Teamster ranks in N.Y. slam bosses and bureaucrats

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NEW YORK—A growing layer of rank-and-file activists is emerging in Teamsters Local 138, which covers some of the biggest grocery wholesalers in the area. Workers have begun to fight company assaults against working conditions and contractual rights despite the absence of union democracy and a chilling reputation for corruption among the union leadership.

The statements of Local 138 President Frank Ribustello-who likes to brag about breaking members' legs-might make some people think that it would be hard for union members to second the saying, "Be proud to be a Teamster."

Their fightback has been hampered by the union officials' practice of refusing members the right to see their contract, appointing rather than electing most shop stewards, and failing to post notices of union meetings.

Sometimes, as at Krasdale Foods, members have not been allowed to vote on their contract. At shops in the Bronx Terminal Market composed primarily of Hispanic and Black workers, many do not even know what union, if any, "represents" them.

The Local 138 bylaws are violated by the practice of giving supervisors a union book. In some instances only supervisors and "elite" employees are allowed union books, while other workers are paid far below contractual scale with no benefits.

At Key Food and at White Rose Foods the conLundford is a member of I.B. T. Local SOCIALIST ACTION JULY 1985 TOU BACKS ACY FOOD FIGHTING TAKE RAT STEWARD :: GARY:

Teamsters picket Key Food on June 9. tracts were modified in mid-life without a vote. A two-tier scale, lie detector tests, and altered shift hours were introduced at Key Food, for example.

Rank-and-file campaign at Key Food This blatant union-company collaboration was the straw that broke the camel's back. Local 138 members at Key Food moved into action, initiating a petition campaign to get a vote on the mid-contract changes and to force the business agent to do his job. They won a partial victory but did not stop there.

They initiated a shop paper called the Free Key Press, which had wide support. Some of them also came to an educational meeting on members' legal rights sponsored by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the national rank-and-file organization working to make the Teamsters stronger and more democratic.

As a result, some workers joined TDU and through TDU organized a meeting of Local members from Krasdale, White Rose, and Key. An ongoing committee was established to coordinate the activity of rank-and-file Local 138 members who are working to reform the union into a fitting instrument to take on the employers.

The union activists knew that, since the company and the union leadership both wanted to keep them atomized, they could expect casualties from their action. One TDU'er, Roberto Soares, was already set up and fired from his job at Krasdale for demanding his rights.

Another, Dave Reardon, was physically attacked by his boss. After going through union channels without success, both were forced to seek redress by taking legal action through the National Labor Relations Board.

Company fires shop steward Key Food tried to break the back of the union activity by firing John Smallman, the second shift warehouse shop steward. Both the company and union officials charged that Smallman had filed an "unauthorized" grievance fact sheet on company time. In addition, a letter of protest that objected to supervisors carrying union books was stolen from the work locker of one activist.

But these chilling actions did not have the desired effect. Local 138 members responded with an informational picket line protesting Key Food's unfair labor practices. The protest culminated in a picket line of some 200 people on June 9, which included the entire second shift. Family members and IDU activists from the Long Island and New York Metro chapters joined in.

Despite further attempts at intimidation-threatening phone calls and the smashing up of an activist's car—the ranks continued to mobilize to demand that John Smallman get his job back. Arbitration was scheduled for June 20.

One protest leaflet stated, "John lost his job for doing his job... Rebuild labor's strength from the bottom to the top. It's the hard way, and unfortunately, the only way."

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FL ON STRIKE AGAINST STRIN STRIKE TENANTS NO DISPUTE WITH ON STRIKE SAN FRANCISCO-On June 5, 1985, the 5000 janitors of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 87 overwhelmingly approved a new three-year contract with the Building Owners and Maintenance Association (BOMA).

The agreement was hailed by local labor leaders as a victory because it didn't contain any of the odious takebacks originally demanded by BOMA. These takebacks included a permanent two-tier pay scale for new hires, speedup and new work rules, layoff of 1200 workers, and a 30-percent cut in pay.

However, the new agreement does contain a two-tier formula-though not permanent-for new hires and part-time workers. This isn't quite the "victory" that has been claimed-especially in light of the fact that the Local 87 membership had prepared well for a fight.

Working people in this city have witnessed one defeat after another. In view of this, the preparations Local 87 made to fight against the employers are instructive because they reflect a contradictory situation: the combativity of the STRIKE AGAINST GAINST WINDOW CLEANERS OR PARANOR O STRRE DoNe CLEANERS WADOW CLEANERS INST UNION LOCAL 44 GENERS ENANTS UNITED MIL NEW AGAINST AAMT Maugement ON STRI WADOW CLEANERS UNION LOCAL 44 NO DISPUTE WITH * TERIE Socialist Action/ Joe Rvan have effectively shut down construction and deliveries at BOMA projects.

Potential is sidetracked

So although the janitors did not want to be forced to strike, the preparations they made set the scene for what might have been a big battle. But the defeats of other unions—symbolized by acceptance of the two-tier in virtually every past strike-and the pressure brought to bear by the Democratic Party city administration in collusion with the city's labor bureaucracy, forced Local 87 to accept an agreement they had to rationalize as "being able to live with."

The specter of a united labor movement, mobilized to draw the line on union-busting was the biggest factor that forced Mayor Feinstein to intervene to keep this strike from happening. In fact this "victory" was negotiated in the gilded office of San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, one of those Democratic Party "friends of labor."

But despite all this preparation, the employers were still able to get a two-tier agreement that will last throughout most of the three-year contract. Sadly,

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AFL-CIO ON STRIKE PLOT! PILOTS