We have concluded negotiations for the City of North Las Vegas collective bargaining agreement. The Teamster members have voted to ratify the three separate unit/contracts of the new agreement. Congratulations on a job well done. Special thanks to our negotiating committee members who hung tough until the end which, by the way, was 1:30 am. The City of Henderson negotiations are on-going with the language portion near completion.  This contract expired July 1, 2008 and will be retroactive back to that date when completed. We have opened negotiations with Sysco Food Service. The Union completely reworked the language portion of this contract, as the current contract language was much too vague. We are dealing with a corporate representative out of Texas, and after four meetings, we are only a third of the way into negotiations with only three meetings scheduled before the expiration date of the current agreement. Our negotiations with Lincoln County, Roads and Clerical Units are completed and ratified.  We are making good progress in the continuing negotiations with the new Dispatch Unit at Lincoln County.  After making good progress with the language changes at Mission Industries negotiations, they were put on hold due to the passing away of the mother of the lead negotiator for the company. We send our sincere condolences to him and his family. 

            Switching gears, I would like to take time to stress the importance of this year’s general election. The staff and business agents at Local 14 have all been trained by the County Election Department as official voter registrars. When the Business Agents visit the worksites, they will be available to register workers to vote, and give assistance, if needed.  Please take the time to fill out the registration form if you are not already registered to vote. Your vote in this election could be the most important vote that you will ever cast in a presidential election, a vote to help bring back sanity to our government and to our place of dignity and respect in the world. The Teamsters Union is proud to inform you of our support of Barack Obama for President. Some readers may take exception to Teamster’s choice for presidential candidate and some may take exception to other political statements in this column. Whether democrat or republican, it would be impossible to set aside what has been going on in this country for the past eight years. One might ask what has the “other side” done on behalf of the middle class, working men and women regarding the status of affairs concerning economics, bank failures, worker lay-offs, rising prices, food costs, fuel costs, the war, and the monetary deficit. If you look closely at the above issues and think about the future of you and your family, I passionately believe that you will agree that the future of this great country cannot continue on the same collision course that has been set in motion over the past eight years.  I hope that my thoughts and words spoken here will help influence your decision to stand up for a change and agree that Teamster’s choice for presidential candidate is also the candidate for which you will cast your decision for a better future.  I believe that in time we will again enjoy the prosperity that we enjoyed in the past and I hope and trust that our children and grandchildren will not have to pay too great a price.

             We have an organization within our local labor community, United Labor Agency of Nevada (ULAN) that supports union member/workers in their time of need. ULAN has taken care of 82 individuals in 25 families within this Local Union this year. They are totally supported by all the labor unions within our valley,  and the unions donate money, time and material to help this great organization provide services such as food baskets, diapers, clothes, toys, rent, utilities and much more, until these folks can get back on their feet again. We are proud to be contributors to this important organization.

             If you receive unwanted mail from Local 14, please call our office to have your name removed from the mailing list, also, let us know if we need to correct the spelling of your name. It is extremely important that you keep us informed of your current address and phone number so we can keep you accurately informed. Thank you.

            Al Ghilarducci, Business Agent: A final proposal meeting is scheduled for CoreMark International on Saturday, September 27, 11 am at the Teamster 14 meeting hall. After this meeting, we will have completed proposals for Kraft/Nabisco, Bonanza Beverage, Nevada Beverage, Johnson Brothers, Pepsi Cola and Coke. I want to thank our members for giving up their days’ off to attend these meetings. We will begin contract talks with Kraft/Nabisco beginning October 22-24 and October 29 and 30. I will schedule a meeting for all Kraft/Nabisco employees to review our proposals. Please check bulletin boards for meeting date and time. Lastly, congratulations to Robert Sandoval (Coors-Deluca) on his August 16^th wedding to Valanie. We wish them the best of luck.

