General Membership Union Meeting
Feb 18, 2012
All meetings are scheduled at 10:30 a.m. and are held at the Teamsters Union Hall (downstairs) at 4269 Balloon Park Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM.
If you are a member in good standing, please register (log in) to participate in Member Only features, which include being able to view or download the Rocky Mountain Teamster, receive email and/or cell phone text updates in your industry from the local, download grievance forms and much more. Click here to read the Local 492 Welcome Message From Secretary-Treasurer, Walter R. Maestas.
January 30, 2012 - The New Proposed COO is scheduled to be heard on Feb 28th, 2012. According to the company, they are requesting the COO to "restructure the company's Road Domicile locations, Distribution Center locations and Corridor Hub Terminal locations to reduce freight handling and allow YRC to return to what it does best, providing world class service to its customers in the 500-3500 mile market." They are also requesting to "eliminate the entire Velocity Network & Utility Employees in the network..."
Here in New Mexico, AQE would be gaining 13 road drivers and one Dock position under the proposed change. Below are some documents you may be interested in:
On November 23rd, 2011 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a final rule amending the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). This rule was issued to improve safety by reducing the frequency of distracted driving-related crashes, fatalities, and injuries involving drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). The Agencies also amended their regulations to implement new driver disqualification sanctions for drivers of CMVs who fail to comply with the Federal restriction and new driver disqualification sanctions for commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders who have multiple convictions for violating a State or local law ordinance on motor vehicle traffic control that restricts the use of hand-held mobile telephones. Additionally, motor carriers are prohibited from requiring or allowing drivers of CMVs to use mobile, hand-held telephones while operating CMVs. The Final Rule becomes effective January 3rd, 2012.
Q: Is Push-to-Talk allowed?
A: No. A driver’s use of the Push-to-Talk function on a mobile telephone violates the prohibition against holding the phone. This includes the continuous holding of a button that is necessary to use a Push-to-Talk feature through a mobile telephone, even when the driver is using a connected microphone or wireless earphone.
Don’t Let The Union Busters Destroy The Middle Class!
By Steve Vairma President, Teamsters Joint Council 3
Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, New Hampshire and Maine are the states that come to mind when the War on Workers is mentioned. Historically, they have been solid labor states that have, with the exception of Florida, a high density of union members in the workplace.
For example, the cumulative average percentage of union workers in those states is 12 percent, considerably higher than in the six states in Joint Council 3 and average union density of 7.5 percent.
But that doesn’t mean the right-wing union busting politicians here in the Rocky Mountain west are any less committed to purging the middle class—and the unions that created it--than those in the more populous eastern United States.
In Joint Council 3 there are three free bargaining states—Colorado, Montana and New Mexico among our seven states. Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming are so-called “right-to-work” states. But the right-to-work gang never gives up. Unions in our free bargaining states have fought successfully in their legislatures for years to defeat right-to-work proposals. They truly are right-to-work warriors.
Here in Colorado, we were forced into an early battle in the War on Workers when a so-called “right to work’ initiative was defeated in the 2008 general election. That ended the union busters blather here for a few years, but we expect they’ll be back after recouping the $25 million or so they blew on their campaign.
Teamster rank-and–file members were instrumental in that 2008 victory. Our members worked on every aspect of the campaign. More than 50 percent of all union members who signed the petitions required to get our countermeasures on the ballot, which was key to our success, were Teamsters.
Our locals in the four right-to-work states also constantly battle against harmful anti-worker proposals in respective of their respective legislatures. Because of the onerous law under which they operate, every day for them is a struggle for survival.
We don’t anticipate that 2012 will be much different than this year, with the exception that we will participate in a presidential election.
We would hope that your preparation for the election in 2012 will include a comprehensive look at the candidates who will be on the ballot. Make sure their values are your values and that they understand the importance of a vibrant, prosperous middle class.
On this page we have listed many returns that have accrued to the middle class because of more than 100 years of diligence and hard work of the labor movement.
Does the candidate of your choice support what your union has done to build the middle class?
36 reasons why you should thank a union:
How the union has improved workers’ lives 1. Weekends 2. All breaks at work, including lunch breaks 3. Paid vacation 4. FMLA 5. Sick leave 6. Social Security 7. Minimum wage 8. Civil Rights Act/Title VII (prohibits employer discrimination) 9. Eight-hour work day 10. Overtime pay 11. Child labor laws 12. Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) 13. 40 Hour work week 14. Worker's compensation (Worker's Comp) 15. Unemployment insurance 16. Pensions 17. Workplace safety standards and regulations 18. Employer-paid health care insurance 19. Collective bargaining rights for employees 20. Wrongful termination laws 21. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 22. Whistle-blower protection laws 23. Employee Polygraph Protection Act 24. Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS) 25. Compensation increases and evaluations (Raises) 26. Sexual harassment Laws 27. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 28. Holiday pay 29. Employer-paid dental, life and vision insurance 30. Privacy rights 31. Pregnancy and parental leave 32. Military leave 33. The right to strike 34. Public education 35. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires equal pay for men and women for same work) 36. Laws ending sweatshops in the U.S.
