|
News:
Two non-union women fired for refusal to sign
for UPS deliveries
Teamsters establish food bank and relief
fund
UPS strike having impact on many local
businesses
Part-time UPS workers cite conditions
Two UPS workers and teenager arrested by Sparks
PD
Press Reports on the UPS Strike
Commentary:
Keep tempers under controlDaily Sparks
Tribune editorial 8/7/97
Strike raises serious issuesDaily Sparks
Tribune editorial 8/5/97
August 15, 1997
Two non-union women fired for refusal to sign
for UPS deliveries
Federal charges filed against Bently Nevada Corp.
MINDEN, Nevada (U-News)—Two women at a Lake Tahoe
area industrial company were fired on August 8 for refusing to
sign for UPS deliveries. Yesterday, they filed charges of illegal
termination and unfair labor practices with the National Labor
Relations Board in Oakland, Calif.
Jessica Gomes, 40, of Gardnerville, Nev., and
Carlene O'Neil, 56, of Carson City, Nev., worked five years as
stores clerks at Minden-based Bently Nevada Corp. Although neither
belongs to a union, they had discussed with each other their
reluctance to sign for any UPS parcels during the Teamsters union
national strike. On August 6, O'Neil saw a UPS truck arriving
and immediately went into Gomes' office. "I told her to
get someone to sign for the delivery because I didn't want to.
I felt it was the same as crossing a picket line which I don't
believe in doing," O'Neil says.
Gomes and O'Neil had a co-worker sign for the
UPS delivery. The next day, both were questioned about the matter
by their supervisor, Gene Sorem. "I told him I didn't want
to sign for packages from UPS," O'Neil says. "I felt
like UPS workers or any other American citizen had the right
to voice their opinion. I respected that right and would not
cross a picket line or sign for package deliveries," she
added. A co-worker signed for the Thursday UPS parcels.
According to O'Neil's federal complaint, Sorem
told her "lucky for you and lucky for us it's not your job
to sign for UPS packages." The complaint also asserts that
Sorem stated "you're entitled to your opinion and he could
live with that, everything was ok."
On Friday, Mr. Sorem met with both women. According
to the document, he said "Carlene, because of your personal
beliefs and, Jessica, because you didn't sign and because of
your beliefs, I've thought it over and I feel I cannot work with
you under these conditions and I'm letting you go."
O'Neil expressed shock. "I loved working
at Bently, and it's hard to find a new job when you're 56,"
she says. O'Neil lives in Carson City about 30 miles north of
Minden and does not drive. Gomes is the sole support of her husband
and nine-year-old twins. She now works at a $5.00 per hour part-time
job running keno at a casino. Gomes spent part of this week applying
for food stamps so that she could feed her children.
She also contacted the Teamsters union, which
denounced Bently's action. "These two women deserve the
gratitude of every worker in America," stated Reno-based
Teamsters Local 533 secretary-treasurer Lou Martino. "They
stood up for their beliefs and paid a tremendous price. We will
do whatever we can to help them because they tried to help us,"
he added.
In an addendum to her federal charges, Gomes states
"there have been attempts to unionize Bently Nevada during
the time I have worked there. We have been told that if we talked
to anybody handing out union literature, we'd be fired. You mention
union and you're fired."
The two allege that it's illegal to fire people
in cases like theirs. Section 157 of the National Labor Relations
Act states "Employees shall have the right to...assist labor
organizations...and to assist in other concerted activities for
the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or
protection."
O'Neil comes from a union family. Her father worked
as a union longshoreman in Long Beach, Calif. Gomes once served
as a shop steward in an organizing drive. Al Madeiros, who once
led Teamsters Local 70 in the San Francisco Bay Area, was the
great-uncle of Gomes' husband, David.
Jessica Gomes and Carlene O'Neil served in the
U.S. Marine Corps, each attaining the rank of lance corporal.
"I fought for the right to express yourself, to say what
you believe," Gomes says. "I believe in unions and
peoples' rights."
Minden-based Bently employs between 500 and a
thousand workers at far-flung locations. The company manufactures
high-tech monitoring equipment which detects wear on fast-spinning
machinery. Minden lies in Douglas County, about 60 miles south
of Reno in ranchlands below Lake Tahoe.
