Top Banner
United We Stand: Teamster Members are Fighting Back Together Winter/Spring 2013 Inside: UPS Members Fight for their Contract Progress in ABF Negotiations Teamsters at Republic Authorize Strike Organizing Brings Growth School Bus Members Fight for Benefits Local 728 Assists in Hurricane Relief And More...
10

Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

Apr 12, 2015

Download

Documents

Eric Robertson

Newsletter of Teamsters Local 728. Representing over 7,000 members in the state of Georgia.
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

United We Stand: Teamster Members are Fighting Back Together

Winter/Spring 2013

Inside:

UPS Members Fight for their Contract

Progress in ABF Negotiations

Teamsters at Republic Authorize Strike

Organizing Brings Growth

School Bus Members Fight for Benefits

Local 728 Assists in Hurricane Relief

And More...

Page 2: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

This story can fit 75-125 words.

Selecting pictures or graphics is an important part of adding content to your newsletter.

Think about your article and ask yourself if the pic-ture supports or enhances the message you’re trying to convey. Avoid selecting images that appear to be out of context.

Microsoft Publisher includes thousands of clip art images from which you can choose and import into your newsletter. There are also several tools you can use to draw shapes and symbols.

Once you have chosen an image, place it close to

Caption describing picture or graphic.

Scott Webber Chuck Stiles

Together We Can Make a DifferenceTogether We Can Make a DifferenceTogether We Can Make a DifferenceTogether We Can Make a Difference

New Roles for Officers at Local 728 New Roles for Officers at Local 728 New Roles for Officers at Local 728 New Roles for Officers at Local 728

The financial crisis brought on by the greed and reckless behavior of the banking industry has had a devastating impact on employers across the country, Teamster represented employers have been no exception. This crisis, combined with a well calculated and coordinated political assault on unions in every state, has created huge challenges to our membership.

Employers have been spurred by the sluggish economy to make moves to push for concessions both during contract negotiations and in the middle of contracts that are yet to expire. In some cases these concessions have been necessary to save Teamster jobs, in many cases however, employers are simply using the crisis to try to take away our rights and benefits they could never get when the economy was healthy.

Corporate interests have also made a coordinated effort in the political arena to role back the gains won by the labor movement since the 1930’s and weaken our ability to nego-tiate and enforce contracts. In Georgia, the Chamber of Commerce and it’s political cronies at the capitol continue to aggressively work to cripple us and make Georgia the first state to be more anti-union than even “Right-to-Work”.

Teamsters Local 728 has not taken this assault on our members sitting down. We have mobilized Teamster mem-bers to take political action that has made our enemies think twice before they move forward with their attacks. We have shown that we will stand up to attacks on our livelihoods. Whether it is fighting harassment at UPS, fighting to protect jobs in freight, winning strong contracts for newly organized workers, or taking on anti-union politicians at the capitol. Local 728 members have proven that by standing up and taking action, we can beat back the attacks on the middle class and our families.

executive board of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council. ‘It’s about the members’ said Stiles at a recent gen-

eral membership meet-ing at the union hall. ‘I’m proud to serve the members in my new role. I will always give everything I have to make sure our local stays strong and grow-ing’. Rachad Fitz-

patrick, UPS package car steward from the East Center at the Pleasantdale facility was asked to serve as a trustee on the Local 728 executive board.

The Local 728 executive board sets new roles for Lo-cal leaders. Longtime ABF and

Carolina Freight me-chanic, 24 year and 2nd generation Teamster, Scott Web-ber has stepped into

the position of Secretary Treasurer of Local 728. Web-ber is excited to serve the membership in this new role. ‘I’m always willing to take on

new and challenging duties. I’m hum-bled by this new opportunity to serve our hard working members’.

Chuck Stiles, who spent over two dec-ades working at Teamster freight companies, never hesitates to take on new assignments as well. As the Assistant

Director of the IBT’s Solid Waste division, Stiles was asked to serve as Local 728’s new Vice President. Stiles was also appointed to serve the local’s members on the

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

Scott Webber Chuck Stiles

Rachad Fitzpatrick

Randy Brown

Page 3: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

UPS, UPS Freight Teamsters Fight for Fair Contract

Sunday February 24th. Early that morning, nearly 500 UPS Teamsters packed the building to hear from General President Hoffa, Ken Hall, Vice President Ken Wood and President Brown about current up-dates and next steps.

