i t ’s complicated!” Butshe’s determined to bring the industryand the jobs back to the city.

Since 1988, Stefanie has been a lo-cation manager for films being shot inSan Francisco. While she loved thework, Stefanie says that location man-agers worked ridiculously long hoursfor ridiculously low pay. “The produc-ers could drive wages down as theysaw how hungry we were for work.”

Because movie work in San Fran-cisco has been scarce and because thelocation managers didn’t have a unioncontract, they were the first to gettaken advantage of. Shooting themovie The Assassination of RichardNixon (2004) added the final straw,pushing the location managers toagree that they needed a union.

“All of the skilled labor in themovie business up here was unionizedexcept for us. This is a union business.It was time. I was thrilled to become aTeamster.”

Earlier this year, Stefanie workedon a Burger King commercial as aTeamster, then she put in for with-drawal to take the Film Commissionposition.

Bringing production backSan Francisco is number one for a

lot of things, and unfortunately, beingthe most expensive city to film in isone of them. “If we can get our act to-gether and be a movie-friendly town,we can bring a lot of income into thecity, provide great skilled craft jobs inthe industry and increase our publici-ty. It’s about civic pride—and abouthaving producers bring their $40 mil-lion budgets here. That’s my goal.”

Coyote says that film companiesare going to Canada and Mexico tosave money. “The rest of the world iscompeting for film business by reduc-ing costs and creating incentives.Until now, San Francisco has pushedthe business away with financialgouging and everyone trying to get a

piece of the pie. Peoplewill come here if we takeaway the penalties. I’ll tryto make that happen, butit will take some time.”

Some people want toblame labor for the highcost of working in SanFrancisco, but Stefanie isclear that the labor cost isonly one ingredient. NewYork City covers policeservices; in San Francis-co, the movie companieshave to pay time-and-a-half. Also, hotels andcatering service are ex-pensive here. “The cost oflabor is about the same

everywhere there’s a union contract,so it’s not that.”

If Only It We re Tru e, a movie withReese Witherspoon and Mark Ruff a l o ,just finished filming in North Beach.Coyote has been working to seal a dealwith the producers of Rent. “ We havethe potential to offer low-cost produc-tion facilities on Treasure Island, butthose facilities need a lot of work.T h a t ’s our card. We should play it.”

In addition to R e n t, Coyote is work-ing with the producer of Memoirs of aG e i s h a to start filming in January, andcommercials for Starbucks and To y o t aare also in the works.

Labor on the team“Stefanie is supported by virtually

all of labor,” says Local 85 Secretary-Treasurer Van Beane.

“We all agree that production workhas to increase. Once Local 399 inHollywood ratified their contract, thisopened up the gates for productioncompanies to come back to San Fran-

cisco.” Beane says that Local 85 cur-rently has 30 members working underthe Local 399 agreement as locationscouts.

“The film commission is at its bestright now because we have someonein the film office who will listen tous,” Beane said. “You can’t beat hav-ing that relationship. And we have thesame goal—jobs.”

Film Commission President andLocal 350 Secretary-Treasurer RobertMorales concurs. “It’s a new day inthe city for filmmaking.” And heshould know—Morales has served onthe Film Commission since Art Agnoswas mayor, with a short break for theJordan administration. He’s beenPresident of the Commission for thepast nine years.

Morales says that Stefanie will be awelcome asset to the Commission andto the City and County of San Francis-co. “It’s a long time coming. We needsomeone like her to create movie-mak-ing in the city, and in turn, to createmore Teamster and movie jobs.”

Morales adds that Mayor Newsom al-located $350,000 to the film commissiono ffice, enabling Stefanie to get involvedin activities to promote San Franciscopositively to the movie industry.

MEMBERS IN FOCUS

(USPS 395-880)

(ISSN 0468-690X)T EAM S T E R

Beagle and Bleiweiss Communications • Managing Editor: Debra Chaplan

The Northern California Teamster is pub-lished 5 times per year (February, May,August, October, and December) by:

Te a m s t e r s ’ Joint Council No. 7250 Executive Park Blvd., Suite 3100San Francisco, CA 94134Tel: 415-467-2552

Periodicals Postage Paid at the San Fran-cisco, CAand at additional mailing off i c e s .

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to:Northern California Teamster 250 Executive Park Blvd., Suite 3100San Francisco, CA 9 4 1 3 4 - 3 3 0 6

Page 2 December 2004/January 2005

Teamster Stephanie Coyote new head of SF Film Commissison

Teamsters lead effort to bring film industry back to San Francisco

Members in FocusJoint Council 7 has more than 50,000members across the greater Bay Area andmany of you are doing important & fasci-nating things—at work, at home and inyour communities. If you have a story youthink might work in the Northern CaliforniaTeamster, please contact your businessagent or e-mail newspaper editor DebraChaplan at dchaplan@mindspring.com.

Time to apply for James R. Hoffa MemorialScholarship Fund

During the 2005-2006 academic year, 100 scholarships will be awardedto high school seniors who are children of Teamster members. Applicantswill compete in one of five geographic regions where the Teamster parent’slocal union is located. Thirty-one of the awards total $10,000 over fouryears. Sixty-nine of the awards are one-time $1,000 grants.

Applications are available from all Teamster local unions and from theScholarship Fund. Application forms and eligibility information may alsobe obtained from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters website(www.teamster.org) or by email: (scholarship@teamster.org). Completedapplications must be submitted to the parent’s local union, providing theSecretary-Treasurer enought time to complete a section and forward the ap-plication to the International in time for the March 31, 2005 deadline.

