Commentary

I moved to Chicago from Zacateca, Mexico many years ago. As a Mexicano I have had to fight for my rights my whole life. The United States calls itself the land of the free, but it treats Latinos as second-class citizens, no matter what our legal status.

I worked for 25 years at the Frederick Cooper Lamp Factory. My coworkers and I made some of the most beautiful and most expensive lamps in the world. But we were treated poorly and paid less because we were African American, or in my case an immigrant from Mexico. Most of the workforce was Latino but some were immigrants from Poland, the Philippines, China, Korea and other places.

The location of the factory is in a neighborhood that has been gentrified. Last year, the owners of the factory decided to sell the building for millions of dollars and move on to other things. They decided to throw the workers out on the street with no pension, no severance, no nothing.

Our story is often repeated across the country. Progressives will say, “That is why you need a union.” But we had a union. We are members of a pathetic union that will always make a deal with the boss rather than fight for the workers, Teamsters Local 743. After the boss told us they would close and that we would get nothing, we were asked to vote to accept it.

The Teamster Local 743 business agent, Jimmy Burns, told us, “If you do not accept this offer you will lose your vacation pay that you are owed.” But we knew how to fight with or without the sellout union officials; we had done it before. We organized meetings near the work site. We contacted the local community organization that was fighting gentrification, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. Together the workers and the community put pressure on the Alderman to keep the factory property zoned for manufacturing unless our demands were met.

We voted down the closing agreement. Rather than support us, union business agent Burns said, “Stupid Mexicans, you don’t know what you are losing.” Burns was wrong. Through pickets and a threatened strike we got a few thousand dollars for each worker and will get a few thousand more when the company sells the parking lots. We did this while upholding the community’s demands against gentrification.

With a fighting union we would have done better. We know that we do not even have equality within our own union. Another example that shows this happened in Chicago in 2004, when the Silver Capital company decided to close. It was a chemical factory that plated mirrors and picture frames with silver. Many of the immigrant workers there were undocumented. Local 743 vice-president Jose Galvan negotiated a closing agreement like the one at Frederick Cooper, with no severance, and without even the 60-day notice required by law. When the workers protested, Galvan threatened to call the INS.

Immigrants and all workers need fighting unions. That is why we have joined and help lead the 743 New Leadership Slate. The 743 New Leadership Slate is an organization that wants to kick out these sellout union hacks. We will make this a union that fights for the rights of all workers.

I have run for union office, only to have the election illegally stolen. Our union officials are currently in federal court trying to explain their wrongdoing. In the 743 New Leadership Slate we remain firm in our resolve to turn this union into one that belongs to all the workers. We want a union that fights for full equality of all workers.

We have united with the immigration movement in Chicago. Our union officers told us to go to work on the days of the big March 10 and May 1 marches. Then they went to the march to take photos of themselves. The demand for full equality within the immigration movement is our demand. We need to stand together and win it.

We work nationally with Teamsters for a Democratic Union. We know that we need to elect new union officials at all levels so we are supporting Tom Leedham and his entire slate. Leedham's call to organize all Teamsters to stand in solidarity fighting for better working conditions is a lot different than current Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa is a master of PR and photo opportunities. His policy toward Latinos, African Americans and women is one of tokenism. This is intolerable.

We want a fighting union now! We want full equality now! We are willing to do whatever it takes to get it.

#ChicagoIL #Commentary #Teamsters #TeamstersLocal743 #TonyCaldera #CooperLamp