Teamsters Local 492 would like to thank everyone who attended the 2nd annual Membership Appreciation Cookout held on September 20th, 2014. Click Here to see all of the photos. An estimated 400 Members and their families came to the event from a wide variety of crafts and companies which included (in alphabetical order) ABF, AmeriPride Linen, Creamland, Movies, Sysco, TeamOne, UPS, UPS Freight, and YRC. There were many Teamster Retirees that also attended as well as New Mexico Attorney General Gary King. The Executive Board and Business Agents and office staff were there and enjoyed meeting and talking to the Members in this social atmosphere which also gave the Members a chance to have quality time to ask questions and get to know the 492 E-Board & BA’s better. 

Teamster Members and their families were treated to Hamburgers & Hotdogs, Teamster T-shirts that commemorated the event, along with other Teamster Local 492 items. Attendees were also able to get an up-close look at the Teamster Joint Council #3 Tractor/Trailer which was brought down from Colorado by Retired Vice President of Local 455, Jim Adams.

There was a raffle held for the 84 members that signed up; Frank Lesku of ABF won the 32 inch TV, Yellow retiree Tony Tellez won a Blue tooth speaker set and Armando Hernandez of Creamland also won a Blue tooth speaker set.

John Wegrzynek  of UPS won 1^st place in the car show with his Silver & Red Mustang, Tony Tellez a Yellow Retiree won 2^nd with his Green Truck, and David Snow of Creamland won 3^rd place with his White Mustang.  

We would like to thank Brother David Snow who is a Union Steward at Creamland for donating his time and jumper for the kids to play in on Saturday. As you can see from some of the photos, the kids had a great time.

Finally, Teamsters Local 492 would like to thank the volunteers that helped make the 2nd annual  492 Membership Appreciation event possible and so successful, which include Brother Joseph Carrillo of ABF and special thanks goes out to Brother Kevin Pohl and Brother Moises Ortega for organizing the event.   

Thank you to all who participated and attended this event, we truly enjoyed seeing all of you and meeting your families and we hope to be able to do this again next year. On behalf the Teamsters Local 492 staff, Business Agents and Executive Board, we truly appreciate the Members of this Local Union and everything you do to make this Union great, and all the hard working Union Stewards that do such a great job helping their fellow Members, Thank you Teamster Brothers & Sisters.

9-13 -14 Today, dozens of Teamster Union Stewards from all over New Mexico came together to better understand their duties and rights as Stewards and first heard from Teamsters Local 492 Secretary-Treasurer Walter R. Maestas about the importance of a good steward and thanked the stewards in attendance for everything they do to help their fellow members.

Teamster Sister Iliana Flores of the IBT training department taught the stewards about Teamster History, building a stronger Union through unity, proper investigation & grievance procedures, understanding “just cause”, knowing the contract, work rules and policies, issue resolution, enforcing contracts, arbitration, understanding the rights through government programs like FMLA, and much more. (Click Here to view more photos)

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King spoke about his current work to curb the misclassification of workers, wage theft and other worker issues he deals with. He then answered questions from the stewards.  

After a great Mexican food lunch, Teamsters Local 492 President Moises Ortega spoke about local politics and the “Right to Work” issue; he then introduced Teamster Brother Kevin Currie from the IBT Political Department who spoke about the importance of voting for political candidates that support the rights of workers. He also explained why “Right to Work” is a completely deceptive name for a law that hurts not only Unions and there members, but slowly erodes workers rights for everyone over time. Brother Brian Thais of TeamOne (Sara Lee) gave an example of this with his recent experience going through contract negotiations where the Teamsters in the New Mexico division fared much better than their counterparts in Arizona which is a “right-to-work” state.   

The stewards that attended the seminar received a specially designed Teamsters shirt for New Mexico Stewards, Teamsters Local 492 license front plate, 492 steward lapel pin, 492 writing pen, a 97 page Stewards workbook & handouts, and a Teamsters Local 492 portfolio folder with note pad, calculator & the beautiful NM Teamster Logo on the front.

It was great to see all the Teamster knowledge, experience and pride in one room. We want to thank all of these dedicated Teamster Stewards for giving up their Saturday to improve their skills at helping their fellow Teamsters. Thanks to the entire Teamsters Local 492 Executive Board and Business Agents, all of whom donated their time to be there, and a special thanks to Kevin Pohl for organizing the seminar, it was a great experience.     

YRC Freight recently held an employee safety ceremony to celebrate a safety streak that began in January 2013 which set an all time YRC company record, 15 million consecutive accident and injury-free miles accomplished by all 85 Albuquerque Line drivers.