Stefanie Coyote, after a morning shoot at severallocations around North Beach

Teamster Gilberto Soto was assas-sinated on November 5 in El Salvador.Soto, a port drivers’representative forthe Teamsters in Newark, NJ, traveledto Central America to meet with porttruck drivers and labor officials in ElSalvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

Soto was killed outside his mother’shouse in the city of Usulutan, El Sal-v a d o r. Witnesses say he was shot in

the back by three men who waitedoutside his house and fled in a get-away car. He died immediately.

S o t o ’s goal in going to CentralAmerica was to better understandworking conditions for port driversthere and to create a solidarity net-work between Teamsters and theirCentral American counterparts whooften work for the same multi-nation-al shipping companies.

“Gilberto was a hard worker and adedicated worker,” says Joint Council7 President and Teamsters Port Direc-tor Chuck Mack. “He was very com-mitted to improving the standard ofliving for port drivers. For him, work-ing with port drivers wasn’t a job asmuch as a lifestyle.”

Unions call for i n v e s t i g a t i o nThe Teamsters have called for a

thorough investigation. They suspectthat Soto was gunned down as part ofa systematic effort to suppress unionactivity in El Salvador.

The Salvadoran government hasagreed to conduct a full investigation.

A F L - C I O President John J.

Sweeney and Teamsters General Pres-ident James P. Hoffa met with El Sal-vador’s ambassador. “We expressedour deep concern about the lack of anytype of meaningful investigation,”H o ffa said. “We’re concerned thatGilberto Soto was murdered becauseof his intention to meet with laborleaders and truck drivers throughoutCentral America.”

The Teamsters also announced a$75,000 reward for information lead-ing to the arrest and conviction ofSoto’s assassins. The reward moneywas raised jointly by the Teamstersalong with the two U.S. dockworkers’unions—the International Longshore-men’s Association and the Internation-al Longshore and Warehouse Union.

“It is our understanding that therewas no robbery; Mr. Soto was not in-

volved in any criminal activity. Hewas organizing port drivers, the mostexploited truck drivers in the U.S.,and he was visiting El Salvador on be-half of the Teamsters,” said PresidentHoffa in a statement to the press.

“Our heartfelt condolences go outto the Soto family, and I pledge thatthe Teamsters Union will do every-thing within its power to help appre-hend these murderers and bring themto justice,” Hoffa continued.

According to Hoffa, “The Sotomurder shows why it is important forthe U.S. trade union movement to re-main forever vigilant in developingour campaigns for labor and humanrights around the world and for insur-ing the respect for worker rights in ourtrade agreements.”

The Northern California Teamster Page 3

New standards for transporting hazardous materials arecoming into effect. To enable Teamsters to comply, weoffer free training:o 4-hour DOT (HAZMAT) Hazardous Materials Aware-

ness course and refreshero 40-hour (HAZWOPER) Hazardous Waste Materials

courseo 8-hour (HAZWOPER) Hazardous Waste Materials re-

f r e s h e rTo sign up, call Barbara at 415-344-0085.

Free Hazardous Materials Training

NATIONAL ACTION/LOCAL IMPACT

After 20 years of repeated unionelections, strikes and boycott cam-paigns, workers at Diamont Walnuthave voted to rejoin Teamsters Local601 in Stockton, and make a new at-tempt to negotiate a contract.

“This is the most beautiful day ofmy life,” said Teresa Michel, a sortingoperator in the plant. “I called my sonand said ‘we won!’He couldn’t believeit. Our lives will change so much. I amso thankful to the Teamsters for theirhelp—and now I’m one too.”

The Diamond Walnut story goesback to 1985 when the company wasin dire straits financially and theworkers took pay cuts of 30 percent tohelp get things back on the right track.

Within a few years, profits werebooming but Diamond forgot the veryworkers who helped them. When itcame time for a new contract in 1991,the company offered a meager 10¢ anhour raise and demanded increasedworker payments for health care ben-

efits. The workers had no choice butto strike.

In the intervening years, Local 601struck Diamond Walnut, saw theirmembers permanently replaced, andlaunched a major corporate campaignagainst the company. “With help fromthe International and from so manyunions in this region, including JointCouncil 7, we hung in there,” saidSecretary-Treasurer Lucio Reyes.

Since the strike began in 1991, tworepresentation elections were held,but the National Labor RelationsBoard threw out the results becausethe company had committed unfairlabor practices.

“ I t ’s time to stop the war,” saidReyes. “We have been fighting thiscompany for 13 years and have shownthat they cannot beat us. It’s time towork together to rebuild this company. ”

“I thank all the Teamsters and otherunion members who helped us throughthis long struggle,” Reyes added.

Workers vote to join the Teamsters; set stage for contract talks

At Diamond Walnut, victory comes 13 yearsafter workers went on strike

Teamster port rep killed in El Salvador; unions call for full investigation

Gilberto Soto1954-2004

Labor offices lootedIn a separate development, the offices of the Centro de Estudios y A p o y o

Laboral (CEAL), a Salvadoran labor support center that immediately madepublic statements and press releases regarding the murder of J. Gilberto Soto,were ransacked in the early morning hours of November 14, 2004. The com-munications and computer equipment were removed and there was evidencethat files and documents had been opened and reviewed. CEAL has filed com-plaints with the national authorities asking for investigation of the incident.

