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Friday, 05 February 2010 |
Moving and Storage Proposal Meeting
Feb. 9, 2010 Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: PS 150 40-01 43rd Street Long Island City New York Calling All Local 814 Movers: The Moving and Storage Contract is set to expire April 30th, 2010. Members are stepping up and preparing to fight for a contract they can be proud of. If you care about your wages, benefits and contract language, do not miss this meeting. Casuals, Apprentices, Industry and Seniority List Movers should all attend. |
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Wednesday, 03 February 2010 |
Local 814 is MovingSince January 1st of this year the new officers of Local 814 have been working hard to turn this union around. We have been out in the streets signing up new members, collecting dues and enforcing our contracts. But it can’t stop there. Restoring our union’s power also means fixing the finances. To that end, we have slashed the salaries of officers and staff and cut our legal bills dramatically. Now we have to go further. Our current space at 33-01 38th avenue is a drain on our resources. Attached to this letter is the Con Edison bill from December. During winter months, Local 814 was spending nearly $5,000 per month on utilities. We simply cannot justify this expense to the members. So we are moving. Starting Monday, February 8th, 2010, our new address and contact information will be as follows: Teamsters Local 814 44-61 11th Street, 3rd Floor Long Island City, New York 11101 Please send all dues and correspondence etc. to this new address. We will now be in the same building as Teamsters Local 805, and our long-term plan is to share a buliding with a larger group of Teamster locals. In Chicago they have a "Teamster City", why shouldn't New York. By working with other locals we can cut costs and put Local 814 back on the right track. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 February 2010 )
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Sunday, 31 January 2010 |
Official Local 814 WebsiteIn case you haven't noticed, Local 814 has a new web address. Check out the official website at www.ibt814.com . On the front page there is an article about the new Work Alert program. If you are looking for work as an extra in the Moving and Storage industry, don't forget to call the union and sign up for the program (718-392-4510). |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 31 January 2010 )
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Sunday, 31 January 2010 |
Enforcement Committee Takes to the Streets Rebuilding our union’s power begins with enforcing the Moving and Storage Contract. For years key sections of the contract have been not been enforced, with terrible consequences for the union and the benefit funds. “No book” casuals have overrun large moving jobs, and abuse of the ratio has gotten so bad that our medical coverage has suffered. But the union is pushing back. On their first day in office, Jason Ide, Richie Johnson and organizer Julian Tysh held the first Enforcement Committee meeting. Twenty-five members showed up and volunteered to check jobs and do area-standards picketing. Now they are out on the streets, checking dues, signing up new members, and filing grievances when employers violate the ratio. Even with twenty-five members, the enforcement committee can’t do it alone. If you’re on a job overrun by casuals or subcontractors, call the union immediately. If you’re working with a casual without a union book, tell him that we are fighting for his future next contract, and that now is the time to join. We have to push back and enforce the contract. It’s going to take every member to do it. |
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Sunday, 06 December 2009 |
New Union Meeting Date Apparently a memo was mailed out notifying shop stewards that the date of the next general membership meeting has been changed. The new meeting info is: Monday, December 21st 7 pm PS 150 40-01 43rd ave. Sunnyside, Queens |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 06 December 2009 )
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Tuesday, 17 November 2009 |
814 New Directions Slate Victory Celebration
Join us to celebrate our victory—and prepare for the challenges ahead.
- Hear your new executive board lay out their plan for restoring the power in 814.
- Sign up to be part of the Membership Action Team to protect our contracts and benefits.
