Teamsters Local 320 Winter Newsletter 2015

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LOCAL

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS PUBLIC AND LAW ENFORCEMENT EMPLOYEES’ UNION

320Winter 2015 Edition Volume XVIII - Issue #4

TEAMSTERS MUST UNITE!

TEAMSTERS MUST

UNITE AGAINST

SUPREME COURT

CASE TO HARM ALL

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

PAGE 3



LOCAL 320 SECRETARY-TREASURER’S REPORT

Page 2

By Brian Aldes

At our annual

Steward Training and

Seminar in October,

I led a discussion on

the pending chal-

lenges Teamsters

Local 320 faces.

The Supreme Court case Frederichs v.

California Teachers Association poses an

existential threat to our Union.

Currently, ofcers and staff of Local 320 areworking on strategies and tactics to protect

Minnesota’s public employees’ rights and

labor contracts. But we need your help!

The Frederichs case will determine wheth-

er public sector labor unions may continue

the collection of fair share fees. In other

words, the decision could make Minnesota

a so-called “right to work” state, or “open

shop” state, for public employees.

Employers believe that, if Frederichs isdecided against unions, the strength of

Local 320 will falter and they will be able to

gut contracts and implement anti-employee

rules. The truth of the matter is this: the

only way employers, politicians and judges

can beat up our Union is if we let them!

In the coming weeks and months, every

Teamster will be asked to reafrm their

membership, and fair share payees will

be invited to become full members. Also,every Teamster and fair share payee will be

asked to sign a maintenance of check off

card.

Join us as we embark on a generational

challenge to protect and preserve the

benets obtained for members of this

great Union!

United we bargain, divided we beg!

OFFICERS AND STAFF

Brian AldesSecretary-Treasurer and

Principal Ofcer

Sami Gabriel

President/Business Agent

Curt Swenson

Vice President/Business Agent

Craig Johnson

Recording-Secretary/

Business Agent

Marcia (Marty) Lamb

Trustee, St. Paul ISD 625Richard Wheeler

Trustee, MSUAASF

Alston Dutchin

Trustee, U of M

Paula Johnston

General Counsel

ocal 320 Business AgentsHalla Elrashidi

Amy HillBob Kolstad

Michael KoppRoger Meunier

Terry Neuberger Vance Rolfzen

Erik Skoog

ommunications | LobbyistGus Froemke

Support Staff Susan Bastian

Ron PhillipsSuzanne Slawson

Joni SpauldingKristi Ziegler Katie Ziembo

Minneapolis, MN

Local Union Ofce

8:00am - 4:00pm

P: 612-378-8700

F: 612- 331-8948

1-800-637-5430

Online

www.teamsterslocal320.org

Email

[email protected]

Published by

Teamsters Local 320

3001 University Ave SE #500Minneapolis, MN 55414

PROTECTING OUR UNION

Dan Cherryhomes, Executive Director of Teamsters ServiceBureau with Family Service Advocate Cindy Whelen

Brian Aldes, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 320 addressing morethan 100 attendees at October’s Steward Training and Seminar

Andrea Adams, President of Minnesota Teamsters Credit Unionoffering savings, checking, loans, to Teamsters and their families

Business Agent Roger Meunier with Benton County Steward anddrawing winner Tammy Giuliuani and Brian Aldes



TEAMSTERS MUST UNITE

Page 3

Next year the Supreme Court will decide whether

public sector labor unions can continue collecting

fair share fees from workers who choose not to be-

come members. Make no mistake, the loss of fair

share fees will affect Teamsters Local 320’s ability

to represent workers. It will also curb the services

provided outside collective bargaining and signalto employers that it’s “open season” on workers’

rights.

The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Associ-

ation, may change the landscape for public sector

unions across the country. That change is some-

thing that anti-union groups such as the National

Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the

Freedom Foundation have been working toward for

years. Both of those groups, along with a number

of others, have submitted briefs in support of the

plaintiffs in Friedrichs. Why are they so involved inthe case and its outcome? Because they want to

destroy unions! Because they know that “right to

work” means lower wages and benets for working

men and women, and more prots for big busi-

ness. Because the public sector has the highest

concentration of union membership in this country

and destroying public sector unions gets them one

step closer to destroying all unions.

Just as employers and corporations combine and

strategize, Minnesota’s public sector unions have

combined to protect workers’ rights. Local 320 has

also been in close contact with the International

Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Public Services

Division to discuss plans moving forward. Of-

cers and staff of Local 320 have been engaged instrategic planning initiatives to confront the looming

threat.

As a part of Local 320’s strategic plan, it is engag-

ing in a wall-to-wall organizing drive with updated

membership applications as well as maintenance

of check off cards. Every Teamster member and

fair share payee who converts to membership

will be asked to sign a maintenance of check off

card. A maintenance of check off card requires the

employer to continue to deduct and remit dues to

the Union regardless of the employee’s continuedmembership status for a period of twelve months

from the date that the employee signs the card or

until the contract expires, whichever is sooner. The

employee can revoke the maintenance of check off

card during a window period of sixty to seventy-ve

days from the signing anniversary date or the expi-

ration of the contract. The employee can still resign

from membership at any time, but he or she would

still be obligated to pay dues for that time period.