The AFL-CIO has condemned this attack on a Salvadoran labor org a n i z a t i o nand demands that this incident, as well as any connections to the murder of JoseGilberto Soto, be thoroughly investigated by the Salvadoran authorities.

In a case that has taken nearlythree years to settle, a group ofLocal 624 members who work atD H L (formerly Airborne Express)received a share of a $50,000penalty award in November.

In 2001, the company tookaway nearly two-thirds of theSonoma County delivery area fromLocal 624 members working out ofits Petaluma Station and gave thework to a non-union subcontractor.Local 624 President Harley Kingpresented the members’ case inthree separate hearings before theLabor Board.

The end result is that all of the

work is to be returned to Local 624members to perform. In addition,the Company was hit with a whop-ping $50,000 penalty for not re-turning the work when it was orig-inally instructed to do so.

“This case could not haveended like it did without manyhours of hard work and the sup-port of Secretary-Treasurer BobC a r r, Recording Secretary A l i c eHale Bowker and member We n d yBalich,” says King. “It’s a greatfeeling to be able to pass out$50,000 to our members just be-fore the holidays!”

On behalf of the officers, officialsand staff of Joint Council 7, I want toextend best wishes to all of our mem-bers and their families for a most joy-ous holiday season and a successfuland peaceful New Year.

I also want to say thank you. Thank you for all

that you did in thisy e a r’s national andstate elections. Itmade a diff e r e n c e .Kerry-Edwards wondecisively in Califor-nia. Barbara Boxerwas re-elected to theU.S. Senate. Te a m-ster endorsed candi-dates won at the stateand local levels, and while we lost onProposition 72, the health care initia-tive, it was by less than 1%—amazingin light of the money the restaurant as-sociation and Wal-Marts of the world“ponied” up.

None of this would have happenedwithout your hard work. All the voterregistrations, worksite visits, phonebanking and “get out the vote” activi-ty paid off.

Results nationally, however, willnot make life easier for Te a m s t e rmembers. Expect the Bush Adminis-tration to come after labor with ananti-worker pro-business agenda. Em-ployer based health care, multi-em-ployer defined benefits, pensions, andeven social security are at risk.

As election results in Californias h o w, we’re up to the challenge. We donot intend to abandon our struggle for

economic justice for working families.As Jim Hoffa and Tom Keegel said

in their Statement from Te a m s t e r sUnion Leadership Regarding Novem-ber 2 Election, “November 2 was notthe end of our fight to take back thiscountry for working families. It was the

beginning. This eff o r twas never about onecandidate, one politi-cal party, or a singleelection. It is aboutmoving forward apro-worker agenda atthe national level.

“ We will continuethe fight for fair trade,universal health care,worker rights, pen-

sion reform and retirement security.And we will continue to work witheveryone—Republican, Democrat andIndependent—who shares our agenda.”

The task ahead is clear. We need tobuild Teamster and labor power asnever before. There can’t be any letdown over the next two years. Wehave to continue voter registration,member education and DRIVE partic-ipation. We need to identify issues,build coalition and forge alliances. Sit-ting still not only makes us an easy tar-get—it insures that nothing gets done.That’s a prescription for disaster.

This election isn’t about surrender,it’s about struggle. It’s not about goingbackwards, it’s about moving forward.

The last words of labor organizerJoe Hill as he was about to be hangednearly a century ago are instructive.“Don’t mourn for me – ORGANIZE!”

byChuck Mack

Page 4 December 2004/January 2005

Thank you for doing your part

As election results inCalifornia show, we’re

up to the challenge. Wedo not intend to aban-don our struggle foreconomic justice forworking families.

President’s Report

Local 624 President Harley King at left, and Secretary-Treasurer Bob Carr atright, with DHL-Airborne Express displaying their checks.

SF Teamster hotel workers need your helpFor two months, 400 members of Teamsters Local 856 employed at

major San Francisco hotels respected the picket lines of locked-outmembers of Local 2 (UNITE-HERE). While the employers’ group final-ly agreed to a 60-day cooling-off period in mid-November, there’s noguarantee that the contract will be settled in mid-January. If they haveto go on the picket line again, these Teamsters will need your help tomaintain their mortgage payments, health benefits and pay other bills.

You can help them by contributing as much as possible to the

newly established Local 856 Solidarity Fund. Please send aslarge a contribution as you can, as soon as you can, to:

Local 856 Solidarity Fundc/o Teamsters Local 856, 453 San Mateo Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066

Local 624 wins $50,000 arbitration awardfor members at DHL

Teamster elected toWatsonville City CouncilCongratulations to Local 890 Busi-

ness Agent Oscar Rios for getting elect-ed to serve on the Watsonville CityCouncil in November. Rios had been thefirst Latino mayor of Watsonville in the1990s, but was term-limited out afterserving two terms. “I’m glad to be backon the council to represent the interestsof working people in Watsonville,” Riossaid.

Local 890 settles tough con-tracts for salad industry

After turning down two contract pro-posals from Dole, 1,800 Local 890 mem-bers who work in the package salad plantsin Yuma, AZ and Soledad, finally ratifiedtheir contract by a 9-1 margin. Followingthe Dole settlement, River Ranch, withlocations in Salinas and El Centro, cameup with a proposal that their 700 employ-ees could ratify as well.

“This is a new industry that didn’t exist15 years ago,” says Local 890 BusinessAgent Mike Johnston. “This industrygrew out of the fields, so it’s traditionallyvery low paying. It’s also half union andhalf non-union, and fiercely competitive.Our goal was to get real wage improve-ments, along with decent health insuranceand retirement funds.”

