Rebuilding Teamster Power in Carhaul
Interview with Kirk Sikora Local 327 Steward Cassens
How did you become a Teamster Carhauler?
In the early 90’s, I was working as a heavy wrecker operator that had contracts doing recovery work for carhaul companies like M&G Convoy. I was helping a carhauler swap tractors and we shared how much we made. When he told me what he was paid, I said “a month?” “No,” he says, “a week.”
I applied at Leaseway and showed up with pizza and donuts more than once. I wanted the job so bad. I got it, and worked there for 17 years before they closed and Cassens took over the contracts.
How did you first get involved as a union activist?
I saw what the union really meant when I had a bad wreck when I was just 9 months on the job. A bee did it! The A/C had cut out and I had the windows rolled down. A bee flew in and stung me on the back. I swerved trying to get the bee off me, and the trailer got caught in a culvert. I held on for a quarter mile, trying to get out of the culvert, before finally rolling over.
The union stepped up and defended me. So I learned quick the power the union has to protect its members and what a union contract means.
You recently were elected steward. What motivated you to become a steward?
I became too fed up with management nit-picking. I started to study the contract and challenge them, and our own stewards and BAs.
I noticed that whenever I couldn’t make it to panel—on my own dime—to present a grievance, I’d lose. When I did make it, I’d win. So I was wondering what deals were being made behind our backs. So I stepped up to try to help our members and build the union again.
Any tips for other new stewards?
Read the contract. There’s power in knowledge, and it makes all the difference in the world if you know the contract and how to enforce it.
Use info requests and get familiar with filing NLRB charges. If you prepare a grievance like you’re going to go before a judge, you’ll prepare a solid case.
Be transparent. Don’t hide things from members, but get them involved as much as you can. Don’t be like the priest who tells people to stop reading the Bible and just obey what he says.
Another thing we’ve done is to build a network. We’ve organized a network of Cassens stewards, using Facebook and conference calls. Management is constantly sharing strategies and information, why shouldn’t we do it too? We’re in touch with Teamsters from all over the country.
What are the biggest issues facing Teamster carhaulers today?
The present IBT leadership is setting us aside. It was almost unheard-of to see non-union railheads and plant-sites when I started. Now, it’s reversed, non-union is the norm.
We need to get back to organizing. And a serious issue is making sure we defend our pensions. What does the union have to offer? A contract, and a good pension. We need to protect those if we’re going to reverse the non-union trend.
What should the union be doing better?
We need to get smarter and more aggressive representation. We need leaders and BAs who know the issues and know what members deal with.
A big challenge is taking on ‘right-to-work’. We have to change the union image. Members can’t just go to work, pay the bills, shut up and think their union and pension is going to be there tomorrow. Everybody has a voice, and an obligation to be union proud.
Time is of the essence. That’s why the immediate thing is to elect new leaders who can revitalize the members.
What’s next for 2015?
We just hosted a Carhauler conference call with the Teamsters United campaign with more than 300 members on it. Amazing! We’re going to be organizing locally, taking days off, planning face-to-face meetings, to build the campaign.
2015 is a critical year for us. We’re down to just two companies and we’re negotiating a new contract this year. We’re going to use our stewards network and pull together new networks to police the contract and organize so we make sure the companies and union leaders hear what carhaulers need loud and clear.
NY Public Workers: Management to Represent Teamsters?
May 20, 2015: Hoffa’s newest International Trustee hires a boss to help run the Teamsters’ biggest local.
Local 237 represents over 10,000 Teamsters at the New York City Housing Authority. So why would the local hire a NYCHA boss to a union post?
Local 237 President Greg Floyd hired Kevin Norman, as the Special Assistant to the President, a top leadership position in the largest local in the Teamsters.
Norman was previously in upper management at the New York City Housing Authority where he terminated Local 237 members. Now he’s advising Floyd on providing union representation?
Norman used his NYCHA post to act as Floyd’s enforcer. During last year’s Local 237 election, he issued an email directive to NYCHA management personnel instructing them to throw rank-and-file candidates who were running against Floyd off of the grounds, in violation of New York labor law.
“If any such individual refuses to leave the property, the supervisors should request assistance from the NYPD in having them removed,” Norman ordered.
With the ballots counted, Floyd hired Norman as his top assistant.
The move is part of a larger Local 237 shakeup. Floyd fired several Union Representatives who came out of the ranks and replaced them with non-Teamsters.
Floyd has a good trick to make sure those fired union reps don’t campaign against him: he paid them a healthy severance check, but on the condition that they sign a “gag order.” The members’ own dues money goes to prevent members from hearing what the former reps may have to say.
Norman isn’t the only one with a new Teamster post. Hoffa appointed Greg Floyd in April to be an International Union Trustee. That means another $75,000 salary and an additional lucrative pension.
Local 237 members who want their local to be run by union members, not NYCHA bosses, continue to organize for change.
Save the Date: 2015 TDU Convention
The 2015 TDU Convention will be held the weekend of October 23 - 25 at the Cleveland Airport Sheraton.
Education is Power
“I am coming to my first Convention to learn from other Teamsters how to better use my voice to empower other members in defending our rights.”
Jackie Polhemus, UPS, Local 177, New Jersey
Building the Pension Movement
“Our movement to defend our pensions is blossoming. We’ve had meetings from Nashville to Minneapolis, Akron to St. Louis, and many points in between. The TDU Convention is a great place for pension activists to come together and share our experience and build for the fight moving forward. Make plans to be in Cleveland.”
Al Wilkins, YRC, Local 480 Nashville (retired)
Committed to Winning New Leadership
“I’ve been a Teamster for 40 years and I’m committed to leaving our union in better shape than it is now. I’ll be at the TDU Convention to meet up with other members who want new leadership and who will work to help make it happen.”
Edwin Sanchez, Local 396, Los Angeles