- Enjoy beer and food, courtesy of the New Directions Slate
Desmond’s Tavern 433 Park Ave. S Btwn 29th and 30th Saturday, Nov. 21
3 PM til 7 PM Beer and food will be served |
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Saturday, 14 November 2009 |
Daniello's Last Act: More Medical Cuts? Rumors suggest that Daniello--with less than two months left in office--has voted to cut our medical benefit yet again. Sources say that Daniello and the other trustees agreed to cut our HIP medical plan and our prescription benefit at the Fund Trustees meeting last Thursday, November 12th. As to what was cut and how far, we don't know. Can we expect higher copays and deductibles? Once again, we don't know, but it wouldn't surprise us at all. What we do know is this: Daniello has been lying to members about the Welfare Fund. We've been saying that the Fund is in trouble for years now, and time after time he has denied it. Now we are facing a possible third round of cuts. Whatever happens with these Funds going forward, members can expect straight answers from New Directions. We are all adults here--if there's something wrong, we deserve to know the truth. |
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Friday, 30 October 2009 |
Landslide Victory for the 814 New DirectionsThe members have spoken: it's time for new leadership in Local 814. Here are the vote totals: 814 New Directions Unity Slate Jason Ide 406 George Daniello 154 Mickey Flath 396 James O'Mara 170 Richie Johnson 409 Abner Martinez 158 Anthony Meyers 403 Maurice Vaccarezza 164 Roy Tapia 386 Mike Corbett 171 Debo Otusile 386 Anthony LaRosa 186 Curtis Williams 372 Edward Brennan 196 |
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Tuesday, 27 October 2009 |
Don't Let Daniello Rig Our Election Desperate to hold on to his job, George Daniello is trying to steal the election by stuffing the ballot box with ineligible voters. According to official documents provided by Election Services Solutions, Daniello has added fifty non-members to the voting rolls. George had ballots sent to 50 people who have not worked in Local 814 for years—including friends and family members. The list of “add-ons” who were mailed ballots include a Daniello, an O’Mara and a long list of Corbetts. Local 814 is NOT a family business.
It is YOUR union.
Don’t let them rig your election.
814 New Directions:Standing Up for a Clean Election
814 New Directions is fighting for your right to a clean election: We have filed official pre-election protests and informed Election Services Solutions of these violations—as well as the Department of Labor. We have challenged the votes cast by the ineligible “add-ons.”
We asked Election Services Solutions to disqualify these ballots—and, at the very least, to segregate the challenged ballots from ballots cast by Local 814 members whose voting eligibility is not questioned by any of the parties to the election. Elections Services Solutions is a professional organization with a responsibility to run the election fairly and neutrally. We will let you know before Friday’s vote count if Election Services Solutions has agreed to this reasonable request to safeguard the integrity of the Local 814 Election. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 October 2009 )
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Wednesday, 07 October 2009 |
George’s Secret Deal To Cut Your PensionPension Fund documents obtained by the 814 New Directions Slate reveal that George Daniello has already approved a plan to slash members’ pension benefits. George voted with the employers to approve a “Funding Improvement Plan” that will cut your pension even if employers agree to increase contributions to the fund. The pension cut agreement became legally binding on Nov. 20, 2008. George has kept the deal secret from the members for a year! Click here to download the leaflet on George’s Secret Pension Cut Deal. Click here to download Q&A on the Local 814 Pension Cuts. Click here to read for yourself the “Funding Improvement Plan” the official document from the Local 814 Pension Fund. The Facts on George’s Secret Pension Cut DealGeorge Daniello and the employer trustees to our Pension Fund have agreed to a legally-binding “Funding Improvement Plan” that will cut your pension. Under this agreement, your annual pension credit will be reduced to zero after the current contract expires. That means your pension will be frozen at what you have already earned and you will get no credit toward your pension after that no matter how many hours you work. These massive cuts will automatically go into effect as the “Default Schedule” for our Pension Fund unless the union and employer trustees to the fund can agree on a new plan during contract negotiations. Under the plan, Local 814 has to negotiate hourly pension contributions of $6.90 in the new contract. When the contract expires on May 1, employers will only be required to pay $4.50 in hourly pension contributions—not $6. (See Article 6b of the Memorandum of Agreement). That means our union will have to negotiate a $2.40 increase in the new agreement—and even then our future pension credit will be cut to zero. The only way to keep the $72.00 pension according to the agreement is for the employers to increase their hourly pension contributions to $8.55 in the next contract. Ask George what his secret plan is to get that! George Daniello has hidden this agreement from the membership for almost a year. The Local 814 New Directions Slate obtained a copy of the “Funding Improvement Plan” by exercising our rights under federal law, the Pension Protection Act. The Pension Fund is YOUR money. You deserve the truth about what is happening with your benefits—and a plan to protect them. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 October 2009 )