-30-
UPDATE 1998
: Illegally
Fired Bently Workers Win at Highest Level
UPDATE 2002:
Jessica Gomes killed
in auto accident
From the August
12 Daily Sparks Tribune:
UPS strike having impact on many local businesses
by Joanna Welch, Tribune staff
For some, business couldn't be better. For others,
it's been a devastating blow. For a handful, it's a wakeup call.
One week after union employees walked off their
jobs at United Parcel Service, the ramifications have undoubtedly
been varied.
As the country's largest shipper ground to a halt,
shipping only 10 percent of the 12 million packages they normally
handle each day, businesses began turning to either UPS' competitors
or abandoning any attempts to send packages.
"We are swamped, swamped. We are so swamped
we don't have time to talk," Terica Owens of California
Sierra Express said Monday before hanging up the phone.
Mari Andrews, owner of Mail Boxes, Etc., in Sparks,
admits the effects of the strike haven't been too bad so far.
Since Andrews had a Federal Express account prior to the strike,
she can continue to ship her customers' packages.
"We've always used other companies. We keep
accounts with all the carriers all the time," Andrews said
Monday. "The people it has really affected is our customers."
In the past week, Federal Express has suspended
its money-back guarantee if packages do not arrive within the
specified one or two day delivery times and the company is not
accepting new accounts, Darlene Faquin, a spokeswoman for the
company said today.
"Currently, we are operating our drop-off
service and customers can send up to five packages a day,"
Faquin said.
One of the few shippers that continues to guarantee
express mail service is the United States Postal Service.
"It (express mail) is our premier product
and it's comparable with UPS 'next day' and Federal Express 'overnight,'"
Tim Purcell, a spokesman for the postal service said.
What surprises Purcell is the small increase in
the number of packages being shipped via parcel post. The service
is similar to UPS' ground service, which is the mainstay of the
company.
Other local companies are feeling the effects
of the strike. Help U Mail of Reno typically ships 80 percent
of its items via UPS using the ground service, Lee Phelps said.
The major benefits of using UPS ground service
are that it automatically insures the shipment for $100 and tracks
it enroute until it arrives at its final destination.
While a package can take five to six days to make
it from the west to the east coast, it is cheaper than using
FedEx second day service or sending it by air freight.
"I don't think anyone could compete with
their (UPS) ground service," Phelps said.
In the past week, Phelps added, he has accumulated
20 packages from customers who want them shipped once the UPS
strike is over.
Business at the Box Store in Sparks is down 50
percent, according to manager Darren McClary.
"The strike has affected us in the worst
way financially," McClary said.
"We send boxes to people who want to ship
things. But luckily, we are backed by a large packing company."
For McClary, the strike was a wakeup call. "It
wakes up America about the stranglehold UPS has on America,"
he said.
John Tracey, owner of Reno's Landstar Express
America, hopes the strike is a wakeup call of a different kind.
He hopes it prods UPS into treating its employees with a little
more respect and dignity.
"I wouldn't ask my drivers to park in red
zones and run across streets with packages, risking their lives
to reach a package quota," Tracey said.
"UPS should treat its employees a little
better."
Strikers are entering their second week without
pay. Starting next week, they will receive $55 per week from
the Teamsters strike fund. The American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) announced it would
contribute to the union fund.
According to UPS, approximately 7,000 strikers
nationwide have already crossed the picket lines and returned
to work. The unions continue to dispute this figure, maintaining
it is grossly inflated.
-30-
© August 12, 1997, the
Daily Sparks Tribune
Reproduced by permission of the publisher. No endorsement of
the other content of this website should be inferred.
AUGUST 6, 1997 4:00
P.M.
Teamster UPS workers and teenage daughter
arrested by Sparks PD for asking questions of officers
Two UPS strikers and one teenager were arrested
yesterday in front of the Sparks UPS terminal on Vista Blvd.
Longtime workers Randy Hobbs and Greg Kneisel and Kneisel's 15
year-old daughter were cited and handcuffed by Sparks Sgt. Jack
Beach (702-353-2279; Sgt. Beach was unavailable for a statement
at U-News deadline. His response, if any, will be posted here.