          Contract negotiations have been on-going with the City of Henderson, City of North Las Vegas, Mission Industries, and Lincoln County (Roads and Clerical Units). We reached a tentative agreement with the City of North Las Vegas at 1:30 a.m., June 30, after a long day of fruitful negotiations. We have also reached a tentative agreement with Lincoln County Roads Department with a ratification meeting held on July 8, 2008. The Lincoln County Clerical agreement is still open and with a no progress meeting on July 11. The City of Henderson negotiations are progressing well. We are still on the language issues. Also, there was minimal progress all on language issues at Mission Industries’ negotiations on July 2. Ratification meetings for the City of North Las Vegas will be scheduled for each group the first week in August, as we have to put the tentative agreements together and have them distributed to our members for review, then meetings will be held. We have been meeting with our members at the following companies:  Johnson Brothers and Coca-Cola to go over their contracts article by article to get ready for our up-coming negotiations. Meetings were held on June 21 and July 12. These preliminary negotiation meetings are extremely productive and it also gives our members a better understanding of the contract language. Included in this edition of the newspaper is the Southern Nevada political endorsements list. As a Board member of the Central Labor Council along with Business Agent, Steve Harney, we spent over 40 hours interviewing candidates for the various offices. We believe that without strong labor supported candidates, labor will continue to battle employers with deep pockets, so please, when you vote, take this endorsement list with you and vote for those people that will give you a better chance in your workplace to keep up with the economy that is already in the “dumpster” with gasoline prices over four dollars a gallon. It is extremely difficult to stay even. Everything is going up but your paycheck. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”   I would like to shine a light on one segment of the endorsement list regarding the races for Clark County School District. Yes, Local 14 has a vested interest in these races since we have been in an organizing campaign since 2001. Also, by having been in this campaign, we have been able to see what really goes on in the School District. I thought it was all about the kids, but that’s wrong. It is all about the bureaucrats. The school district’s mentality is that there is no city outside of the District. They are in their own individual ivory towers. The trustees do not oversee the School District. They gave that away when they passed the policy governance and gave their responsibility to the Superintendent which means a rubber stamp for everything he does. The School District is the largest, most mismanaged bureaucracy in the State of Nevada. It is layered with levels of high paid bureaucrats, yet students are learning less today than they every had, failing math scores, high school seniors not graduating because they can’t pass the required graduating tests. It is time to change that. It’s time to elect those individuals who will take this district back and make changes that will benefit our children not the high paid bureaucrats. On the endorsement list you will find the names of four individuals we believe will improve the situation. They are: Edward Goldman, School District A, Chris Garvey, School District B, Ronan Matthew, School District C, and Caroline Sanchez-Rangen, School District E. We believe these individuals will best serve the issues of our children and bring respect and dignity back to the School District, not embarrassment. Do what really counts and exercise your right and vote, be a voice, be a part of change. In order for this Local Union to be able to get all important information to you, please keep our office informed of your current mailing address and phone number if you have changes.

          Al Ghilarducci, Business Agent: I have recently completed negotiation classes sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as well as Labor Law and Labor Arbitration sessions. We constantly strive to be better informed so we can better serve our members. Currently, contract proposal meetings are being for Coca-Cola and Johnson Brothers. In addition, we have begun contract negotiations for Kraft Foods/Nabisco. I expect to begin contract proposal meetings for CoreMark International in August. Please check your bulletin boards for meeting dates and times. I would like to thank the following stewards for their help at the recent picnic: John Wehr (Southern Wine and Spirits), Chris Caples (Nevada Beverage Company), Mark Frost, Phil Williams and his daughter, Kendall (Core-Mark) and Tom Lester (Mission Industries). They all pitched in and worked hard so others could enjoy themselves. Nevada Beverage has just recently lost two long-time employees, John McCaster and Pat McGeever retired after a combined sixty plus years of service. They both will be missed. On a more somber note, we lost a long-time member, Don Hamill (Core-Mark) who recently passed away. His sense of humor and presence will be truly missed.

          Congratulations to Kevin Orellana (Nevada Beverage) who was married to Viviana on Friday the Thirteenth of June, 2008. Good Luck!

Teamsters Local 14 is making big steps to the final finish line for the on going school organizing campaign as Nevada State Supreme Court rejects ESEA's motion to dismiss Local 14's appeal. Look here to read the ruling issue by the Court.

Hoffa Meets With Workers in Eastern Pennsylvania

(Scranton, Pa.) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa kicked off the union’s three-day “Working Class Convoy For Change” by meeting with workers in Eastern Pennsylvania to discuss how to keep good jobs in the state and why the Teamsters are against free trade agreements that hurt the U.S. Economy.