The rally at Local 728 in Atlanta was part of a contract campaign tour that saw thousands of members ral-lying for strong contracts at events across the nation. “UPS and UPS Freight are successful companies which, thanks to the hard work of Teamsters, have weathered the re-cession in good shape,” said Hall, Package Division Director and Co-Chair of the national negotiating committees. “Teamsters should share in that success.”

‘‘Protect Our Healthcare’, ‘Stop Harassment’ read the stickers on thousands of Local 728 members as they walked in to work at UPS hubs, centers and work locations across Georgia on February 21st. National UPS and UPS Freight negotiations are in full swing as the July 31st contract dead-line quickly approaches. The contract protects over 250,000 Teamsters and is the largest collective bargaining agreement in North America.

Health care, pro-duction harass-ment and subcon-tracting top the Teamster agenda in bargaining as UPS continues its attempts to un-dermine long-standing employee rights and bene-fits. Teamsters are not just rolling over, they are fighting back. The sticker day was part of a ‘National Day of Action’ at UPS and UPS Freight to show Teamster unity in the face of such unprecedented threats to members’ stan-dards.

The company is repeatedly complaining about its health care costs at the bargaining table. UPS has even notified retirees participating in com-pany plans that their share will rise by as much as 10 times

beginning in August. “We can’t allow UPS to attack our health bene-fits. UPS Teamsters de-serve the standards we have earned and fought for over so many years” said Local 728 President Randy Brown.

President Brown and Recording Secretary Jim Higginbotham are repre-senting Local 728 at na-tional negotiations which are being led by General Secretary -

Treasurer Ken Hall.

According to the IBT, the UPS Freight National Negotiating Com-mittee has been making steady pro-gress. The Commit-tee addressed sen-iority and work week issues, as well as protections for medically disquali-

fied drivers in recent negotiations.

Stewards, member activists and Local 728 Business Agents have held a series of parking lot meet-ings at UPS and UPS Freight loca-tions throughout the state updat-ing members on nego-tiations and preparing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to win a fair contract.

These efforts recently culminated in a mass contract rally at Local 728’s union hall on

“We can’t allow UPS to attack our health benefits. UPS Teamsters deserve the standards we have earned and fought for over so many years”

- President Randy Brown.

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

Page 4: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

PROGRESS IN NATIONAL ABF NEGOTIATIONSPROGRESS IN NATIONAL ABF NEGOTIATIONSPROGRESS IN NATIONAL ABF NEGOTIATIONSPROGRESS IN NATIONAL ABF NEGOTIATIONS against the IBT as part of a $750 million lawsuit claiming that the negotiated agreement with YRC violated the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA). A U.S. District Court Judge in Eastern Arkansas did-n’t see it the same way. The case was a dismissed for a second time. ABF promises to appeal. Teamsters are remain-ing vigilant.

The fight to maintain standards for all freight Teamsters continues.

Get Instant Updates!Get Instant Updates!Get Instant Updates!Get Instant Updates!

Text “ABF” Text “ABF” Text “ABF” Text “ABF” to 86466to 86466to 86466to 86466

The contract expiration date of March 31st is right around the corner.

Hundreds of members of Local 728 join 7,500 Teamster members across the U.S. impacted by the ongoing negotia-tions. These drivers, dockworkers, mechanics and clerical staff are fighting to defend their hard earned standards at the long-standing LTL freight company. “Even in difficult times, freight Teamsters deserve to have their good, full time jobs and benefits protected”, said Scott Webber, Local 728 Secretary-Treasurer and former ABF mechanic after the latest round of talks. The recession has hit the freight business particularly hard but as the economy rebounds, so too does the profits of freight corpo-rations. Teamster leaders re-minded ABF negotiators of that simple fact as bargaining began on December 18. Negotiations are being led by Teamster Interna-tional Vice President Gordon Sweeton, Co-Chairman of the National ABF Negotiating Com-mittee. Clearly, not everyone at ABF is feeling the pain equally. According to a recent report by the IBT ‘cash compensation for executive leadership at ABF’s parent Arkan-sas Best Corp. has not suffered. In

her second year, CEO Judy McReynolds’ cash compensation grew by over 50 percent from 2010 levels”. In a March 1st update, Sweeton reported modest progress at the table, “as scheduled, the union’s national negotiating committee met with the company for nego-tiations this week in Kansas City. Some progress has been made in that the company has withdrawn its initial proposal and has agreed to work from the existing agree-men.” “We think it is a step in the right direction that the company has agreed to bargain from the existing contract and ad-dress proposals in a more traditional manner.” ABF twice sought legal action