Another priority for Governor Dayton is narrowing

the economic opportunity gap for African Americans

working and living in the Twin Cities. The U.S. Census

Bureau earlier this year reported African Americansin poverty rose and from 2013 to 2014 the median

income for African American Minnesotans dropped

14 percent. In October, Governor Dayton pledged to

“redouble” his administration’s efforts to address the

socioeconomic disparities presented in the U.S.

Census data.

Teamsters are gearing up for Local 320’s annual

Lobby Day set for April 2016! In the coming weeks we

will send out a “save the date” message along with a

survey for Teamsters to ll out regarding Local 320’slegislative priorities and Lobby Day expectations.

We are looking forward to another productive legisla-

tive session and fantastic Lobby Day!

SPECIAL SESSION IN THE WORKS?

Page 4

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

By Sami Gabriel

Governor Mark Dayton sup-

ports a special legislative ses-sion to extend unemployment

benets for laid-off miners on

the Iron Range. Nearly 600

workers will run out of un-

employment benets before

lawmakers are scheduled to return to their regular

session March 8, 2016. Nearly 2,000 workers have

recently been laid-off on the Iron Range and North

Shore.

Governor Dayton and Senate Majority Leader TomBakk, an Iron Ranger, are ready to move forward

with a special session, but House Speaker Kurt

Daudt is holding up the process. Speaker Daudt

says he wants to focus on “long-term solutions”

rather than just extending unemployment benets.

LOCAL 320 SUPPORTS ORMO TVBy Craig Johnson

Oromo TV is celebrating its

15th Anniversary on television

and radio, and Teamsters

Local 320 contributed to an

event for the celebration.

Oromo TV is an independentmedia outlet serving the Horn

of African region. Oromo TV is a source of vast

information through visually recorded information

about the Horn of Africa’s largest nation, Oromia.

Teamsters Local 320 is proud to represent mem-

bers at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

public schools and elsewhere from the East African

Community. Thanks for being an important part of

our Union!

Oromo TV CEO Jalil Abdul and University of MinnesotaTeamster Nasser Nur. Nur is presenting Abdul with a checkfrom Teamsters Local 320



AFTER DEADLOCK TEAMSTERS PREVAIL

Page 5

By Curt Swenson

There’s never been a more

productive and meaningfulround of negotiations with the

University of Minnesota in my

25 years as a negotiating team

member and lead negotiator.

What we accomplished togeth-

er was incredible and the negotiating committee

deserves a round of applause.

It all started last year when Teamsters Local 320

commissioned an economic impact study to deter-

mine both the economic multiplier for the wagesand benets of University Teamsters within the

state of Minnesota and to identify the economic

shortfall of employees’ incomes.

We began dialogue with the other major unions

at the University in addition to faculty and student

groups. Together we formed a coalition of faculty,

staff and students who felt that the University of

Minnesota was heading in the wrong direction.

In February, Teamsters shared their stories with

Minnesota State Legislators about the realitiesfacing front-line workers and their families at the

University of Minnesota. Representative Kim Nor-

ton and Representative Sheldon Johnson were in

attendance as well as Senator Patricia Torres Ray

and Senator Jeff Hayden for our coalition’s legisla-

tive summit.

Teamsters, AFSCME and SEIU Academics United

along with student groups made a presence at

the State Capitol during the legislative vote for

the University of Minnesota Regents. We let State

Legislators know that the issues of faculty, staff and

students were not being addressed in a meaningful

way by the Regent candidates.

In March, Teamsters Local 320 converged on the

Capitol for its annual Lobby Day. Teamsters from

the University of Minnesota arrived in full force. We

shared the economic impact data with State Leg-

islators and demanded to become a priority during

state budget talks.

TENTATIVE AGREEMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Teamsters Local 320 deployed the use of volunteer

member-organizers (VMO) to educate University

Teamsters and to collect petition signatures for a fair

labor contract.

We marched with students, faculty and other unions

on a national “day of action” in April for low-wage

workers in Minnesota and across the country. Team-

sters took over the march as we were the loudest and

the proudest!

When negotiations commenced with the University

in May, Teamsters were ready. However, we were

still appalled when the University offered a meager

0.75 percent increase to wages!

Teamsters, as part of the coalition with AFSCME, de-

vised a campaign for “raises and respect” for front-line

staff. Together we collected over 10,000 petition sig-

natures and held several successful rallies, informa-

tional pickets and news conferences. So after several

months, I am happy to announce that we reached a

tentative agreement (TA) with the University of Minne-

sota on November 23, 2015.

This is a landmark agreement to be sure. We not only

secured a 2 percent raise for Teamsters during eachyear of the labor contract, but we moved the Univer-

sity off of its practice of costing step increases into its

overall wage package. Steps were negotiated into the

previous contracts long ago and I will say this, once

and for all, steps are automatic!

On top of the 2 percent plus steps, lab animal atten-

dants and electricians will receive substantial market

adjustments as those workers have fallen behind

economically during the past several years.

The University has agreed to structured and mean-ingful labor-management committees (LMC) to be

facilitated by the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS).

During the LMC’s we will discuss a variety of topics

including team cleaning, bidding, vacancies and other

mutually agreed items.

The negotiating committee decided to remain neutral

in recommending this tentative agreement, but we all

agree that every University Teamster must vote!



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Teamsters Local 320 Winter Newsletter 2015

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