As seen in the picture (click here to view more pictures), The Company presented a specially designed trailer saluting the drivers' achievement at the safety celebration which proudly includes the names of all 85 drivers and the logos of the New Mexico Teamsters and the IBT.  Each driver received a die-cast replica of the equipment and tee-shirts commemorating the amazing accomplishment.  You may have noticed the trailer shows 10 million miles and the tee-shirts say 14 million but they celebrated 15 million. That is because when they hit 10 million they started working on the trailer, they had passed 14 million when the shirts were printed, and by the time the celebration actually took place they had hit 15 million. They have now reportedly surpassed the 16 million mark, wow!

35% of these YRC Teamster drivers have driven one million miles or more, two have driven over 4 million miles, two over 3 million miles & 27 drivers have worked more than 25 years injury free.

Also honored (see pictures) at the ceremony were:

Al Weddle, 57 years and over 4 million miles injury and accident free

CB Montoya, 42 years and over 4 Million miles injury and accident free

Joe Wright, 37 years accident free

Wes Johnson, 36 years injury and accident free

In attendance, Johnny R. Johnson, Managing Director of the New Mexico Trucking Association and American Trucking Association Chairman Phil Byrd, who spoke at the event. Also in attendance, Teamsters Local 492 Secretary-Treasurer Walter R. Maestas and Business Agent Kevin Pohl, representatives from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and New Mexico Transportation Police, who will be distributing the 85 donated new child car safety seats to families in need, in the name of each member of the YRC Freight Albuquerque driving team who has contributed to the safety milestone.

YRC Freight President Darren Hawkins said, "Having 85 drivers work together to achieve 15 million consecutive accident and injury-free miles is a testament to the professionalism of the Albuquerque team. It is a real honor to be in Albuquerque with the drivers today so that we can personally pay tribute to their achievement. The YRC Freight Albuquerque driving team's safety record is evidence of what a team can do when collectively focused not only on their own safety, but also on the safety of others."

Also speaking at the event was Albuquerque YRC Freight Linehaul Manager Hoss Salehian who said, “These Albuquerque drivers set an all time record of 15 million miles driving without lost time and preventable accidents. To put that in perspective, 15 million miles is equivalent of 60 trips between here and the moon and over 600 trips around the earth. I am pleased to recognize these 85 men for their achievement in transportation safety; this is a significant accomplishment that attests to their dedication to safety. These drivers embody the values and professionalism that is YRC Freight. I am very proud of these men and thankful for their dedication and remarkable achievement.”

Teamsters Local 492 is also very proud of our brothers at YRC and wish to congratulate them on this amazing record. As the sign says above the door at the AQE facility, (see picture here) “Through This Door, Pass The Finest Union Drivers In North America,” and they have certainly lived up to that!  

In preparation for the Upcoming Membership Appreciation Day being held at the hall on September 20th, Trustee & ABF Driver Kelvin Holly, BA Kevin Pohl, & BA Kenny Duran put their gloves on and got to work. They pulled all of the old junipers that bordered Jefferson, trimmed trees and bushes, pulled weeds and much more. By doing this “in house”, these 3 guys have saved the Members of Teamsters Local 492 a lot of money!

On behalf of all of the Members of Teamsters Local 492, a very big Thank You goes out to these 3 hard working Teamsters. Click here to view some of the pics we took of their hard work.  

By Teamsters President James P. Hoffa
Published in the Detroit News, August 20, 2014

Speak with any elected official, and inevitably he or she will stress the need to create more U.S. jobs. But given the opportunity to do so just before Congress went on its annual August recess, Senate Republicans decided they would rather do nothing instead.

Legislation sponsored by Michigan’s own Sen. Debbie Stabenow that would have provided tax credits for American companies to bring home jobs from overseas while ending tax credits for those who ship employment abroad was sandbagged by the GOP.

In a preliminary vote taken on the Bring Jobs Home Act, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill, voting 93-7 in favor of the measure. One week later, however, it all changed. The legislation, needing 60 votes to allow a final vote, fell six short. Only one Republican senator voted to allow it to move forward.

So why the change of heart? In a word, politics. GOP lawmakers heard from their big business buddies in the interim, who urged them not to approve the bill. Given the choice to side with corporate America or their constituents back home, they chose the money men who fill their campaign coffers.

This, despite the fact that, as Sen. Stabenow noted, there are more than 737,000 jobs in Michigan and 21.5 million nationwide that are at risk to being moved abroad. She was rightfully indignant about the vote, saying, “It’s outrageous that, right now, American workers are paying through the tax code to ship their own jobs overseas.”

The bill’s defeat was disheartening, to say the least, for the millions of workers who are unemployed or underemployed and struggling to pay their bills. Increasingly, hard-working Americans are being besieged by efforts to offshore more and more good-paying jobs that would allow them to provide for their families.

At the heart of the struggle are bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The 12-nation Pacific Rim agreement currently being secretly negotiated pits corporate gain against worker pain. And as things stand now, it looks like it’s going to be an unpleasant experience for employees. That is, unless we demand more from elected lawmakers.

