Policy and Politics

Coronavirus and jobs: what we know and don’t know

July 1, 2020
Political Director's Report

Over 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.

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The pandemic highlights the need for issues Joint Council 7 has championed

May 5, 2020
Political Director's Report, Teamster News
Teamsters fight to end worker misclassification and uphold AB5

It’s been ten years since Rome Aloise was elected president of Joint Council 7, merging it with Joint Council 38. The merger created one of the largest and most powerful Teamster organizations in the U.S., covering critical industrial and political power centers including Sacramento, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the nation’s breadbaskets of the Central and Salinas valleys.

Since that time, Joint Council 7 led on so many issues vital to defending and rebuilding worker power in California and throughout the country. 

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Legislature currently closed, situation fluid

Sacramento Report

Hello from the bunker in Sacramento. The first thing that is readily apparent in our collective response to COVID-19 is that there are so many heroes on the front lines providing vital services to communities all around the state, and many of these heroes are Teamsters. Governor Newsom even acknowledged this in one of his recent televised briefings, thanking our union and members for doing what needs to be done in this crisis.

Speaking of Governor Newsom,

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JOINT COUNCIL 7 – MARCH 2020 PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS

January 3, 2020
March 2020 Primary Endorsements

U.S. CONGRESS

District 1
Audrey Denney

District 2
* Jared Huffman

District 3
* John Garamendi

District 4
Brynne Kennedy

District 5
* Mike Thompson

District 6
* Doris Matsui

District 7
No Endorsement

District 9
* Jerry McNerney

District 10
* Josh Harder

District 11
* Mark Desaulnier

District 12
* Nancy Pelosi

District 13
* Barbara Lee

District 14
* Jackie Spier

District 15
* Eric Swallwell

District 16
* Esmerelda Soria

District 17
* Ro Khanna

District 18
* Anna Eshoo

District 19
* Zoe Lofgren

District 20
* Jimmy Panetta

District 21
* TJ Cox

District 22
Phil Arballo

District 23
Kim Mangone

CALIFORNIA SENATE

District 1
No Endorsement

District 3
* Bill Dodd

District 5
* Susan Eggman

District 7
* Marisol Rubio

District 9
* Nancy Skinner

District 11
* Scott Wiener

District 13
* Josh Becker

District 15
* Dave Cortese

District 17
John Laird

CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY

District 1
Elizabeth Betancourt

District 2
* Jim Wood

District 3
No Endorsement

District 4
* Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

District 5
No Endorsement

District 6
Jackie Smith

District 7
* Kevin McCarty

District 8
* Ken Cooley

District 9
* Jim Cooper

District 10
* Marc Levine

District 11
* Jim Frazier

District 12
Heath Flora

District 13
* Christina Fugazi

District 14
* Tim Grayson

District 15
* Buffy Wicks

District 16
* Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

District 17
* David Chiu

District 18
* Rob Bonta

District 19
* Phil Ting

District 20
* Bill Quirk

District 21
No Endorsement

District 22
* Kevin Mullin

District 23
No Endorsement

District 24
* Marc Berman

District 25
* Anna Song

District 26
Drew Phelps

District 27
* Ash Kalra

District 28
* Evan Low

District 29
* Mark Stone

District 30
* Robert Rivas

Local Endorsements

Alameda County

BOS

BOS
Nate Miley

Keith Carson

Contra Costa County

BOS

BOS
Diane Burgis

Federal Glover

Fresno County

Fresno Mayor
Andrew Janz

Marin County

BOS

BOS

BOS
Katie Rice

Stephanie Moulton-Peters

Dennis Rodoni

Napa County

BOS

BOS

Belia Ramos

Alfredo Pedroza

San Mateo County

BOS

BOS

BOS

David Canepa

Dave Pine

Warren Slocum

Santa Clara County

BOS

BOS

San Jose CC D-4 

San Jose CC D-6

San Jose CC D-10 

Kansen Chu

Magdalena Carrasco

Huy Tran/David Cohen

Jake Tonkel

Jenny Higgins Bradanini

Solano County

BOS

BOS

Mitch Mashburn

Erin Hannigan

Sonoma County

BOS

BOS

Lynda Hopkins

Susan Gorin

Yolo County

BOS District 5
Angel Barajas

Washoe County –

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Projected worker shortage inspires Teamster action for good jobs

Political Director's Report

Every day, Teamsters business agents throughout the country get requests from employers for new workers. Across our core industries, from trucking to warehousing to busing, workers are in high demand. This is especially true for workers who have commercial drivers licenses.

Economists predict a major shortage of truck drivers in the next decade. Some estimate that 160,000 driving jobs will go unfilled. Much of the blame goes on the trucking industry and the shippers themselves.

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State legislature passes many important labor bills

September 30, 2019
Sacramento Report

This year’s legislative session came to one of its weirder ends in recent memory. Perhaps it was the full moon or the fact that it was Friday the 13th. Whatever the reason, it was crazy.

The halls were packed with protesters, mostly from the so-called “anti-vax” movement. These folks were there to protest the Legislature’s passage and ultimately the Governor’s signature on two bills to toughen our state’s vaccination laws. I’ve seen many protests over the years—human rights groups,

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China trade war impacts recycling and Teamster jobs

Political Director's Report

More than 32,000 Teamsters across the nation work in the Solid Waste and Recycling Division. Every morning, Teamsters are out at the crack of dawn collecting America’s garbage and recyclables.

Unlike other Teamster industries, waste and recycling is concentrated into the hands of a few powerful corporations. Waste Management and Republic Services alone provide collection services to more than half the country. Despite this, the Teamsters are growing and organizing in this industry.

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Pushing forth many important bills in the 2019 legislative session

July 1, 2019
Sacramento Report

We’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.

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California Teamsters take on Sacramento to call for end to worker misclassification

April 3, 2019
Political Director's Report, Teamster News
Teamsters Local 853 members attend the Lobby Day activities. Here they’re joined by Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Anthony Rendon (center). Beside Rendon (right) is Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula and JC7 Political Director Doug Bloch.

Teamsters 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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Pushing forth many important bills in the 2019 legislative session

Sacramento Report

The Legislature and our Governor have settled into the 2019 legislative session poised to tackle some big issues. A good economy and the tight fiscal policies of the Brown administration have provided the state with a record surplus, resulting in lots of pressure to spend it on a variety of worthy policies. Expanded healthcare, child care, universal preschool, free community college, among many other things, are all on the agenda to put on the Governor’s desk.

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