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Sunday, 04 October 2009 |
Daniello Fears Democracy In Local 814 By gem527 Why does Daniello fear democracy? Because then the membership would be involved in decision-making. But shouldn’t we have some say in matters that affect us and our families? If the members had to approve Daniello’s raise, do you think he would be making $115,000 dollars a year? For some reason, I don't think so. Daniello and his trustees came up with a Funding Improvement Plan for the pension fund last November, and to this day, no one knows what’s in it. This is the plan to get us out of the yellow/red zone and into the green zone, and it could include serious cuts to our pension. This is our retirement I'm talking about, so why is the information being suppressed? Does George Daniello pride himself on keeping members in the dark? Instead of informing us about the challenges facing our union, Daniello is out there trying to scare members about Teamsters for a Democratic Union. I don't know about you guys, but the thought of democracy never seemed scary to me. I'm more worried about my dollar coming back into the annuity fund. I encourage every member to go to the TDU website and make up their own mind about whether or not democracy belongs in 814 (www.tdu.org ). But see, bad-mouthing TDU is just a scare tactic. In reality there are a lot more serious things you should be afraid of. Like early negotiations, for example. The only reason Daniello wants to negotiate early is because DENNIS FARRELL, the owner of Central Moving and Storage, doesn't want us to get our dollar back into the annuity on March 1st. And did you know that the Beth Israel Teamsters have been without a contract for six months? Did you know that the 814 members at Nassau Coliseum just got their version of the "worst contract ever?" Here are a just two "highlights" from the recent Nassau contract: the dock checker job was given away and the annuity was butchered from $4.10 to $0.25. Yeah, you read that right. Their annuity was slashed to a quarter for every hour worked. Involving the membership and rebuilding our union's power isn't scary. Letting the members have a say in what happens to them doesn't scare me either. But, I'll tell you what...seeing my medical fund go from a two-year surplus to nearly bankrupt then losing my dental coverage, that’s scary. Not getting my dollar back into the annuity because of a rigged early negotiations scheme, that's scary. Seeing the same old faces at the bargaining table, that's scary. Making a complaint to the union and then having your boss call you ten minutes later to ask you "why are you calling the union?", that's scary. Seeing your president jack up his salary $50,000 dollars without merit, that's scary. Seeing non-union guys working over 1000 hours without joining the union, now that's scary. Being on huge jobs and seeing the ratio abused is scary, especially for our funds. What I'm saying is don’t believe George's hype. The truth is the truth and his record speaks for itself. So if you're scared of inclusion, transparency and accountability, then by all means vote for George. As for me, like most intelligent members of 814, I'll go with change and for the 814 New Directions Slate . |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 October 2009 )
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Saturday, 19 September 2009 |
Members Demand a New Direction For 814 After years of seeing contracts weaken and benefits decline, members are fed up. We are tired of being kept in the dark during negotiations. We are tired of being pushed to accept weak contracts. And most of all, we are tired of having our health care and dental slashed as the benefit funds head toward bankruptcy. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have always had a membership that was willing to fight back and participate in their union. In fact, members are our greatest untapped resource. But weak leadership has always held us back. Now there is change in the air. Over 120 members showed up at the nominations meeting to support the 814 New Directions slate. Members are uniting around a platform of restoring the power of our union by: 1) Enforcing the Contract The 814 New Directions slate will deputize members to check jobs and enforce the ratio. If other unions can enforce their contracts, so can we. 2) Standing Tough at the Bargaining Table The 814 New Directions slate will do extensive bargaining surveys to make sure that they are fighting for what the members want. They will also keep members informed during bargaining and mobilize a contract campaign. 