Contracts at both companies are forfour years. The employees will get wageincreases of 5% the first year and 3% ineach of the subsequent years, with muchmore for some workers. Dole made somedramatic improvements in health cover-age, adding a good dental plan.

San Jose adjusts ratesLocal 350 scored a great victory in

San Jose when they successfully con-

vinced Mayor Ron Gonzalez and theCity Council to authorize an increase ofapproximately $12 million to CaliforniaWaste Solutions in order to settle a five-year agreement for the Teamsters whowork at that company. “This was the firsttime the City readjusted rates after thebid was completed,” says Secretary-Treasurer Robert Morales.

“We were having difficulties negoti-ating this agreement because the em-ployer had won a low-bid franchise dealwith the City and could not afford to payour members prevailing wages and ben-efits,” says Morales. It took over a yearfor Local 350 officers to accomplish thistask.

Victory over SunsetLocal 350 won a significant arbitra-

tion at Sunset Scavenger Company inSan Francisco in October.

In early 2003, the employer refused toreturn member Juan De La Cruz back towork after an injury on the job. The em-ployer had two attorneys and two doc-tors at the arbitration hearing.

With the help of Attorney Duane Bee-son, the union prevailed and De La Cruzwon back pay for the 18 months with allof his seniority and benefits. De La Cruzis now back to work.

Election victoryThe Teamsters scored a winning elec-

tion in San Francisco when six of theseven Te a m s t e r-endorsed candidateswon election to the San Francisco Boardof Supervisors last month.

“I must recognize the members of Lo-cals 278, 350 and other locals who workedso hard on these elections,” said Local3 5 0 ’s Robert Morales. “Having good peo-ple in office makes our work easier.”

Progress is TeamsterIn September, 80 counselors at the

Progress Foundation, a San Franciscomental health services provider, over-whelmingly chose representation byLocal 85. The part-time “relief” coun-selors provide mental health services in aresidential setting.

“These workers face many unique is-sues. We welcome them to our Local,” saysLocal 85 Secretary-Treasurer Van Beane.

Cab drivers force Port toback off limo deal

Adelegation of Oakland airport taxicabdrivers forced the Port of Oakland to delayplans to allow a single limousine service

to operate from the curb at the Oaklandairport. This would displace Local 70members from current facilities, and causeunfair competition with cab service.

Members of the Local 70-affiliatedEast Bay Taxi Drivers’ Association ap-peared at the November 16 Oakland PortCommission meeting to protest a pro-posal to give monopoly status to onelimousine service at the airport.

After hearing testimony from about 10drivers, the Commissioners voted unani-mously to take another look at the contract.

“I think we really surprised the com-missioners,” said Local 70 Secretary -Treasurer Chuck Mack.“They got themessage.”

December elections for Locals 70 and 624

Three Local Unions re-elect officers on “white ballot”

Locals 315, 665 and 853 completedtheir election process in Novemberwhen the slate of officers for each localwas elected by acclamation, alsoknown as a “white ballot.” Here are thenew officer slates:

Local 315:Dale Robbins, Secretary-TreasurerSteve Gutierrez, PresidentMario Martinez, Vice PresidentPaul Poston, Recording SecretaryDan Cahill, James Francis & J i mSveum—Trustees

Local 665:Ernie Yates, Secretary-TreasurerMark Gleason, PresidentEdward Dion, Vice PresidentEdward Carter, Recording SecretaryChuck Andrew, W.T. Brown,VincentJung—Trustees

Local 853:Rome Aloise, Secretary-TreasurerJohn C. Becker, Sr., PresidentPhil Tarantino,Vice PresidentAntonio Christian, R e c o rding Secre t a ryJ e ff Belunza, Mike Furtado, JulieMolina—Trustees

Local 70:While there are contested elections forVice-President, Recording Secretary,Trustees and Business Agents, ChuckMack was re-elected as Secretary Trea-surer and Joe Silva was re-elected asPresident on white ballots.

Local 624:There were contested elections for allpositions. Mail ballots must be re-ceived by December 20. See the noticeon page 6 for more information aboutthis election.

The Northern California Teamster Page 5

AROUND THE LOCALS

As this issue of the Northern Califor -nia Teamster goes to press, members ofLocal 856 and Local 665 who respectedpicket lines established by UNITE-HERE Local 2 at major San Franciscohotels are back at work under a 60-daycooling off period.

Local 2 and the hotel employers signedthe agreement for a cooling-off period onNovember 20. Local 856 has some 400members who work at the front desk andback office and over 200 Local 665 mem-bers work in the hotel parking lots. T h e ywere back at work on November 23.

“You guys were heroes,” said Local 2President Mike Casey. “I cannot tell youhow grateful we are for your support.You can count on us when it’s your turn

in the barrel.” The current Local 856 agreement

with the hotels expires in 2007.“This is only a temporary truce, but

we have won the first round,” said Local856 Secretary-Treasurer Mike McLaugh-lin. “The hotels had said they would notpermit Local 2 to return to work if theunion did not drop its proposal for a twoyear contract; they lost on this issue. T h ehotels tried to deny Local 2 membershealth benefits for December; they loston this issue. The hotels opposed unem-ployment benefits for Local 2 members.They lost on this issue.”

“ We believe that Local 2 will win itsfight with these multinational hotel chains.And we’re going to be there to help them.”

