Teamsters Fighting for Workers Rights from New York to California

Leslie is joined by two different guests that are members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

During the first half of the show, Leslie is joined by Peter Vargas, a 30-year insurance sales agent with AAA in Northern California.

They discuss how In June, about 460 AAA insurance sales agents in Northern California organized with Teamsters Local 665 in San Francisco – a unique group of licensed 'white-collar’ workers to have formed a union. They’ve been in contract negotiations since August and the company is stalling, failing to seriously bargain, and making changes to the status quo which is not allowed during the bargaining period.

The company has rejected nearly every union proposal, has failed to consider the workers’ positions, and has failed to make any counter offers.

Rather than get serious about negotiating, the company has actually proposed a rule that would, in effect, allow the company to terminate any employee who curses in front of a “member.” “Member” refers to a current or former member of any AAA club or any current, former or potential customer --- so basically anyone. There's also a punishment for being 1-minute late.

The company has also imposed a two-tier compensation scale that guarantees that newly hired employees will never have the same opportunities as more tenured employees. Calls from customers for sales agents are getting routed out to lower paid workers. Managers have control over which sales agents can receive calls at their desk and can shut the line down – and these calls are the agents’ livelihoods.

The local union has filed seven unfair labor practice charges against the company. AAA has refused to bargain over ‘just cause’ and fair compensation. The list goes on. The sales agents are motivated commission-earning workers who’ve built up this business and are determined to get a contract and to be treated fairly and with respect.

The website for the Teamsters Local 665 is www.teamsters665.org.

During the second half of the show, Leslie is joined by Andre Solelyn, a Terminal Operator at United Metro Energy and Teamsters Strike Captain.

The two discuss how essential workers at the United Metro Energy oil terminal in Brooklyn, such as Andre, have been on strike since April 19, 2021. The workers provided gasoline, diesel, and heating oil to New York throughout the pandemic, while the company’s billionaire owner, John Catsimatidis, paid them wages as much as 50% lower than at other city oil companies.

The company has sent letters to eight workers over the course of the strike telling them that they have been “permanently replaced.” The firings have illegally targeted union activists. The National Labor Relations Board is currently investigating charges related to the firings.

UMEC terminal workers, fleet mechanics, and service technicians voted to join Teamsters Local 553 in February 2019, but Catsimatidis dragged out negotiations for a first contract for two years, precipitating the strike. While other unionized fuel terminals in New York City pay good wages and provide quality benefits, UMEC has for years undercut those wages and only offered an expensive health plan that is not accepted by many doctors.

In November, the New York City Comptroller opened an investigation into complaints that United Metro Energy has not paid workers the prevailing wage when delivering heating oil to City buildings.

The oil terminal distributes heating oil to New York City schools and hospitals, as well as fuel to area gas stations.

Teamsters Joint Council 16 and its 27 affiliated local unions represent 120,000 workers in the Greater New York area and Puerto Rico. Their website is Teamsters.nyc and their Twitter handle is @TeamstersJC16.

Please consider helping these Teamsters in Brooklyn who have been on strike for 10 months.
They need financial help in order to keep their families fed and housed while they continue to fight for their jobs, and for respect and fair pay.
The Go Fund Me Account where donations can be made in order to help can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/help-striking-families