Ask your favorite candidates, both Republicans and Democrats, if they would have supported labor on these issues.
Trucking moved a small step closer to a sleep apnea regulation yesterday, when advisor's to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recommended that the agency toughen up its approach to the disorder.
Two advisory panels, one from the medical community and one representing industry, enforcement, labor and safety advocacy interests, said the agency should tell medical examiners that drivers with a body mass index of 35 or more must be evaluated for sleep apnea.
If the agency takes this advice, it would lead to guidance to examiners, rather than a rule.
The guidance would include conditions for immediate disqualification of a driver, such as falling asleep while driving or having a fatigue-related crash. It also would allow the driver to get a 60-day conditional card during evaluation and treatment for the condition.
The two panels are the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and the Medical Review Board. They have formed a joint subcommittee charged with producing recommendations for an eventual rule that could set standards for sleep apnea screening, evaluation and treatment.
"Our goal is to very quickly get something done," said David Parker, chairman of the safety committee.
The panels see the guidance as an interim step toward a comprehensive rule. Parker said the subcommittee will meet in January, will report to the two committees in February and come up with a joint recommendation to the agency by March.
The Medical Review Board for several years has been pushing stricter regulatory standards for sleep apnea. In 2008 the Board recommended that the agency require all drivers to be screened for obstructive sleep apnea, a significant change from the current rules that do not explicitly require testing and treatment.
The selection of a body mass index of 35 as a trigger for screening arose from research that shows BMI, a measurement of body fat based on height and weight, is a primary indicator that a person may have sleep apnea.
The higher the BMI, the greater the likelihood of sleep apnea. There are other indicators, such as middle age and male gender, but BMI would be an effective tool for medical examiners to make the initial screening.
"We need a prescriptive number to make it easy for the examiner," said Benjamin Hoffman, chairman of the Medical Review Board. He said it is almost impossible to controvert the evidence that a BMI of 35 is a reliable indicator of sleep apnea.
The disorder can lead to chronic fatigue, which in turn causes performance problems such as slowed reaction time, lapses of attention and distractibility, said Charles Czeisler, professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School.
The crash risk for a person with sleep apnea is 242% greater than a person without the disorder, Czeisler said.
Understanding of the problem is not widespread in the trucking industry, but awareness is growing and a number of carriers have implemented groundbreaking programs to screen drivers for apnea and treat them if they have it.
Schneider National, for instance, has put in place a program that produced a 30% reduction in crash rates and a 48% reduction in the median cost of crashes. The kicker, has been a savings of $539 per driver per month in health care costs, according to senior safety VP Don Osterberg at a sleep apnea conference in 2010.
Treatment for the disorder is typically handled with a nighttime sleep-aid device that provides continuous positive airway pressure, called CPAP for short.
A report released this month by Public Campaign demonstrates just how important it is for Americans to battle corporate special interests and reclaim our democracy. The group’s research finds that thirty big corporations actually spent more money lobbying the federal government between 2008 and 2010 than they spent in taxes. For example, General Electric — one of the top 10 most profitable companies in the world — got a net tax rebate of $4.7 billion during this period. Meanwhile, it spent $84 million lobbying the federal government.
Here’s the full list of the 30 corporations identified and what they paid in federal taxes as opposed to lobbying:
The Teamsters Local 492 members have spoken on who they want leading them in the future. Soon we will be putting 2011 behind us and taking our first step into 2012 with your elected Executive Board for Teamsters Local 492:
Secretary-Treasurer: Walter R. Maestas
President: Moises L. Ortega
Vice President: Mike Butler
Recording Secretary: Warren (Trey) White III
Trustee: Richard Martinez
Trustee: Kelvin Holly
Trustee: Andrew L. Palmer
With the “war on workers” gaining momentum in America, the 2012 Teamsters Local 492 Executive Board and Business Agents jobs are going to be difficult and our goals must be set high on behalf of the 492 members, the Union leaders you have just elected are ready for this challenge.
In recent months, we have heard from some of you that you would like to see your Business Agents in the Barns & Centers more often; we are committed to making that happen.
Our general membership meetings will be scheduled so that every member will have an opportunity to attend, this will be done by setting meetings once a month on different days of the week to include weekends. It is crucial to the labor movement that the members get more involved. We are committed to reach out to the members to keep you informed on Union actions and rallies. In the 2012 legislative session, the war will begin with "Right to Work" laws being introduced again, in the next three years almost all of the collective bargaining agreements will be up for re-negotiations, Corporate America will be coming after Teamster members in force. The Union members of Teamsters Local 492 are ready for the fight and so are your leaders.
If you haven’t already, please register with this website so that we can more efficiently keep you informed. It only takes a few minutes and we typically only send a few emails a month so you do have to worry about us inundating you with emails. Knowledge is power.
The 2012 Teamster Local 492 Executive Board wishes to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the members for showing your continued confidence in us and for the opportunity to serve you for the next three years.
Teamster
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February 07, 2012
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