As McLaughlin noted, the turningpoints in the lockout occurred when theState of California awarded unemploy-ment benefits, and when Kaiser and otherproviders agreed to dip into reserves toprovide health and welfare coverage forD e c e m b e r. Those two actions took a lot ofheat off the members of Local 2 and al-lowed them to stay out, if needed, throughthe busy holiday season.

The hardships faced by Local 856members were also softened by assistancefrom the IBTstrike fund. Local 856 mem-bers were neither on strike nor locked outand therefore would not ordinarily qualifyfor strike benefits. However, after receiv-ing an appeal from Local 856, GeneralPresident James P. Hoffa agreed to makean exception to the usual procedures.

Once Local 2 members qualified for

unemployment insurance, they agreed toturn over part of their own strike benefit tomembers of Local 856 and 665. “The co-operation between our locals has been ab-solutely outstanding,” McLaughlin said.

On the other hand, the combined strikebenefits are still not sufficient if the hotelstrike resumes. To that end, Local 856 hasset up a Solidarity Fund which will take careof emergencies on a case-by-case basis.

Local 856 members have already con-tributed $15,000. “This is an ongoingFund to which we will continue to re-quest voluntary contributions.”

Local 2 and the hotels’ M u l t i - E m p l o y-e r s ’ Group, are scheduled to return to bar-gaining on December 2. “We're goingback to the table in good faith,” Caseysaid after the meeting. “If it doesn’t work,we’ll decide what we do after that.”

Teamsters on the line for SF hotel strike

The following excerpts from the Interna-tional Constitution apply to all nominationsand elections in Teamster Locals:ARTICLE XXII, Section 4(a):

To be eligible to nominate and otherwise par-ticipate in the nominations meeting, a membermust have his dues paid through the month priorto the month in which the nominations meetingis held. Nominations shall be made at the meet-ing by a member in good standing other than thenominee by motion seconded by a member ingood standing other than the nominee. Candi-dates must accept nominations at the time madeeither in person, or, if absent, in writing, and mayaccept nomination for only one office. A m e m-ber may also run for and be elected as a BusinessAgent or Assistant Business Agent as providedin Article XXII, Section 8, and may hold both theo ffice and the position if elected to both.ARTICLE XXII, Section 4(b):

The Local Union Executive Board shallhave the authority to establish all rules andregulations for the conduct of the election tosupplement the provisions of the InternationalConstitution and the Local Union Bylaws, in-cluding the authority to use mail referendumballoting or absentee balloting without mem-bership approval. Absentee voting by mailshall be permitted only upon application ofmembers who are ill or absent from the city ortown where they are normally employed at thetime of voting because on vacation or on em-

ployment tour of duty.The Local Union Executive Board may per-

mit additional reasons for absentee balloting ifthey so desire. Application for absentee ballotsshall be made to the Secretary-Treasurer of theLocal Union not less than five (5) days prior tothe date set for election and shall contain thegrounds therefor. Absentee ballots shall bevalid only if they are received by noon of theday on which the polls close.

(N O T E : The International Union recom-mends that prospective nominees be advised tov e r i f y, in advance of the nominations meeting,the eligibility of the nominators and seconders).ARTICLE XXII, Section 4(c):

To be eligible to vote in the election, amember’s dues must be paid up through themonth prior to the month in which the electionis held.ARTICLE II, Section 4(a)(1):

To be eligible for election to any office in aLocal Union, a member must be in continuousgood standing in the Local Union in which heis a member and in which he is seeking off i c e ,and actively employed at the craft within the ju-risdiction of such Local Union, for a period oftwenty-four (24) consecutive months prior tothe month of nomination for said office, andmust be eligible to hold office if elected. “Con-tinuous good standing” means compliance with

the provisions of Article X, Section 5, concern-ing the payment of dues for a period of twenty-four consecutive months, together with no in-terruptions in active membership in the LocalUnion for which office is being sought becauseof suspensions, expulsions, withdrawals, trans-fers or failure to pay fines or assessments. Pro-vided, however, that if a member on withdraw-al deposits his card in the month immediatelyfollowing the month for which it was eff e c t i v eand pays his dues for both months in a timelymanner as provided in Article X, Section 5(c),such period of withdrawal shall not be consid-ered a break in continuous good standing in theLocal Union.

(NOTE: In addition to the foregoing Constitu-tional provisions, the International advises that:Elected officers of the Local Union, shall, byvirtue of such election, be delegates to any JointCouncil with which the Local is affiliated as wellas to any convention of any subordinate bodywhich may take place during their term of office.

Elected Local Union officers shall be dele-gates to such conventions in the order of priori-ty set forth in the Local Union Bylaws. If theBylaws do not set forth an order of priority, theprincipal executive officer shall have first prior-i t y, followed by the remaining elected officers inthe order determined by the Executive Board.

Members are advised to consult the Bylawsof their Locals for additional rules concerningnominations and election procedures).

Executive BoardChuck Mack...President

Steve Mack...Vice PresidentRobert Morales...Secretary-TreasurerRome Aloise...Recording Secretary

Ernie Yates...TrusteeCarlos Borba...Trustee

Franklin Gallegos...Trustee

Please note:The Bulletin Board will be included in the paper only once

each year, in the June issue. (We will print address and meetingchanges on an ongoing basis.) Please save this copy of the Bul-

letin Board for information about your Local Union.

Delegates’ MeetingsThe regular 2004 delegates’meetings are held the first Tuesday

in February, April, June, August, October and December.

