IBT 320 Newsletter Spring 2012

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Spring 2012 Edition Volume XV - Issue #2

IN THIS ISSUE: 2) Secretary-Treasurers Report, Sue Mauren.

3) Presidents Report, Joanne Derby. 4) Vice Presidents Report, Brian

des 5) DRIVE Report, Sami Gabriel. 6) Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus, Tom

Keegels Retirement. 7) Upcoming Meetings and Events.


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LOCAL 320 SECRETARY-TREASURERS REPORT

Teamster Counterattack Against the War On Workers:

What We Did to Fight Back and Win!

By Sue Mauren

By all accounts,Minnesota Teamsterskicked some majorbehind this legislativesession. We squashedthe Freedom of Em-ployment scam, alsoknown as right to workFOR LESS!

With Govenor Daytons veto pen we killedanother devastating bill, HF 1974, whichwould have drastically impacted PELRA asit pertains to union contracts. It stated thatwhen your contract expired, you became anat-will employee until another contract wasbargained.

On March 12 Teamsters and other membersof the Minnesota labor movement convergedon the State Capitol to ght the freedom of

employment scam with our voices and ournumbers. More than 1,500 workers surround-

ed the committee room chanting, vote no,vote no! Having been in Wisconsin duringthe initial 2011 protests at their Capitol, I cantell you rsthand Minnesota responded in full

force!

Teamsters mobilized over 200 workers to theCapitol with just three-days notice. Some-thing like that had not been done before andthe politicians knew it. The anti-worker crowdwas warned, and Teamsters will take ourconcerns all the way to the ballot box whenwe are threatened.

In addition to Local 320s engaged member-ship, the other key to success was our actionalert system. Through emails and mobiletexting, we were able to communicate withLocal 320 members on a timely and consis-tent basis throughout the session. We madeover 3,500 contacts to supporters from Janu-ary through April and facilitated over 1,500follow-up actions!

By means of emails and texts, we createdan advanced direct lobbying campaign

combat anti-worker legislation such as thfreedom of employment scam. Teamstersreceived emails or text notications rega

important events or when we needed to i

ence key decision makers at the Stateho

Through these follow-up actions, statelawmakers were put on notice like neverbefore. This was our rst time around, so

can expect us to gather more steam as oresponse time and efciency grows.

It was great to have our action alert systefully utilized during Session and put to go

use in derailing anti-union legislation. Goforward, the hope is this: soon workers wemploy our action alert system and tools

just to ght back, but to gain leverage du

difcult contract negotiations and for othe

contentious situations where workers neea voice. When there is a ght for worker

rights, Teamsters Local 320 will be there!

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Taking it Up a Notch: Big Fight in Otter Tail County

LOCAL 320 PRESIDENTS REPORT

Page 3

By Joanne Derby

As chief negotiatorand business agentfor employees of OtterTail County HumanServices, I am appalledat the utter disrespect

we have encountered during our bargainingessions with the County. The two Human

Services units in question are predominantlyemale workers who strive every day torovide a safety net for the citizens of Otterail County. They answer the phone when aitizen is in need of assistance and/or musteport abuse or neglect of our children, ourlderly, or our mentally ill. These are theardest phone calls any person can take, as

well as the toughest situations to investigate.

At the October 4th, 2011 CommissionersBoard meeting, members passed a motion toive themselves and non-union employees a25.00 increase towards their health insur-

nce, stating: This equalizes the benetsontribution with all other employee groups.n February, the Human Services bargainingnits met with the County in negotiations and

mediation requesting the same $25 contri-ution only to have the County reject the

Unions proposal.

At that point, I knew we had to ght back. We

ook out ve ads in the major papers of Otter

ail County and made our case to the public.We know we got their attention because a

week later the Fergus Falls Journalprintedn article defending the Board against ouromplaints. Unfortunately, the Journalneverhought to contact me for comment; it was alear case of damage control on the part ofhe County.

Moral of this story: if you mess with Team-ters Local 320 members, WE WILL

EXPOSE YOU!

Ad placed in fve major Otter Tail papers


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Fighting Broken Promises and Broken Steps

LOCAL 320 VICE PRESIDENTS REPORT

Page 4

By Brian Aldes

When I sit down with anemployer to hammer out acollective bargaining contract,I go into negotiations in goodfaith hoping that both sideswill reach an agreement thatis adhered to by all.

In Crow Wing County, Teamsters have been deniedtheir contractually-obligated step increases. Publicdefense employees are in the same boat. This typeof behavior in not only disingenuous, but its just plainwrong!

In Crow Wing County we have joined with otherTeamster bargaining units under Local 346 as well as

AFSCME units to le a class action lawsuit against

the employer. We have a similarsuit pending for our public defenseemployees against the State.

These are good cases, meaning;that we have an excellent chance

at winning. There is a strict prece-dence in our favor for this type oflitigation.

Certainly, it is not comforting tohave employers play games withour trust. It is a waste of time andmoney for both our Union and theemployer. Remember, taxpayers t

the bill for employers mismanagement.

At the State level, public defense employees decidedto ght back with a public pressure campaign. They

tied their ght to their work. Protect our Constitution,

it is called. Because public defense is mandated bythe U.S. Constitution, an assault on public defense isan assault on the Constitution!

Thus far, public defense employees have initiateda petition drive to gather support from friends andneighbors. This will provide additional leverage at thebargaining table.

Imagine being an employer and having stacks ofpaper with signatures plopped down at the bargain-ing table in front of you. It would not be a pretty sight!

