The Seattle City Council voted 8-0 Monday afternoon to enact an ordinance giving taxi, for-hire and Uber drivers the ability to unionize. The backdrop for the council’s vote is a nationwide conversation about what role governments should play in the country’s growing app-powered gig economy.
"The IBT Carhaul Division has instructed all carhaul locals to hold meetings to ask members why they rejected the concessionary first offer. These guys are so out of touch, they need to be told the obvious: Teamsters are tired of concessions and want to protect their jobs and make reasonable gains in this boom year of auto sales."
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
Facing a wave of anger over concessions—and with the 2016 election fast approaching—Teamster brass are taking aim at members' right to vote.
Federal prosecutors Indicate they would scale back government control over the union. But a rank-and-file group called the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a frequent critic of current union President James P. Hoffa, is fighting the effort.
On April 16 members of Local 89 in Louisville voted no on their supplement for the second time, this time by 94 percent. Members were angry that they spend up to an hour a day—unpaid—on a shuttle that takes them to and from the parking lot to their work stations; the site is that big. They were also demanding that more part-time jobs be converted to full-time ones. Now the five-year contract is ratified—by fiat of the Teamsters international.
"When workers stand together in solidarity they can still win against one of the biggest corporations in America."
Last month, UPS in New York City fired 250 drivers who had rallied in support of a fired union member. Teamsters Local 804 gained massive public support in favor of the fired workers, and this week UPS agreed to rehire all 250 workers.
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