JOINTCOUNCIL

7

Page 6 December 2004/January 2005

This information is provided by theWestern Conference of Teamsters Sup -plemental Benefit Plan.

Q. How would the WCT Supple-mental Plan benefit me?

A. The Supplemental Plan providesan increasing benefit to the membersto help offset medical and other livingexpenses. Over 20,000 retirees andspouses are currently receiving annualbenefits.

Q. What is the diff e rence betweenthe W C T Pension Plan and theW C T Supplemental Benefit Plan?

A. The Supplemental Plan benefitis not based on contributions paidprior to retirement and is a benefitpaid annually, not monthly. The ben-efit increases each year as long as theemployer continues to contribute. Ifthe employer ceases to participate, theincreases stop. However, the retireewill continue to receive the annualbenefit for life.

Q. Currently, how many retireesare participating in the Supplemen-

tal Plan?A. There are nearly 22,000 current

retirees, surviving spouses and benefi-ciaries. In 2004 they received over $9million in benefits.

Q. What is the cost?A. For the retirees there is no cost

for this benefit. The benefits are pro-vided through employer contributionsnegotiated in collective barg a i n i n gagreements.

Q. How does the WCT Supple-mental Plan benefit retirees?

A. Participants receive an increas-ing benefit of $110 per year, as long astheir employer continues to contributeto the Supplemental Plan. For exam-

ple, a retiree would receive $110 inthe first year, $220 in the second year,$330 in the 3rd year, etc. T h e s eamounts are reduced for married par-ticipants in order to pay for a Joint andSurvivor benefit for their spouses.

Q. What if I retired before myemployer joined the SupplementalPlan?

A. New employers bring their ex-isting retirees with them. In additionto the increasing benefit above, rtireeswould receive a benefit of $23 foreach full year of prior retirement. Forexample, if you have been retired 10years, you would receive $340 in thefirst year (10 x $23 + $110).

Q. Would my surviving spousereceive a benefit after I pass away?

A. Yes. The surviving spouse ben-efit is 50% of the last benefit earnedprior to a retiree’s death and is basedon the ages of retiree and spouse. Forexample, if a retiree received $500 theyear before death, the spouse wouldreceive a benefit of $250 for life. In nocase will this benefit be less than $150per year.

Q. What happens if my spousedies before I do?

A. Future increases are no longerreduced if the spouse passes awayprior to the retiree. That is, your fu-ture increases would be the full $110per year, rather than being reduced forthe Joint & Survivor benefit.

• • • • •If you would like to know more

about the Supplemental Plan, call(877) 350-4792, ext. 657. SouthwestAdministrators will provide details, aSummary Plan Description bookletand enrollment information.

Nominations & Elections — International ConstitutionDecember, 2004

In order to vote, a member must have his/her dues paid through the month of No-vember, 2004. Membership in good standing, as required, is subject to verificationby the Union.

The election shall be conducted by mail referendum ballot. The ballots will bemailed out on December 3, 2004 and all ballots must be received at the P.O. Box by9 a.m. December 20, 2004, at which time they will be picked up and counted. Youhave until the close of business day on December 17, 2004 (12:00 Noon) to becomecurrent on your membership (Dues and Initiation).

Request for duplicate ballot should be made if a member has not received a bal-lot by December 8, 2004. Request will be made directly by the member to the Elec-tion Service at Pacific Election Service Inc., 1650 Stanmore Dr., Pleasant Hill, Ca94523, phone 925-685-4935.

Bob Carr, Secretary-Treasurer

Local 624, Santa Rosa

Q&A about the Western Conference of Teamsters Supplemental Benefit PlanMany Teamster Local Unions have struggled to find a way to help their

members deal with cost-of-living increases. Each year, medical and other liv -ing expenses go up, while pension benefits remain level. Well, there is a so -lution: the Western Conference of Teamsters Supplemental Benefit Plan/

Established in 1982, the Supplemental Plan provides additional annualbenefit for retirees already receiving pensions from the Western Conferenceof Teamsters Pension Plan. Here are some answers to commonly asked ques -tions about the plan.

Teamsters Local 278 Retiree Club picnicSeptember, 2004

BUFORD, Don Oren, Local 70E B E R H A R D T, Robert, Local 70F R E I TAS, Raymond V., Local 70GRMOJA, A n d r e w, Local 70LEWIS, Marvin, Local 70MARIANO, Eugene, Local 70M E R R I T T, A n t h o n y, Local 70MOORE, Coy, Local 70PHILLIPS, Frank, Local 70S I LVA, George, Local 70SYCHER, Robert, Local 70G I O VANNETTI, Lawrence, Local 85JACKLICH, Lloyd “Bud”, Local 85PIERCE, Victor Allen, Local 85R E B A G L I ATI, Fred, Local 85ACEVEDO, Gilbert, Local 216DE SCALA, John, Local 226SIMPSON, Barry D., Local 226/302CLARKE, Marguerite, Local 265CUNNINGHAM, Willis, Local 278MERAUX, Jesus H., Local 278PARKS, Ed, Local 278BRAZ, Edward, Local 287CONNELL, Steven, Local 287