3) Stabilizing Our Benefits The 814 New Directions slate will make sure that we are getting the good health benefits we are paying for by picking the right insurance carrier and carefully monitoring costs. They will also increase contributions by enforcing the ratio and negotiating for contributions for casual. 4) Slash Officer Salaries The 814 New Directions slate will use our dues money to provide better representation by slashing officer salaries and using the money to hire top-notch attorneys for bargaining. We can turn this union around, but we have to do it together. Ballots will be mailed on October 9th. Check the Box for the 814 New Directions Slate. http://814newdirections.org/ |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 September 2009 )
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Monday, 03 August 2009 |
Nomination Meeting Now Set For September 5th  Without any real explanation, the union leadership has changed the Nomination meeting date from September 6th to Saturday, September 5th. If the goal is to keep members at home and out of the democratic process, we don't think it's going to work. If you want to see new strategies in action that can deliver winning contracts and save our benefit funds, come out to the nomination meeting and support the New Directions Slate (check out their website at 814newdirections.org . When: Saturday, September 5th at 10 AM40-01 43rd ave.Long Island City, New York 11104
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 August 2009 )
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Saturday, 01 August 2009 |
Beth Israel NightmareNegotiations are still going on between Local 814 and Beth Israel hospital. The jobs of over 50 security guards are on the line. With this contract, George Daniello had a chance to step forward and show the whole union how his negotiation strategies can deliver.
Instead, we have a disaster on our hands. The Beth Israel contract expired in March. For four, long months the security guards have been working without a deal. Now the guards have lost their union medical coverage, and Abner Martinez and Daniello have admitted that they feel like they are “about to lose the whole shop.”
Unfortunately, Daniello agreed to postpone negotiations until AFTER the other union, SEIU 1199, had ratified their contract. Not only did this hang members out to dry for months on end, but it also gave up Local 814's best chance to put pressure on hospital management.
So why should this situation matter to movers in our union? Two reasons:
1) If 814 loses the security guards, we lose a huge amount of contributions into our Welfare and Pension funds. The funds are already on the brink of disaster, and a blow like this could very well sink them.
2) The Beth Israel nightmare shows what happens when Daniello negotiates contracts. He doesn’t have a plan to win, and in the end, the members lose out. Imagine would could happen with the Moving and Storage Contract.
So what should the union do to turn this situation around? It's simple--mobilize the members and put pressure on the employer. Print t-shirts, hold rallies, and start a corporate campaign to shame the hospital into agreeing to a contract. Most importantly, send out press releases and do real media outreach to get our point across to the public. These are not new ideas. Every strong union in the city does it this way. It's time Local 814 had the sort of leadership that uses winning strategies to get strong contracts for the membership. We deserve it. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 01 August 2009 )
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Sunday, 31 May 2009 |
Union Meeting June 8th
Calling all members: the next membership meeting will be an important one. Show up at the meeting, sign the petition, and show your support for the by-laws changes.
This next contract will be for all the marbles, and the same old approach just isn't going to cut it this time. No more keeping members in the dark until the last minute. No more pushing concessions when there's nothing left to give. No more appointed wage-scale committee that isn't elected by the dues-paying members of this local. And no more sneak attack sunday morning votes. That's why we need to change the by-laws. The new bylaws will require our bargaining comittee to keep members informed of what's going on at the table. The new bylaws also require that every change to the contract be fully explained to the members before a vote is taken. Lastly, the new bylaws will create an elected bargaining committee of people who actually want to be there and do a good job. We can't expect different results if we keep using the same losing strategies that have never given us a chance for victory. It's time for a change in the way Local 814 handles bargaining, and if you support this change, get on board at the next meeting. Union Meeting June 8th at 7 pm
Location: PS 150
40-01 43rd ave.
Long Island City, Queens
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Last Updated ( Monday, 01 June 2009 )
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