Lt. Paul Ochs, speaking for the department, said
"my understanding is they were blocking the entrance while
picketing. They were asked several times to move and refused
to do so." Lt. Ochs was not present at the arrest.
Hobbs says UPS trucks assembled at Mendive Middle
School and were escorted through the gates by Sparks police.
Hobbs says he was cited "for not getting out of the way
of the returning trucks fast enough. An officer said 'get over.'
I asked 'what for?' and was arrested." Hobbs added that
"Kneisel was told to 'get on the sidewalk.' Kneisel was
standing out of the line of traffic and asked 'what sidewalk?,'"
Hobbs said. There are no sidewalks at the site, but there are
paved curbs. Kneisel was then handcuffed, according to Hobbs.
Kneisel's daughter asked "what are you doing to my father?"
Beach then cuffed her, Hobbs stated. Each was driven in a police
car several blocks away and released. They were driven back to
the picket line by Teamsters Local 533 CEO Lou Martino.
"I know Jack Beach and I think he totally
over-reacted. Our people were involved in lawful activity,"
Martino said.
All three have been charged with "assembly
for the purpose of committing an unlawful act" and "obstructing
an officer." They face $425 fines in Sparks Municipal Court
on August 24. The situation is different in Houston, where local
police have announced a zero-tolerance for management driven
UPS trucks. Members of the Houston Police Patrolmen's Union have
announced that they will pull UPS trucks over for any violation.
"Once HPPU members get the vehicle stopped, they are instructed
to go into a 'zero tolerance' mode and cite each and every violation
of the law they find," the union said in a statement today.
UPDATE: Striking
Teamster Proves Prophetic About Sparks Police Department
NEW NEVADA LABOR WEBSITE:
Because of all the erroneous information disseminated by UPS,
Nevada has its first general labor website at www.nevadalabor.com.
It will be edited by longtime labor activist Andrew Barbano.
"In addition to breaking news, we will place
information useful to striking workers on the site," Barbano
said. "We will also tell the untold story, that of the hardships
of the workers who have had the courage to go on strike. The
news media have been full of stories talking about impacts on
business, but little or nothing about workers who will not even
see their first $55 weekly strike pay checks for another two
weeks," Barbano said.
(Journalists and editors: if you are interested in
interviewing the two Teamster arrestees or any striking workers,
especially part-timers, please contact
U-News.)
STRIKE BRIEFS: Postal workers showed up
at the UPS Sparks picket line and told picketers they would ask
their union leadership if they could join striking Teamsters.
Longtime Nevada Association of Letter Carriers President Joseph
Assalone (702-648-2062, JFAPrez@aol.com) today told U-News that
such activity is both permitted and encouraged...In Washington,
American Postal Workers Union President Moe Biller threw the
support of his union behind the Teamsters by refusing a request
from the postal service to hire emergency temporary workers to
help handle the increased volume resulting from the shutdown
of UPS. "There will be no waiver granted by the APWU to
increase the use and number of casuals at the national or local
level," Biller said...Indianapolis, Ind., Federal Express
workers are joining striking Teamsters on the picket lines this
afternoon...The staff at Laborers' Union Local 169 in Reno has
refused deliveries from UPS this week...Reno Machinists Local
801 President Robert S. Ryan complains about UPS video surveillance
of his workers who have refused to cross the line and instead
march with their co-workers ...Local 533 members are following
and legally picketing the few UPS vehicles out on delivery in
northern Nevada. The law and rules governing such activity will
be posted at this site.
-30-
From the front page of the August 7 Daily Sparks Tribune:
Part-time UPS workers cite conditions, talks
resume today
By Joanna Welch Staff writer
Concerns about the United Parcel Service strike
revolve around late deliveries and no deliveries, but at the
core of Monday's mass walkout is the increasing number of part-time
workers employed by the company.
In the past nine years, the company has doubled
the number of part-time employees from 30 to 60 percent, Lou
Martino, principal officer of Teamsters Local 533, said recently.
Fran Caliendo Richardson has worked as a part-time
sorter at UPS for the past two years at the Vista Boulevard center.
