Solidarity is our superpower
August 5, 2024
Teamwork makes the dream work. The past few months have shown us how much working together and supporting each other is our true source of power as Teamsters. Our Joint Council has shown up on a political and legislative level to promote our California Automotive Regulatory Standards (CARS) Package of legislation, which would provide safeguards and regulation for autonomous vehicles (AV).
Our CARS package consists of AB 2286, which is our reintroduction of AB 316 that would require a safety operator for any vehicles over 10,000 lbs; AB 3061, which is an AV data bill that will lay out the type of data AV companies need to provide to California regulators; and SB 915, our AV local control bill, which would allow local jurisdictions to implement local ordinances when it comes to autonomous vehicles. These three bills all made it through their houses of origin in May in large part because each local union stepped up and encouraged their respective assemblymembers and senators about the importance of protecting Teamster jobs, so that legislators understood just how important these bills are to our membership.
On top of the many phone calls, by JC 7 Teamsters, our local unions pushed to get our local elected officials to pass resolutions of support for our bills.
We had resolutions passed in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, and the cities of San Francisco and Oakland. We also have Sacramento in the process of passing a resolution to support SB 915. These local resolutions helped garner support in the State Legislature and with organizations such as the League of Cities and the California Counties State Association. These resolutions also helped put pressure on legislators so that they knew that it was important to not just us, but also their constituents. During legislative committee hearings we also had members testify about how these bills would impact their jobs, and we had members from many of our locals unions turn out to the hearings in support of our bills. It has truly been a team effort. However, we will need to continue to put the pressure on our legislators in the months to come to get our bills to the Governor’s desk, which will be no easy task.
The teamwork of our Joint Council doesn’t end at our bills. Our locals have stepped up to provide support to each other when our members have needed it most and use our political leverage to assist in recent strikes and lockouts.
Local 150 went on strike in March against Amerisource Bergen Drug and many of the Joint Council’s locals and elected officials joined the strike line to support the workers. Congressman Adam Schiff, whom we helped extensively in his bid for Senate, stepped in to give his support for the workers out on strike, demanding Amerisource Bergen give them a fair contract—which they eventually did!
Most recently our locals have shown up for Local 315’s members at Brenntag chemical plant who have been locked out of their workplace since May. JC 7 Teamsters have shown up to the Local 315 picket line and have asked elected officials they are close with to make calls to the Brenntag Vice President of Operations to demand that Brenntag return these Teamsters back to work. This has resulted in almost every level of government from city council members, county supervisors, state assemblymembers, state senators, and senators, and members of Congress making phone calls.
Our work as a political collective is what makes us and will continue to make us stronger as Teamsters. As we look towards the November General Election, knowing that our personal ideologies may often differ, we should take into consideration and remember that it’s our collective belief in the labor movement and each other that matters most when choosing a candidate.
