Secretary-Treasurer Eric Tate – Teamster Newspaper Column (March 1, 2019)

We hope that you all enjoyed the holidays and are eager for a bright new year filled with new adventures. Let’s make 2019 the best yet.

Congratulations to the following on their retirement: Zollie Rustin, Gallo, 18 years; Dan Delgado, Heavy Transport, 5 years; Frank Alcantar, Ralphs, 35 years; Carl Hill, Sysco Foods, 19 years, Mark Kelley, YRC, 40 years.

Our condolences to the families of the following: John Soto (Road Dawg) Vons;
Richard Cervantes, Coke; Carlos Tarango on the loss of his mother; Mark Kobzoff, Ralphs, on the loss of his mother; Rudy Lerma, ITS Conglobal, on the loss of his mother; Frank Alcantar on the loss of his father; Douglas Sermeno, US Foods, on the loss of his wife.

Gordon Ament – First Transit Cerritos-Congratulations on your one-year extension agreement. Contracts will be available soon. There are open positions for a Shop Steward and alternates. Please contact my office if interested. First Transit Pasadena- The requested alternate steward nomination was posted with no interested members. Please contact my office if interested. Keolis Pomona-Please familiarize yourself with the CBA. You must work throughout the last scheduled work day prior to the holiday and the first scheduled work day following the holiday in order to receive holiday pay. “Throughout” meaning entire day. The Local has filed for arbitration regarding Holiday Pay section 4. LA Regional Food Bank-The Local is currently in discussion with the employer regarding a first-time attendance policy. As of publication date an agreement has not yet been reached. There are open positions for alternate Shop Stewards. Please contact my office if interested. MV Trans Burbank Bus-Your CBA will be expiring this year. A proposal meeting will be scheduled soon. Keep an eye on the Union board. MV Trans Glendale Bee Line-Congratulations on your new three-year CBA. Special thanks to your negotiation committee members for all their hard work. MV Trans Glendale (DAR)-Your CBA will be expiring this year. A proposal meeting will be scheduled soon. Keep an eye on the Union board. There are open positions for Shop Stewards and alternates. Please contact my office if interested. MV Trans Thousand Oaks/Calabasas-There have been many changes to MV staff including your GM. Please read and understand your CBA especially the grievance procedure and contact your steward or me if you have any questions. There are open positions for Shop Stewards and alternates. Please contact my office if interested. Transdev LACMTA-It’s apparent your previous steward spoiled everyone. Members have the right to file a grievance when a violation of the CBA occurs. You must request a grievance form, complete it, and give back to the steward to file within the time period stated. The steward may assist you, but it is your responsibility. There are open positions for Shop Steward alternates. If interested, please contact my office.

Erik Lagafuaina – We are currently in negotiations with Value Plus Service, National Plant Services, Ventura Transfer Drivers and Loaders and several new Airgas locations. National Readymix and Catalina Pacific Concrete negotiations should begin around April. Construction and Readymix have been slow and the rain has made it worse. Hang in there, brothers and sisters.

Joe Pimentel: To all our members in the Busing industry: during the recent past, several Local 848 members have been assaulted while operating a bus. It is an unfortunate risk that bus drivers face in their daily duties. We rely on the systems in place and local law enforcement to keep us safe. It has never been enough. I am excited that with the addition of the Public Transport Division, we now have dedicated advocates at the International level. Divisional Director, Brother Rick Middleton and his staff have been working on legislation that will do more to address this growing problem. By the time that this goes to print, you should have a notice explaining the Transit Worker and Pedestrian Act (H.R. 1136/S. 436) which is still in the bill stage. Please keep an eye out for that posting and we will share more information as it becomes available. Shop Stewards – I wanted to take the time to thank you all for your commitment and dedication to our shop steward trainings each month before our general membership meeting. Mike Mansfield and I are encouraged each month when we see you all return and we especially love to see the new faces. We can rest assured the future of our great Union is bright and prosperous, knowing that we have such an involved group of leaders such as yourselves. We hope to see you all back this month hungry for more as we continue with our #stewardroles series.