It has been over a year since California’s highest court sent shock waves through Silicon Valley, declaring what many considered the end of the “gig economy” in California. In Dynamex Operations West v. Lee, the Court dealt a crucial blow to Uber and Lyft and their business model based on classifying workers as “independent contractors.”
But since the Dynamex decision came down, both companies have gone public making wealthy stockholders even wealthier.
Keep readingWe’ve made it halfway through this year’s Legislative session and we continue to move our agenda here in California despite significant pushback from the Trump Administration.
First, Trump and his Labor Department have moved to take away meal and rest breaks from truck drivers. Then, they tried to take away funding for High Speed Rail. They recently declared “gig” workers, such as Uber drivers, independent contractors and are now going after meal and rest breaks away for bus drivers.
Keep readingTeamsters from more than 15 local unions within California Joint Councils 7 and 42 took part in a hearing and lobby day in Sacramento in support of legislation to help end misclassification. The Lobby Day was sponsored by the California Labor Federation.
In April, the California Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. vs Superior Court of Los Angeles, referred to as “Dynamex,” simplified the test for determining whether a worker is classified as an employee for minimum wage and overtime protections.
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1926-2019
We are sad to announce the passing of Ben Leal, who died only a few days after suffering a stroke,
Born on a dairy farm in Newark, CA, Leal proudly served in the U.S. Navy in WWII, and spent most of his professional life as an organizer and leader in the Teamsters union.
Ben started his career with the Teamsters in 1956 as an organizer. In addition to serving as Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Local 856 from 1982-1994,
Keep readingTeamsters Local 2010, in coalition with its sister union at the CSU system, CSUEU, has co-sponsored legislation (AB 369 sponsored by Assm. Weber) to restore salary steps for CSU employees across the state.
“This is a fight to restore basic fairness for CSU workers,” says Jason Rabinowitz, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010. “Our hard-working CSU members deserve to receive step increases like every other worker in state service, and we will continue to bring Teamster power to bear until AB 369 is signed into law by Gov.
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Local 150’s Construction Division has completed the work on the Sacramento Southport Levee Improvement Project, providing flood protection to the City of Sacramento.
Starting with three Teamster drivers, AECOM began work on this project in 2017. Until the project was completed late last year, Local 150 members placed approximately 20,000 linear feet of setback levee, with 3 breaches of existing levee and breaches varied in length from 1,100-1,400 feet. All told, members ran 38 Articulated Dump Trucks and three Water Trucks These members worked six days a week March through November,
Keep readingThe small but vital clerical unit at Recology South Valley and representatives of Teamsters Local 350 met on July 19, 2018, to discuss what they would like to see on their next contract. After nearly 7 months of hard-nosed negotiating, led by Recording Secretary and Business Representative Sergio Arranaga with the assistance of Adriana Munoz-Noriega, they were able to successfully hammer out a 5-year contract that the members ratified unanimously.
“The negotiations took longer than expected,” Arranaga says.
Keep readingAs the heart of Garden City and Milpitas Sanitation, the clerical unit is responsible for the accounts and is at the forefront of customer service as they answer customer questions and concerns. After months of negotiations, the nine members in this hard-working clerical unit voted unanimously to ratify a new 5-year contract that will raise wages, protect the employees, and reward them for the hard work they do every day.
Virginia Jimenez, an 18-year Teamsters Local 350 member,
Keep readingThousands of people, including several Teamsters, lost their homes and jobs in the Camp Fire last November. Rising to the occasion, Teamsters Local 2785 Retirees Club President Bob Silva reports that their club held a raffle in December that raised a nice donation for the victims.
The need is still great. If you’re interested in giving, one good place would be to the Oroville Hope Center. You can find their Camp Fire assistance page at:
www.orovillehopecenter.org/services/camp-fire-donations
Keep readingWhen feeder drivers discovered that their pay for the New Year’s Day carry-over on January 2, 2018, was both late and incorrect, the Local filed a grievance.
After nearly a year’s worth of talks, the company agreed that the workers were, in fact, owed the money. In February, checks totaling more than $14,000 were distributed to the affected feeder drivers.
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