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

GET CONNECTED!

like Local 728 on facebook

Page 5: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

Film Industry Booms Teamsters BenefitFilm Industry Booms Teamsters BenefitFilm Industry Booms Teamsters BenefitFilm Industry Booms Teamsters Benefit

On February 23, drivers and mechanics of Republic Services in McDonough voted unanimously to authorize a strike if the company continues to delay nego-tiations for the workers’ first contract. The company has been dragging its feet setting dates to negotiate. The last meet-ing was in December. The company has used excuses of needing to perform a reroute to delay setting negotiation dates. During this time, the company has made several changes in working conditions that have resulted in Local 728 filing un-fair labor practice charges (ULPs) against the company. About 40 Teamsters work at the location. “Workers at Republic Services deserve a strong voice and re-spect on the job every day,” President Randy Brown said. “I’m proud to see these workers in McDonough, Georgia be willing to do whatever it takes to stop Republic from continuing to commit un-fair labor practices. These workers are

determined to win their first Teamsters contract and over-come Republic’s law-breaking practices.” Local 728 has been engaged in a series of efforts to pressure Republic, the second largest waste company in North Amer-ica, and its billionaire majority stock holder, Bill Gates to stop its at-tacks on its workers. On Nov. 21, members of Local 728 and Atlanta Jobs with Justice protested Gates at Georgia Tech, where the billionaire addressed more than one thousand students and faculty. The protesters called attention to Republic Services’ environmental destruction and mistreatment of employees. Two protesters displaying a ban-ner that read “Republic/Allied: Don’t Trash Our Communi-ties” were forcefully removed from the event after attempting to ask Gates why he refuses to stop his attack on workers and their retirement security.

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

More than 300 productions were filmed in Georgia last year, a welcome sign for hardworking movie members. It wasn’t always this way. With the leadership of members like Jerry Carter, Local 728 was critical in getting more movie and television productions filmed in the state.

Since 2008, film and television pro-ductions in Georgia have been able to receive a tax credit of 20-30% if they spend $500,000 or more.

Movie industry Business Agent and longtime Local 728 shop steward, Tony Lefebvre reports progress for members and their families in a booming industry. “Local 728 movie members have an excellent reputation around the country for their work ethic and profes-

sionalism. We have worked on many successful shows this past year including Identity Thief and

the highly successful TV drama The Walking Dead. As Teamsters we will always make sure, as the industry pros-pers, so will we .“According to the Georgia Film Office, productions filmed in the state generated more than $3 bil-lion in revenue last year, compared with $244 million five years ago. New state-of-the-art film studios set to be con-structed in Fayette County and the Sa-vannah area will expand the film indus-try’s economic impact in the region by adding to the state’s production capacity.

The influx of productions has helped to bring jobs to a state grappling with an unemployment rate of 8.5%, above the national average of 7.9%.

Republic Services Teamsters Vote To Authorize StrikeRepublic Services Teamsters Vote To Authorize StrikeRepublic Services Teamsters Vote To Authorize StrikeRepublic Services Teamsters Vote To Authorize Strike

Page 6: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

enthusiasm within the member-ship. I began to see an uptick in new member applications from coworkers who had been work-ing at UPS for 3, 5, and 8 years who have never joined our un-ion. With our new membership committee running our parking lot meetings, and new leaders being identified and developed throughout the building, there was a new way to take on man-agement-through collective ac-tion and Teamster unity.

We still have a long way to go on the Forest Park Preload. However now when I ask my-self the question- do I have 4 or 5 coworkers who are fully capa-ble and ready to step up as Teamster leaders at UPS? The names and faces of coworkers who could if need be come to mind; and I'm confident with a little more time and effort I'll reach that goal of a self sustain-ing shift that has a strong union culture and plenty of members trained and ready to take on UPS and win.

Jim Nichols is a part-time UPS worker and full-time Teamster at the UPS Forest Park center’s preload sort. Here, Nichols describes the efforts of a team of his co-workers, who are coming together around a plan to or-ganize and enforce their rights.

