Teamsters "hang tough' at White Rose
1991Gerry Fiori 1991-05Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 7 →
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tween strikers and truckers (mostly independent owners), who were waved past the pickets by supervisors.
Although only a handful a strikers were there, the railroad called out their own gumshoes, a Chicago police squad car, and the infamous labor detail of the police.
The picketers weren't sure of their effectiveness until one independent driver convinced his company not to run that day, and another pleaded with picketers: "Please let me through. I won't go back after I drop this load. I didn't realize you guys would be so tough."
This was a small taste of what could be possible with a serious mass picket line, and the real test of strength was not with these few trucks. But strikers showed up to picket there, because they knew it had an effect.
At one point, a railroad supervisor came out to fume at the strikers. Who could be so stupid and ignorant, he asked, as to leave tacks on the road? The strikers replied that they had no idea-but they wanted to know who could be so stupid and ignorant as to wave trucks through a picket line?
Just how stupid—or worse—was shown a Tina Beacock is a member of the United Transportation Union.
NEW YORK-Local 138 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has been on strike against White Rose Foods since Feb. 1.
White Rose, a Long Island-based grocery wholesale supplier owned by the DiGiorgio Corporation, forced out the more than 500 members of the local by demanding acceptance of a contract calling for major concessions. At the time, the company was making high profits.
The strikers have responded to the company's union-busting tactics (which included the opening of a second warehouse in New Jersey months before the start of the strike) by setting up picket lines at the distribution facilities.
In addition, the strikers have organized flying squads to leaflet in front of retail stores that buy from White Rose. They see this as a means of enforcing a total boycott of the scab groceries.
On April 14, the strikers held their first public rally. Over 1000 strikers, their families, and supporters gathered at the union hall of Local 25 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Melville, N.Y., and marched several miles to the White Rose warehouse in Farmingdale. Once there, they held a spirited rally featuring speakers from Local 138 and from supporting unions.
According to Mike Ruscigno, recording secretary and business agent of Local 138, solidarity is building for the strike. "A lot of the other Teamster locals, the Eastern machinists, and the Greyhound workers have come out for us," he told Socialist Action.
"We've just come through the Daily News strike and the phone company strike-and the solidarity in the New York area now is strong," Ruscigno pointed out. "We know we have to jump in and help each other. Everybody realizes this strike is going to affect every union job in the area."
Donations and letters of support can be sent to Teamsters Local 138, 1038 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101. Telephone (718) 392-2300.
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Gov. Weld's furlough plan, which would