Within the first few weeks that the pandemic hit and travel was restricted, thousands of airport workers lost their jobs. With so few people flying, the need for airplane cleaning and food service suddenly became negligible.
Nearly a third of the Teamsters who work as drivers and helpers at Gate Gourmet at the San Francisco Airport immediately found themselves jobless. HERE—the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union—saw 70% layoffs.
Fortunately, Congress came to the rescue.
Keep readingThey say cut back, we say fight back!
Teamsters 2010 members joined sisters and brothers from fellow University of California unions in rallies against layoffs at UC San Francisco, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA Santa Monica Hospital, UC San Diego on June 24 during lunchtime hours.
With their billions in reserves and many income streams, the UC should not make workers bear the brunt of the coronavirus economic impact.
Keep readingThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone, including people with substance abuse disorders and other mental health issues. Symptoms of anxiety and depression may worsen during this time. This can be a very difficult time for people in recovery from addiction.
Addiction is often referred to as a disease of isolation because it impacts a person’s ability to form and maintain healthy relationships. Most substance abuse treatment takes place in a social setting such as group therapy.
Keep readingAs we pass three months since the initial shelter-in-place orders, California DMV field offices are beginning to expand services and the expiration date for commercial and non-commercial licenses has been extended due to the pandemic.
Appointments: All 169 DMV field offices have reopened for limited service to customers with appointments only. DMV encourages online services wherever possible at virtual.dmv.ca.gov and is giving first priority to those with existing appointments canceled due to the shelter-in-place orders.
Keep readingCalifornia is slowly reopening and we cross our fingers that we don’t have a new surge in COVID-19 cases. We all know that our economy needs a jumpstart. We just need to make sure that, as we reopen, we do it safely for workers. This has been a major focus for CTPAC and we continue to work with the Governor’s office, CalOSHA, and the Department of Public Health to educate and push for standards to protect our members.
Keep readingOver 100 days into the COVID-19 pandemic, California and the rest of the United States are grappling with unemployment numbers this country has not seen since the Great Depression. In California alone, almost 30% of workers have filed for unemployment. For workers of color, women, low-wage workers, and workers without college degrees, the numbers are even higher. Add to this nearly 500,000 undocumented workers and over 400,000 “independent contractors” in California and the numbers are staggering.
Keep readingSo much is still unknown about COVID-19 (such as, how exactly it spreads, why the symptoms can range from mild to extreme, and whether you can develop immunity.) It may be impossible to say with absolute legal certainty what is so “unsafe” as to justify a refusal to work. However, the stakes are quite high: refusal to follow a direct order to ‘get to work’ or ‘keep working’ is insubordination and the penalty for insubordination is often termination.
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Keep readingAaron Meier empties about 800 garbage cans every day, rain or shine. He first caught the world’s attention with a series of tweets in mid-March as Americans were just beginning to come to terms with the pandemic and what it would mean for their livelihoods.
“I’m a garbageman, I can’t work from home and my job is an essential city service that must get done,” tweeted Meier, a Local 350 member who works for Recology Sunset in San Francisco.
Keep readingIn a secret ballot mail vote held in February, the members of Local 287 voted overwhelmingly to merge into Local 853. The merger became effective on May 1.
After an explanation of the merger was mailed to each member, the Local held an open meeting for all Local 287 members. Nearly 300 members turned out to ask Local 853 Secretary-Treasurer Rome Aloise questions about the pros and cons of a merger.
“Local 287,
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