Sometime last year, I felt that I was making progress in my duties as a union steward but also felt I was reaching a point where I was only spinning my wheels as I tried to take on UPS by myself. That is, until I started thinking of my role differently. I began to think of being a steward as the same as being a shop floor organizer. My goal: help organize my co-workers on the Preload shift to get educated and involved

in our union.

A union is simply a group of workers joining together to improve working conditions and have a voice on the job. That means, it is all of our responsibility to safe guard our standards, sign up non-members, and enforce our con-tract. That was the message to our co-workers on the Preload sort at the For-est Park center. Each of us as members has a role in protecting our coworkers from management harass-ment and unsafe working conditions.

I began to work to identify and develop new leaders amongst my co-workers. We set up a membership committee and identified un-ion members in all of the work areas to be-come "captains" to help us better communi-cate important issues to workers in each area quickly; as well as have important issues/concerns/problems relayed back to me as a steward.

We are holding bi-weekly parking lot meet-ings after the shift to discuss problems and concerns. We set up a political action com-mittee to pass along important political is-sues the Teamsters were fighting for up in Washington DC and at the Gold Dome in Atlanta. As I began to task leadership roles to members, we worked to build solidarity, improve communication, and educate our coworkers. I began to see new energy and

Walking for a Cause: Saving Lives Teamsters are used to putting on walking shoes for a good cause. This time, the cause wasn’t wages, benefits or working conditions. Last fall, it was about saving lives through suicide prevention and education.

On Sunday November 4, members of Local 728 walked 3.2 miles to raise money for research and education about suicide. Brother Robert Cotton, shop steward at UPS Atlanta hub, brought the members together for this community event. “Teamsters are my family,’ said Cotton, ‘it really felt good to know that others would give up their time to help another’s cause.” Cotton coordinated the entire event for Local 728 and brought nearly a dozen 728 members from the UPS Atlanta hub out to the walk.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ex-

plains the purpose of the event: The 9th Annual At-lanta Out of the Darkness Com-munity Walk takes place within Piedmont Park. By joining in this walk, you will join tens of thousands nationwide to raise money for AFSP's vital research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives, increase national awareness about depression and suicide and provide support for survivors of suicide loss. In deciding to walk, you are taking us a step closer to making suicide prevention a national priority.’

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

UPS Forest Park Develops New Leaders, Members, and Energy By Jim Nichols

Page 7: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

Organizing Brings Growth to Local 728 & GeorgiaOrganizing Brings Growth to Local 728 & GeorgiaOrganizing Brings Growth to Local 728 & GeorgiaOrganizing Brings Growth to Local 728 & Georgia

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

Most states can’t boast about it, but Georgia can. Most local union’s can’t say it, but Local 728 can. That’s the encouraging news of union membership on the rise. Amidst historic political attacks on unions, a lagging economic recovery and extreme employer tactics, unions have been stuck playing defense. Local 728 is showing it can play offense too.

According to the US Department of Labor, Local 728 grew from 5,548 members at the end of 2004 to a 7, 276 member-strong local union as of January 2012. But there’s more room to grow.

In 2012, Local 728 organized 547 new members through internal and external organizing campaigns. Inter-nal organizing at UPS netted the majority of the new signs-ups with renewed focus on increasing the percent-age of members in each location, on every sort, through-out the state. (See the article by UPS shop steward Jim Nichols on how part-timers are leading efforts to engage existing members and organize non-members at their pre-load sort in Forest Park) Local 728 has shown it can not only win NLRB elections, but can also negotiate strong first Teamster contracts for newly organized workers. Collection specialists and tech-nicians at American Red Cross recently ratified their first collective bargaining agreement last fall with important job security protections and their first across the board raise in years. As the local’s lead negotiator, President Brown was proud of the final agreement. “The Red Cross workers in Atlanta worked tirelessly to achieve their first Teamsters contract. We are so proud to have them as members of our great local. They truly deserve

the title of Teamster- they’ve earned it” In July, O’Reilly Auto Parts CDL route drivers in Forest Park ratified their first Teamsters contract, becoming members after a long fight of their own. The unit of about 50 tractor-trailer drivers delivers auto parts from the regional distribution center in Atlanta to O’Reilly Auto Parts retail stores in Georgia, Alabama and Tennes-see. O’Reilly is the second-largest auto parts distributor in the country. “We locked in fair annual pay raises and got commitments from the company to increase the safety of the delivery areas at each retail store,” said Ben Speight, Director of Organizing for Local 728. “And, we fought for, and won, bonus pay for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.” "This contract is the best thing that has ever happened to me at O'Reilly," said Kevin Culberson, a driver and a member of the union's negotiating commit-tee. "I am proud to no longer be an at-will employee and to have strong union representation."