Hoffa also spoke on other issues affecting America’s working families, including how the policies of Sen. Barack Obama could greatly benefit workers. The Teamsters have endorsed Obana who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

Hoffa said he was greatly concerned that just last month, nearly 3,000 people lost their jobs in Pennsylvania, more than any other state, according to the Economic Policy Institute. And, since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect, companies in Pennsylvania had shut down 1,583 plants, offices and warehouses.

"The current administration has sat by while company after company shut down business in Pennsylvania, taking the jobs of so many workers out of the country," Hoffa said. "We need a president who will put U.S. workers first and keep jobs here.
That will boost not only the economy, but the morale of workers and all Americans."

Hoffa met with UPS workers in Scranton and Bethlehem. He also met with workers at Ocean Logistic in Scranton. He was slated to meet with ShopRite workers in Breingsville. Hoffa will meet with workers in Hershey, Reading and Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Thursday.

Workers spoke to Hoffa about their top priorities for this election.

"My number one issue is the economy and the war-we need to bring those boys back home," said Grace Fadarishan, who was worked at Ocean Logistics for 31 years and has been a Teamster since 1976. "But we need jobs too. We need jobs in America. They should not be shipped overseas."

UPS driver Michael Kovaleski in Scranton said his top issues this election are security.

"My security, my family’s security, financial security, job security, physical security," Kovaleski said. "I have two young boys and the most important thing is their futures and the way things are going-the economy, what’s going on in the world-we need a change."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Fresh and Easy Markets, owned by Bristish corporation TESCO,  has aggressively campaigned against efforts and has refused to talk to UFCW, despit the fact that TESCO stores are union overseas.

UFCW is asking that you to not SHOP AT FRESH AND EASY.

Please help us by shopping at union stores including Albertsons, Vons, Food 4 Less and Smiths.

Review the calendar of events for your proposal meetings.

Initiative Petition State of Nevada Tax Backed Lobbying Ban

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

To be added to Article 2 of the Nevada Constitution

1. No public body, public officer, person in the employ of the state or any of its political subdivisions or candidate for public office may , directly or indirectly direct, permit, receive, require, or facilitate the use of tax revenues of any other public resources for political campaigns, lobbying, or partisan purposes, including payment of dues or membership fees of any kind to any person, league, or association which, directly or indirectly, engages in lobbying , campaigns, or partisan activity.

2. The provisions of this Section do not limit public officials in the performance of their constitutional duties, and do not apply to:

(a) Communications among and between a member and a staff member of a legislative body;

(b) Communications between an elected or appointed public officer and a legislator or a legislative staff member;

(c) Comments by an elected official or communications from an elected official that are designated for constituents;

(d) Appearances by any public officer or employee pursuant to a specific request to appear before a public body to provide information;

(e) A public employee acting in an uncompensated personal capacity, undirected in any manner by, and who does not purport to represent the interests of, a public employer;

(f) Access to public property for the purpose of engaging in core political speech, such as circulating petitions or pamphlets, of engaging in religious expression by a person acting in a personal capacity, undirected in any manner by, and who does not purport to represent the interests of, a public employer; and

(g) An authorized officer or employee of the office of

i) the Supreme Court or any lower court of the state or any of its political subdivisions,

ii) the Governor, or

iii) any elected officer of the state executive branch of government whose responsibilities are to assess the impact of proposals which affect the administration of government.

3. The following are definitions of terms used in this Section:

(a) “Direct, permit, receive, require, or facilitate the use of tax revenues or any other public resources for campaign, lobbying, or partisan purposes,” includes

(i) the use of public funds, facilities, rights of access, equipment, supplies, or trademarks to influence any election;

(ii) undertaking, promoting, or distributing studies, surveys, analyses, descriptions, or other communications using public resources in a manner specifically calculated to induce support of, or opposition to, proposed legislation or ballot questions; and

(iii) incurring any public administrative expenses or activities to allocate or designate portions of public employee income to entities that engage in campaign, lobbying, or partisan activities, other than charitable organizations qualified as exempt from federal income tax under section 501(C)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

(b) “Tax revenues or any other public resources” includes all state and local government revenues and resources, but does not include any revenues paid or resources provided by the United States government.

(c) “Campaign,” includes

(i) communications or expenditures related to the pursuit of a public office, either electoral or appointive;

(ii) all lobbying; or

(iii) efforts paid in whole or in part by public revenues or resources to coordinate or induce members of the general public or any segment thereof to directly influence legislative activity by communicating with members of a legislative body, supporting or opposing legislation, or supporting or opposing a petition drive or ballot question.