With a 4 a.m. start time, Richardson ends her
shift by 9 a.m. Richardson, who is hoping for a full-time UPS
job, works a second job at a Virginia City hotel.
"My goal is to become a driver, get a job
and get a pension, but it sounds like the company is going in
the opposite direction. It's sad, really," she said Wednesday.
Richardson, like thousands of other UPS employees,
is on the union's seniority list. When a full-time job comes
up, if she's qualified and at the top of the list, the job will
go to her.
Charlie Dunn, like Richardson,works part-time
unloading and sorting the packages at the Sparks warehouse before
they are shipped out to customers.
Dunn works four and one-half hours a day unloading
and sorting. But on Saturdays he works an eight-hour shift as
a driver—one of the more coveted jobs at UPS.
Despite working close to 35 hours a week, just
five hours less than a standard work week, Dunn remains on part-time
status because he, like a number of part-time employees, "volunteers"
to work the extra hours.
But if Dunn calls in sick on a Saturday, he doesn't
receive sick pay.
"It would be nice to work five days and have
weekends off. If I take Saturdays off, it's a dent in my paycheck,"
Dunn said.
Only during the company's peak season is Ken Odums
offered overtime. He has worked for UPS as a sorter for a year,
and like the majority of his colleagues, he is on the waiting
list to go full-time.
The peak season runs from October through early
January. But during this period, the company will also hire temporary
employees to make up for the increased workload.
According to Cori Barrett, a UPS spokeswoman,
the company employs 12,000 part-time employees in its northwest
region and employs a total of 300,000 nationwide.
Four days into the strike, the Teamsters and UPS
are meeting today with federal mediators to hold "informal
talks."
Despite an apparent break in the impasse, "our
battle cry remains to allow UPS employees a chance to vote on
the contract," Barrett said. UPS has added 13,000 full-time
jobs over the past four years and has offered to add an additional
10,000 for the life of the next contract, Barrett said. The contract
runs for approximately four years.
Holding a banner and sporting a deep tan, Kenton
Montegna is a full-time driver for the company.
"We really hustle on our jobs," he said,
adding that on average, he works five to seven hours of overtime
a week.
"I don't think I've ever worked a flat 40-hour
week since I've been here," he said. "We could use
some more full-time employees in this hub."
Montegna says he hasn't decided if his career
lies with UPS and he doesn't stand to gain personally from the
strike.
"I've no need to strike except to support
my part-time colleagues," he said.
-30-
Teamsters establish food bank and relief
fund for striking UPS employees
Hold candlelight vigil for UPS manager killed in accident
RENO, Nevada (U-News)—Teamsters Local 533 has
established a food bank and relief fund for striking UPS workers.
Individuals may send checks to the Teamsters Local 533 Relief
Fund in care of Washoe Credit Union, P.O. Box 70099, Reno, Nev.,
89570. Legal restrictions prohibit company or corporate contributions.
Family food donations can be dropped off at the
Teamsters office at 316 Vassar Street, half a block east of Wells
Avenue in Reno. Canned and boxed goods and other non-perishable
products and toiletries are encouraged. For more information
call (702) 348-6060.
Striking employees attended candlelight vigils
Thursday, August 14, for a UPS manager who lost his life in a
Tennessee highway accident earlier this week. Western Nevada
Teamsters held their ceremony in front of the Vista Boulevard
UPS terminal in Sparks. Local 533 secretary-treasurer Lou Martino
encouraged Teamsters in Ely, Elko, Fallon, Winnemucca and South
Lake Tahoe to conduct similar events.
Floyd Parta, 48, of Mount Juliet, Tenn., died
Monday when his tractor-trailer ran off a highway ramp. Parta
was taking the rig from a railway yard to a Nashville UPS terminal.
The setup went over a 2-1/2-foot wall on an entrance ramp. The
cab landed on its roof on Interstate 65.
-30-
© August 7, 1997, the
Daily Sparks Tribune
Reproduced by permission of the publisher. No endorsement of
the other content of this website should be inferred.
In an August 7
editorial, the Daily Sparks Tribune wrote:
Keep tempers under control
As the United Parcel Service strike enters its
fourth day, apparently tempers are flaring.