The support we garner from the petitions not onlyincreases our bargaining position, but it also sends amessage that we are going to ght both at the table

and in the community.

If you havent signed the petitionyet, I encourage you to do so.You can nd it on our website at

www.teamsterslocal320.org.

These are tough times we are

going through, but we have theskills, tools, and diligence to ghtback in the legal, political, andpublic arenas. We will not bedeterred!


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DRIVE Report: We Will Remember Come November!

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LOCAL 320 RECORDING SECRETARY/DRIVEREPRESENTATIVES REPORT

By Sami Gabriel

With the 2012 legislature in therear-view mirror, Teamsterscan thank their lucky stars thatthings didnt turn out as awfulas we had feared. Many thingswere threatened: our pensions,contracts, and rights.

Our successful ght against so-called right to work

has made us more aware of the enemies of labor andwhat their plans are for working folks. These corpo-rate-funded politicians have made it clear that theywant to destroy unions in Minnesota.

Right to work, or freedom of employment, is a baddeal for working Minnesotans. It puts the safetyof our families at risk by making it harder for us tonegotiate safe stafng in our

correctional facilities, hospitals,and police and re departments.

As Local 320s DRIVE (Democrat,Republican, Independent, Voter

Education) representative, I canassure you that the politicians whoare working against us will be thefocus of our upcoming election ef-forts. We will make them pay!

Senate sponsors of right to workare as follows: Thompson, Cham-berlain, Gazelka, Parry and Lillie.

House sponsors are as follows: Anderson, Ben-son, Bills, Downey, Drazkowski, Erickson, Franson,

Gottwalt, Gruenhagen, Hancock, Holberg, Kiffmeyer,Leidiger, Lohmer, McDonald, Myhra, Quam, Run-beck, Scott and Wardlow.

Senators who voted for its passage in committee:Hall, Hoffman, Jungbauer, Limmer, Newman, Ortmanand Thompson.

Remember the names above! These are thepoliticians who want to bust our union and subvertour contracts.

The political actors involved in Minnesotas right towork push are connected to anti-union groups like

the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)which is responsible for other pieces of union-bustinglegislation in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and a suc-cessful Right to Work push in Indiana.

ALEC provides state governments with mock-upbills. In recent years, states have been ooded with

ALECs model bills. Close to 1,000 of them are intro-duced every year, and roughly one-fth become law,

according to ALECs own count. ALECs bills can ba-sically be copied and pasted onto legislative propos-als across the country.

In a recent op-ed piece penned by our GeneralPresident James P. Hoffa fortheDetroit News titled:Public is right to be skeptical of ALEC, Hoffa detailshow ALEC operates in an underhanded manner with

its member-legislators.

Hoffa reports that lawmakers getALEC scholarships paidvacations at luxury resorts wherethey meet wealthy political donors.

Also, part-time legislators canbring the whole family to ALECsannual convention, work for a fewhours, then stay at ve star hotels

and attend parties.

The biggest problem from ALECsinteraction with legislators is thatmost of it is done in secret.

Recently, ALECs most egregious act came about inGeorgia where four ALEC-backed senators tried to

pass a law to make union picketing a crime punish-able by a year in prison. Hoffa says this action isclearly a violation of First Amendment rights andthe tea party, civil rights groups and Teamstersunited to defeat it.

When you have the Teamsters and the Tea Partyworking together to ght a bill, no one can doubt its

a bad bill. And no one can doubt that ALEC is bad forMinnesota.


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Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus!

By Sue Mauren

A great friend of Local 320 members and all Teamsters, Tom Keegel, General Secretary-Treasurer of theInternational Brotherhood of Teamsters, recently retired. While Tom rose to the number two position at the IBT,he never forgot where he came from, both in terms of having been a rank and le member who once drove a

truck, and having been from Minnesota.

Tom became a Teamster member of Local 544 in Minneapolis in 1959 as a driver for Sterling Cartage. He wenton to hold every elected position of Local 544, including principal ofcer. When 544 merged with Local 120, he

became president of that local.

Tom was also President of Joint Council 32 and currently holds the title of President Emeritus. In 1999 Tomand our General President, Jim Hoffa, took the reigns of the IBT, and ran the union together until Toms recentretirement. When he took over the IBT nances, they were in disarray. He was able to restore scal sanity to

our Union, creating many benets for our members, including a strike fund and Teamster Legal Defense Plan.

If ever our members needed Tom, he was there. Whether it was a rally, a picket line, or a contract issue, TomKeegel knew what it was like to struggle, and always supported the members. Tom came from the ranks, andhe was for the ranks.

We will miss Tom, but congratulate him on his retirement and nally being able to spend time with his family.

You might just catch a peek of him out on our lakes this summer, casting his line and relaxing in a shing boat.

Tom is now forever commemorated with the title of General Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus and his portraitsits in the lobby at IBT headquarters in Washington DC alongside the portrait of General President Emeritus,James R. Hoffa. Good luck Tom, and thanks for everything you have done for all Teamsters.


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Upcoming Meetings and Events

JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 12,

2012 5:30 P.M. MEETING

FOLLOWING DINNER

FARIBAULT, MN

JULY

TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2012

5:30 P.M. MEETING

FOLLOWING DINNER

BARSNESS PARK

GLENWOOD, MN

AUGUST

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15,

2012

5:30 P.M. MEETING

FOLLOWING DINNER

PIKE LAKE

4895 E. PIKE LAKE RD

DULUTH, MN

COMO ZOO FAMILY PICNI

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 20

COMO ZOO

ST. PAUL, MN


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IBT 320 Newsletter Spring 2012

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