(d) “Lobbying,” means attempts to directly influence legislative activity by communication with any member or employee of a legislative body, or with any government official or employee who may participate in the formulation of legislation.

(e) “Person,” includes any individual, business entity, organization, committee, political party, campaign fund, and association.

(f) “Public officer, person in the employ of the state or any of its political subdivisions,” includes any person who is elected, appointed, or employed by this state or any political subdivision of this state, including persons who are independent contractors or consultants hired by the state or a political subdivision of this state.

4. This Section will apply only to those agreements, contracts, understandings or practices that take force or are extended or renewed after this Section takes effect, namely January 1, 2011.

5. A violation of this Section is a misdemeanor. Further, any person who knowingly spends or receives funds in violation of this Section shall pay full restitution for the greater of the public cost or for the market value of any misappropriated resources. The second or subsequent violation by a public officer or employee shall render that person ineligible to hold public office or employment with the state or any of its political subdivisions for ten years.

6. The provisions of this Section are independent and severable, and if any provision of this Section, or the applicability of any provisions to any person or circumstance, shall be found to be invalid, the remainder of this Section shall not be affected and shall be given effect to the fullest extent practicable.

Please be advised that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently promulgated a final regulation concerning payment for personal protective equipment (PPE). This final rule covers workers and employers in general industry, shipyards, marine terminals, long shoring, and construction and will be effective on February 14, 2008.

This new rule requires employers to provide all personal protective equipment required by OSHA at no cost to the employees, with the following exceptions:

• Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear, including steel-toe shoes or boots, and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear, providing that the employer allows the employees to wear the protective gear off the job site;
• Shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection, provided that the employer does provide metatarsal guards for use over regular footwear;
• Logging boots;
• Everyday clothing, including long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal work boots;
• Ordinary clothing or skin creams used solely for protection from the weather, e.g., winter coats, jackets, gloves, rubber boots, sunglasses, and sunscreen; and
• Equipment that is purchased by the employee, provided, that the employer makes available adequate PPE at no cost.

It should be noted that the rule also addresses situations where the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE. In these instances, the employer is not required to pay for replacement PPE. Further, OSHA defines “lost” as including instances where the employee “comes to work without PPE that has been issued to him.” In these cases, the employer is not permitted to allow the employee to work without the proper PPE. Because these situations may result in employees being disciplined for failure to have the proper PPE, it would be prudent to address how this aspect of the regulation will be implemented in the workplaces represented by local unions in your respective trade division or trade conference.

Unfortunately, when workers try to form a union to have a voice on their job they are frequently intimidated, harassed or retaliated against by the employer.

I know that you are aware of this grim reality. You face these obstacles everyday as you try to organize more members into the Teamsters Union. The reality is that we must change our labor law to provide a level playing field for workers.

That is exactly what the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would do. I am writing you today to ask that you join a union-wide effort to help promote and pass this important legislation.

The Employee Free Choice Act is supported by members of both parties in congress. The Employee Free Act would:

1. Establish stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
2. Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
3. Allow employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.

The Teamsters Union will be working very hard on Capitol Hill over the next few months to educate members of congress on the need for this important legislation. We can not do it alone though. I need you to do the following:

• Call your member of Congress and ask that they co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.
• Schedule and appointment to meet with your member of Congress during the February Congressional recess scheduled for February 19-23rd. It is important that whenever possible you include a worker in the meeting who has run intoproblems while trying to join a union, perhaps a worker who was fired or otherwise harmed by an employer tactic. After the meeting please fill out and return the attached “District Meeting Report”.
• Fill out and return the attached “Information Request” providing information that may be useful in lobbying on Capitol Hill.
• Use the attached talking points to discuss EFCA at your next membership meeting.
• Post the attached flyer in your Local Union and ask that every steward or worksite coordinator post or distribute the flyer in their workplace.
• Talk to your fellow labor unions and other community allies about the importance of this legislation.

We must all work together to pass EFCA. We have many obstacles to passing this legislation, including a threatened Senate filibuster and a Presidential veto. We have never let obstacles stop us before and we will not now.

Thank you in advance for helping us pass EFCA.