Early this year, the Atlanta Business Chronicle gave Georgia workers some more good news. The paper wrote “the Peach State bucked the national trend of de-clining union membership in 2012. In Georgia, the total number of wage and salary workers went from 3.88 mil-lion in 2011 to 3.91 million in 2012. At the same time, the number of union members grew from 153,000 (3.9 percent of all workers) to 171,000 (4.4 percent of all workers).

The national rate of union workers was 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011.Through continued fo-cus on both internal organizing at UPS and external orga-nizing, Local 728 is on pace to reach 8,000 members by the end of 2013.

Page 8: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

School Bus Members Fight to Save BenefitsSchool Bus Members Fight to Save BenefitsSchool Bus Members Fight to Save BenefitsSchool Bus Members Fight to Save Benefits D.C. to meet with US Department of Labor officials to seek their immediate assistance.

Soon after, the US DOL wrote Butler, calling upon Georgia to pay all claims of impacted school workers. The letter made front page news in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and offered a bit of hope to the workers who had their life disrupted by the unjust rule change. Speaking to the AJC, Kennesaw State First Transit driver Everton Daswell said "if the US DOL decision stands, then I say justice has been done".

In August, Butler wrote back to the US DOL, refusing to comply with the federal order to pay the unemploy-ment claims.

On Dec. 31, Local 728 filed a lawsuit against the Georgia Depart-ment of Labor in the Superior Court of Chatham Co.

The lawsuit states "the Commissioner of La-bor redefined and broadened the defini-tion of educational employers and the disqualification provi-sions beyond the scope and reach (of the law)". The suit also claims that Georgia law ‘does not author-ize (denials) for em-

ployees of private for-profit employers that contract with educational institutions and perform non-educational activities'.

On a cold and windy day in late December, drivers and monitors made an 8 hour round trip from Savannah to submit nearly 100 hand written letters to the USDOL offices in downtown Atlanta.

Teamsters Local 728 and its First Student members in Savannah are continuing to pursue all means to resolve the dispute.

Local 728 is organizing a 1 mile march on April 20th at 12pm from the Atlanta University Center at Clark Atlanta to the US DOL offices down-town.

When a worker is laid off due to no fault of their own and for lack of work, they receive unemployment in-surance. That is the way it has always been for con-tracted school bus drivers and food service workers in Georgia during summer months and during spring and winter breaks. That is, until Mark Butler was elected state labor commissioner.

In April of 2012, Teamster members in Georgia were shocked to discover that Butler had changed the state’s unemployment insurance rules by disqualifying as many as 60,000 Georgia school workers from their earned unemployment benefits.

In all, over 500 Teamsters in Georgia are impacted by this change, including univer-sity bus drivers in Atlanta and school bus drivers, monitors and mechanics in Savannah - leaving many un-able to pay for basic necessi-ties like food and rent over the summer months.

Teamsters just don’t stand by and allow such attacks to happen without a fight. Local 728 organized a series of actions from Savannah to Atlanta to protest the rule change. The Local also spon-sored a food pantry for workers and their families in Savannah.

“Local 728 has and will con-tinue to do whatever it takes to win this vital struggle. Our dedicated First Student and First Transit mem-bers deserve every penny of unemployment insurance that they have earned transporting our most precious cargo- our children- to and from school safely every-day” said Sandy Stimpson, school bus and transit Teamster Business Agent.

President Brown and other Georgia labor leaders met with Commissioner Butler at the GA DOL offices in Atlanta. Butler was not interested in reconsidering his politically motivated attacks. Brown told Butler “that the fight is far from over.”

The local then sent First Student bus monitor Alvin Edwards and organizer Ben Speight to Washington

Savannah First Student members protest unemployment cuts

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

Page 9: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

Teamsters Demand Justice For Sanitation WorkersTeamsters Demand Justice For Sanitation WorkersTeamsters Demand Justice For Sanitation WorkersTeamsters Demand Justice For Sanitation Workers

Port drivers received waves and applause as they marched alongside Local 728 members in the MLK day parade down-town on January 21st. The drivers are bringing attention to is-sues of misclassification and working poverty at the second busiest port on the East Coast. Speaking to WTOC TV in Sa-vannah, shop steward and volunteer organizer Jerome Irwin said “Nothing can be delivered without the trucks, but they won’t pay drivers a livable wage.”