BOESCH, William, Local 291ADAMSON, Richard, Local 315ALESSIO, Frank, Local 315C I A M PA, Rudolph, Local 315FLORES, Jose, Local 315GALINDO, Raymond, Local 315JONES, Leslie, Local 315K E L LY, James, Local 315RAMOS, Lloyd, Local 315CAMPOS, Ralph, Local 432E D WARDS, Isaac, Local 432FRENCH, Louie B., Local 484L I N D L E Y, Dale, Local 490DRISCOLL, Theresa, Local 665BRASCH, Kenneth S., Local 853GIN, Susie, Local 856GRUBER, Curtis, Local 856LEONG, George, Local 856LERMA, Theodore “Ted”, Local 890RODRIGUEZ, Jose, Local 890VINCI, Romeo, Local 890BROWN, Joe, Local 896S TACK, James, Local 896

In MemoriamJoint Council 7 officers extend condolences to the family and friends ofthe following Teamster members who died recently

The Northern California Teamster Page 7

15 . . . . . 510-487-1386

70 . . . . . 510-569-9317

78 . . . . . 510-889-6811

85 . . . . . 415-344-0085

278 . . . . . 415-467-0450

287 . . . . . 408-453-0287

315 . . . . . 925-228-2246

350 . . . . . 650-757-7290

490 . . . . . 707-643-0387

624 . . . . . 707-542-1292

665 . . . . . 650-991-2102

853 . . . . . 510-895-8853

856 . . . . . 650-635-0111

890 . . . . . 831-424-5743

896 . . . . . 707-644-8896

912 . . . . . 831-724-0683

ReminderGeneral meeting notices were posted in the June/July issue of this paper. Formeeting dates and locations, refer to that notice or call your Local Union.

Local 70:Due to the Christmas Holiday, the De-cember Membership meeting and instal-lation of elected officers and officials willbe held the third Tuesday in December.

Chuck Mack, Secretary-Treasurer

Local 78Due to the Christmas Holiday, the De-cember Membership meeting will beheld the third Monday of the month, De-cember 20th.

Steve Mack, Secretary-Treasurer

Local 490 — West BayLocal 484 has merged into Local 490. T h e

D e c e m b e r, 2004 Quarterly Bakery meet-ings have been cancelled and rescheduledas follows: Tu e s d a y, January 18, 2005, 7p.m. at the Spanish Cultural Center, 2850Alemany Blvd., San Francisco. North Baymeeting: Tuesday January 25, 2005, 6 p.m.at Carpenters’Hall, 1700 Corby Av e n u e ,Santa Rosa, across from 7-11 store. For ad-ditional information and dates contact Local490’s West Bay office: 415-333-2680.

Carlos Borba, Secretary-Treasurer

Local 856Local 856’s December meeting has beencancelled. Next meeting January 25.

Mike McLaughlin, Secre t a ry - Tre a s u rer

Notice of meeting changes

In accordance with the Bylaws ofTeamsters Joint Council No. 7, therewill be nominations for and electionof officers of the Joint Council in ac-cordance with the following schedule:

Nominations will be received at theregular delegates’meeting on Decem-ber 7, 2004, which will be held at theSheet Metal Workers’ Hall, 1700 Ma-rina Blvd., San Leandro. The meetingwill be convened at 7:30 p.m.

The Election will be conducted bysecret ballot vote at the regular dele-gates’ meeting on February 1, 2005,which will also be held at the SheetMetal Workers’ Hall, 1700 MarinaBlvd., San Leandro. The meeting willconvene at 7:30 p.m.

Officers to be nominated and elect-ed are President, Vice President, Sec-retary-Treasurer, Recording Secretaryand three (3) Trustees.

Officers shall be elected from thedelegates to the Joint Council. To beeligible for office a delegate must bein continuous good standing with theLocal in which he holds a member-ship for a period of twenty-four (24)consecutive months prior to nomina-tion, and the Local in which he holds

membership must be in good standingwith the Joint Council at the time ofhis/her nomination. The meeting at-tendance requirements relating to del-egates, as contained in Article II, Sec-tion 5 of the Joint Council Bylaws,will not be enforced either with re-spect to eligibility to nominate, benominated or elected to office.

A delegate not present at the nomi-nation meeting may be nominatedonly if a written and signed consent tobe nominated is presented to the pre-siding officer before or at the nomina-tion meeting.

Voting will be by secret ballot. Nodelegate may be nominated for orhold more than one office. Only dele-gates who have been elected to officein their Local Union shall be eligibleto vote in the election of Joint Councilofficers.

Please consult the InternationalConstitution and the Joint Council 7Bylaws for additional rules governingthe election of Joint Council officers.

Fraternally,

Rome Aloise Recording Secretary

NOTICE OF NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONOF OFFICERS FOR TEAMSTERS JOINT COUNCIL NO. 7

TO: All delegates to Teamsters Joint Council No. 7

Extra pension check for pre-1985 retireesAt its quarterly meeting in October, the Western Conference of Teamsters

Pension trustees approved an extra check for the year 2005. Next years’ checkdistribution will follow that of the last two years.How much? $600 for pre-1985 retirees living as of January 1, 2005

$500 for surviving spouses of deceased pre-1985 retireesWhen? February 2005

Sent to? Recipient’s home addressJoint Council 7 pension trustees Rome Aloise and Chuck Mack estimate that

the payment will add $20-21 million in extra check benefits that the Teamstershave distributed since 1985.

“The return on investment for the pension trust has been spotty over the lastseveral years, so we’re especially pleased that we can provide this check tomembers that retired prior to 1985. It puts extra money into the hands of retireeswhose monthly benefits are nowhere near the benefits of today’s retirees,” saidAloise and Mack.

The extra check is a discretionary benefit that is not guaranteed. Trustees reviewthe benefit annually and authorize a distribution when funding levels permit.