Two adults and a teenage girl were arrested Tuesday
by a Sparks police sergeant who claims they refused to clear
a driveway as UPS trucks were returning to the Sparks Boulevard
headquarters. Those who were cited disput e the claim.
Randy Hobbs, who has worked at UPS for 17 years,
was one of those ticketed. Greg Kneisel and his 15-year-old daughter
are also accused of blocking access to the company. All three
were handcuffed and cited before they were set free. The ticket
issued has a minimum fine of $425.
Hobbs says the arrest was unnecessary and police
overreacted after they were asked to escort the big brown trucks
at the end of the day. The vehicles are being driven by managers
who are trying to deliver packages while the strike continues.
"There was no need for all of it, it was
like they were making a statement," Hobbs said. "I
thought we were assembled to picket. I thought we had a legal
right to do that."
Picketing is legal, but certain boundaries must
be respected. A union handbook spells out what picketers may
and may not do. They are allowed to enter areas used by the general
public where they may slowly walk back and forth between entrances
and exits to the company.
In this case, it will eventually be up to a judge
to decide if any laws were violated. Hobbs said he and Kneisel
simply asked questions after receiving orders from police to
"get over there." He alleges that when he asked the
officer why he must move, that is when the cuffs were slapped
on.
He said Kneisel got the same treatment after an
officer told him to get on the sidewalk. Kneisel pointed out
that there was no sidewalk in front of the gate and was arrested.
When his daughter questioned what was happening to her father,
she was also promptly handcuffed, according to Hobbs.
The arrests will do nothing to ensure calm as
the strikers continue to picket here and across the nation. The
issues of pay, part-time employees and benefits are extremely
emotional for the workers. As the strike drags on, tempers will
become frazzled for those on both sides of the issue.
We urge restraint on the part of UPS employees.
They should follow the law to the letter and not confront or
challenge any trucks entering or leaving the UPS yard.
Sparks police also need to brush up on what the
strikers may legally do during their protest and not inflame
the situation with frivolous arrests when conversation might
work better to settle any dispute.
Hopefully, the strike will end soon since talks
will resume today. Until then, both union members and management
need to act responsibly and within their legal rights.
-30-
© August 7, 1997, the
Daily Sparks Tribune Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
No endorsement of the other content of this website should be inferred.
In an August 5, 1997, editorial,
the Daily Sparks Tribune wrote:
Strike raises serious issues
A national walkout by United Parcel Service workers
has brought package delivery to a near standstill.
The employees went on strike at midnight Sunday
over wages, part-time workers and pension issues. Today, there
is no indication the union and management at UPS will be resuming
talks anytime soon.
The walkout has crippled the UPS distribution
center in Sparks and similar operations throughout the country.
The effects are being felt after only one day of idle workers
walking the picket line.
One of the major issues is the number of part-time
workers employed by UPS. Almost two-thirds of its 302,000 employees
are part-time employees. They say that is not fair and some of
those workers are asked to pull double and triple shifts, but
aren't receiving full benefits and retirement benefits.
The strike has brought attention to the increasing
number of companies that are leaning toward part-time workers
instead of full-time employees. This strike is important because
it could affect thousands of other companies and the way they
operate.
President Bill Clinton said Monday he will not
interfere with the walkout and hopes the two sides can return
to the bargaining table. Last year, he stepped in when American
Airlines pilots went on strike and ordered them back to work,
but vows to stay out of this situation.
Clinton's decision is a good one. The issue of
part-time versus full-time workers in the United States needs
to be decided. Granted the UPS strike, if it continues only a
few more days, will have a tremendous impact on companies throughout
the United States. UPS typically ships more than 12 million packages
a day.
If the strike isn't settled soon, thousands of
companies could find they are temporarily out of business if
packages cannot be transported to and from their intended destinations.
of the national impact, we believe the impasse
will not last long. The two sides should be able to get back
to discussion and hopefully that will happen before too many
businesses suffer losses.
The strike is forcing America to take a hard look
at a serious issue and that is good.
© August 5, 1997, the
Daily Sparks Tribune
Reproduced by permission of the publisher. No endorsement of
the other content of this website should be inferred.
|