The port in Garden City is booming, but port drivers are not sharing in that success. Port trucking companies exploit poor labor regulation while avoiding their fair share of taxes. Since deregulation in 1980, trucking firms have widely misclassified drivers as ‘independent contractors’ and ‘owner operators’ rather than as employees. As a result, these workers are de-nied the most basic rights to form or join a union.

Net incomes often resemble that of part-time or seasonal workers though they work an average of 59 hours a week.

Food stamps, extended family, or church pantries are needed to get by, with drivers’ children only able to receive health care at public hospital emergency rooms.

History was made at the annual MLK Day march and rally in Atlanta on January 21st. With thunderous chants of ‘I Am, A Man’, hundreds of sanitation work-ers marched down Peachtree St. and Auburn Avenue, wearing high-visibility work shirts and holding picket signs and banners reading ‘Justice for Sanitation Work-ers’ .

The workers from the Dekalb County sanitation department and Republic Services were joined by two of the original lead-ers of the historic 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, Baxter Leach and Alvin Turner.

Since September, Teamsters Local 728 has led a massive orga-nizing campaign of over 450 Dekalb County sanitation work-ers. The worker’s goal is to win recognition of the Teamsters union and to begin to have a voice on the job concerning pay and working conditions. The Dekalb workers have not re-ceived a raise in as much as seven years, work in the fourth most dangerous job in the U.S. and list food as the basic neces-sity their families most often go without.

Republic Services is also attacking its workers all across Amer-ica. Here in Georgia and across the South, workers are cheated out of a fair day’s pay when they work overtime. In other places, Republic is trying to destroy workers’ retirement security, and to force workers to give up their right to a trial under the Civil Rights Act, if the company discriminates against them. Republic workers from Atlanta and McDonough, Ga.,

represented by Teamsters Local 728, as well as Republic workers from Brewton, Ala. and Pensacola, Fla., represented by Teamsters Local 991, marched together in Atlanta. They were joined by Republic workers from Memphis , repre-sented by Teamsters Local 984, who traveled by bus for the march. Leach and Turner, also traveled from Memphis for the march. “This is the first time I have been to Atlanta since 1968 when I attended Rev. King’s funeral. I traveled here today to stand up for the rights of waste workers whose livelihoods are threatened,” Turner said.

TEAMSTERS LOCAL 728 @ WORK

Port Truck Drivers March in Savannah MLK ParadePort Truck Drivers March in Savannah MLK ParadePort Truck Drivers March in Savannah MLK ParadePort Truck Drivers March in Savannah MLK Parade

Page 10: Teamsters Local 728 @ Work

When disaster strikes, Teamsters step up. That’s been the case throughout the union’s history. In late October, when Hurricane Sandy made landfall, Teamsters did not hesitate to take action to help those in need.

Causing over $75 billion in damage and leading to the death of nearly 300 people, Sandy uprooted mil-lions of families from their homes, destroyed workplaces and deci-mated entire neighborhoods.

Although not directly affected by the storm, Local 728 was com-pelled to take action and support working families in need in the North East as they sought to re-cover and rebuild from the storm. President Brown received appeals for help and enlisted one of the local’s best tools- our truck.

Local 728 Assists In Hurricane Relief With a trailer loaded with relief supplies, movie mem-ber John Schisler drove the 728 ‘war horse’ up the East Coast for a much needed and timely deliv-ery. We were not alone. Local’s across the country pitched in with everything they could.

When working families are in need, Teamsters have their backs. That’s what a union is all about.

Teamsters Local 728

2540 Lakewood Ave. SW

Atlanta, GA 30315

Presorted First Class

U.S. Postage Paid

Atlanta GA

Permit no 4009

Address Correction Requested

Executive Board:

Randy Brown-President Scott Webber– Secretary Treasurer Chuck Stiles– Vice President Jim Higginbotham– Recording Secretary Trustees:Tim Chaney, George Higgins, Rachad Fitzpatrick

www.teamsterslocal728.org