The ExecutiveBoard of theLocal 278 Retiree Club

pays tribute totheir picnicsponsors.

On May 21, 2004 the Departmentof Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n ’s Federal MotorCarrier Safety Administration issueda final rule that requires employers toensure that specific training was re-ceived by every entry-level driverwho operates a commercial motor ve-hicle (CMV) in interstate commerce.

An entry-level driver is one withless than one year of experience oper-ating a CMV with a commercial dri-v e r’s license (CDL) in “interstatecommerce” (transporting freight orcompany property between states).

Drivers who first began operating aC M V in interstate commerce betweenJuly 20, 2003 and October 18, 2004must have had the required trainingbefore October 18, 2004. After Octo-ber 18, 2004, any entry-level drivermust have completed the requiredtraining before operating a CMV i ninterstate commerce.

The mandated training must in-clude instruction in four areas:1: Driver qualification requirements2: Hours of service of drivers3: Driver wellness4: Whistleblower protection.

In 49 CFR Part 380.503, DOT d e-fines entry-level driver wellness train-ing requirements as “Basic healthmaintenance, diet and exercise. T h eimportance of avoiding excessive useof alcohol.” The purpose of the well-ness training is to provide medical in-formation to the driver so that he/she

can make informed life style choices.The training does not require driversto disclose personal medical informa-tion to anyone.

Driver wellness topics suggestedby DOT are: stress, sleep apnea, howto maintain healthy blood cholesterol,blood pressure, and weight, as well as

the importance of periodic healthmonitoring and testing, diet and exer-cise. Training in alcohol and drugabuse was removed from the pro-posed regulations because of the re-quirement in 382.601 for employersto provide alcohol and drug testing in-formation to CMV operators.

Training providers must issue cer-tificates or diplomas to drivers. T h ecertificate or diploma must include:the date of issuance, name of trainingp r o v i d e r, mailing address of trainingp r o v i d e r, name of driver, printedname and signature of the person at-testing that the driver received the re-quired training.

The DOT/FMCSA regulations donot state how much time the trainingmust entail or who is qualified to con-duct the training. It states that em-ployers may do the training them-selves and that it may be incorporatedinto curriculum of commercial truckdriving schools, so long as a certifi-cate or diploma given by any com-mercial driver training school in-cludes wording that is substantially inaccordance with the wording requiredunder the rule.

It must state: I certify that (NAME)has completed training requirementsset forth in the Federal Motor CarrierSafety Regulations for entry-leveldriver training in accordance with49CFR 380.503.

It is the employer’s responsibilityto obtain a copy of each entry-leveld r i v e r’s certificate or diploma and re-tain it in the driver’s personnel orqualification file for as long as thedriver is employed and for one yeart h e r e a f t e r.

The recent passage of Proposition64 means that one of the laws unionshave used to keep unscrupulous em-ployers in check has been cut back–but the law has not been repealed.

Unions and employees shouldknow that, under California’s UnfairCompetition Law (also called the“Unfair Business Practices A c t ” ) ,employers are still prohibited fromdoing business based on practicesthat are unfair, deceptive, or outrightillegal. Employees should continueto report employer conduct that vio-lates, for example, the wage and hourlaws or the occupational health andsafety laws, and police employerswho profit illegally at the expense oftheir employees.

The Unfair Com-petition Law wasdesigned to create alevel-playing fieldamong businessesand ensure thatthose that follow thelaw are not at acompetitive disad-vantage to those that cheat. The lawprotects basic notions of fairness inhow businesses should be allowed toprofit.

The media has characterized theUnfair Competition Law as a con-sumer protection statute because itprohibits fraud, false advertisements,and other conduct that misleads thepublic. But the law is much broader

and has proved use-ful in other circum-stances, helpingunions and workersenforce labor stan-dards through pri-vate lawsuits.

Often, labor stan-dards will go unen-

forced and employer misconduct willgo unchecked because the publicagency appointed to oversee the mat-ter (such as the City Attorney or theState Labor Commissioner) does notenforce the law. This lack of enforce-ment may be due to lack of resourcesor because the agency is simply un-willing to prioritize the issue. T h eUnfair Competition Law allows any

private citizen to sue when he or shehas been injured by an unfair busi-ness practice.

What to watch forConduct that violates the Unfair

Competition Law includes any busi-ness practice that: (1) violates anoth-er law, such as a law or regulation onwage payments, breaks, or health andsafety conditions; (2) is considered“unfair” because the practice may nottechnically violate the law but comesclose and is harmful; or (3) deceivesor misleads the public in some way.

You should inform your ShopSteward or Business Agent if you areaware of an employer practice thatfalls into any of these categories.

This commentary is not to be con-strued as legal advice. Specific legalquestions may be directed to the lawo ffices of Beeson, Tayer & Bodine oryour own attorney.

From the Law Office of Beeson, Tayer & Bodine

NEWS FROM TAP

Page 8 December 2004/January 2005

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

DOT adds new entry-level driver training requirements

What you should know about unfair business practices and the “Sue your Boss” law

You’re Invited...

Saturday, December 11, 200411:00 am to 3:00 pm

Teamsters Local 78, 492 “C” Street, Hayward

Come celebrate a sober Holiday Season withthe TAP staff, treatment providers, alumni, fami-ly and friends. Santa will arrive and bring gifts tochildren age 12 and under.

There will be kids’ crafts, a speaker, holidaymusic, raffle prizes and lunch.

If you have any questions, call TAP at (510) 562-3600.

See you there!