It begins by getting them to support the “Buy American” program, which gives U.S. companies an advantage when it comes to bidding on federal contracts. As I talked about last month, the program has been in place since 1933, but other TPP nations want to end it as part of the trade pact.

Beyond that, however, there is plenty more to be concerned about when it comes to the TPP. Americans won’t be able to compete with workers in Vietnam, for instance, who get paid as little as $79 a month. Then there are the poor working conditions the trade deal would allow. And the unsafe food and products it would allow into Michigan and the U.S. You get the picture.

Workers need all the advocates they can muster. Gov. Rick Snyder, who favors the TPP, is not doing his constituents any favors. Neither is any other lawmaker who takes a similar stand.

We’ve seen elected officials change tax law to help corporations. Why not do the same to help workers? After all, they are supposed to be the ones being served.

PR Newswire: Veteran ABF Freight driver, Ralph Garcia of Albuquerque, won an award at the 2014 National Truck Driving Championships August 12-16 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Garcia won second place in the sleeper class of the competition hosted by the American Trucking Associations.

"…Just earning the right to compete at this level is an incredible achievement. We are very proud of Ralph, Loren and the entire ABF Freight team of drivers who earned the right to compete by winning state championships and maintaining accident-free driving records," said ABF Freight President and CEO Roy Slagle.

Garcia, of Albuquerque New Mexico, competed in the event for the 17th time. He was the 2013 National Champion in the four-axle class as well as the recipient of the Neill Darmstadter Professional Excellence Award. Garcia's professional accomplishments include serving as an America's Road Team Captain and as a White House Champion of Change. He has also driven accident free for over three million miles and 29 years.

"The National Truck Driving Championships showcase the industry's commitment to safety," said Bill Graves, ATA president and CEO. "I applaud all the competitors for their efforts in making our highways safe, and congratulate the finalists for demonstrating how dedication to safe driving skills can make you a champion."

UAW Strikes Back: "Local 42" Now In Tennessee VW Plant - May Be Future Of Labor – From Daily Kos

The Supreme Court has finally stacked the deck enough that the 20th century paradigm of union organizing can no longer succeed.  To survive the labor movement must change its tactics and turn recent labor rulings to its advantage.  In Tennessee, the UAW appears to be doing just that and today there is a union local, Local 42 representing the workers in the Volkswagen Plant at Chattanooga, TN.
 

Instead of calling on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to administer an election, the UAW has decided to form a voluntary association called Local 42. At least initially, the group will not collectively bargain on behalf of the plant’s whole workforce, and it will not collect dues. Yet if a majority of the plant’s employees agree to join Local 42, there is a chance that Volkswagen will recognize it as the workers’ exclusive bargaining agent, granting it full union privileges without the need for an election.

A "Voluntary Local" may be the entrée into thousands of large non-union plants and industries though out the country.  This is especially true in Republican "Right to Work" states were many companies who would prefer a union model are actively discouraged by conservatives who don't want any virulent strains of prosperity to run amok in the labor class.  Volkswagen is an ideal test for this guerrilla tactic.  The plant's workers are well aware that they were duped before recent union elections into believing VW would pull back future work if the unionization was successful.  After the vote VW made obvious the lies mouthed by Sen. Bob Corker (R) and others.  VW went so far as to say that VW would look to states with more favorable union climates for future expansions.  VW clearly wants an organized labor presence to work with both for common negotiations and for workplace safety and efficiency issues.  That labor/management partnership is a hallmark of the world’s largest auto maker.

It is clear that the activist judiciary entrenched by GW Bush has a passionate hard-on for unions.  It may have to do with the political power they used to have (very past tense) and the lobbying leverage they are losing every day.

It certainly has to do with unshackling the "invisible hand of the market" by giving workers the "right to work" at the total will of the employers with no organized protections or negotiations.   This assault on labor that began with Ronald Reagan’s firing of the entire PATCO union force in 1981 has since seen practically no real income growth for the American working class while productivity has risen by roughly 65%.  

 The Anti-Unionists have used the automatic assessment of union fees from entire classes of affiliated workers as their primary axe to chop at collective bargaining.  Partially unionizing companies was much more of the norm in the early years of the labor movement and enforced dues are now a legal hazard.  The UAW and the SEIU have to pivot to a more flexible stance that can put a union presence into a sector and then let the sector come to it.  The success of one "voluntary" union local in one VW plant can put both pressure and incentive on others to follow.  

The 2014 ABF “Network Enhancement Initiative” Change of Operation was approved today, June 19th, 2014, by the National Utility Employee Review Committee in Houston Texas.

There will be postings for available transfer opportunities which will be posted from July 3rd through July 10^th.  There will then be a “pool” phone bid at 9 am Mountain time which will take place on July 11^th and the implementation date is planned for July 20^th. Click Here for more info