Immigrant workers again being denied right to vote by union officials

Chicago, IL – Rank-and-file workers will rally Oct. 7 to stop an attempt by the corrupt leaders of Teamsters Local 743 to steal the election for union officers. The rally will take place at Teamster City, 300 S Ashland at 4:30 p.m.

Eight years ago an annual celebration began in Chicago that just keeps getting bigger and better: People's Thanksgiving. During this celebration, thanks and recognition are given to fighters for justice, and the continuing struggle against oppression is also commemorated.

Chicago, IL – Workers laid off from their jobs at a Bedford Park factory are continuing their fight to win fair compensation. 175 former employees of the Silver Capital Corporation have picketed, held a one-day strike and even rallied outside the union offices for their cause. On Sept. 15, 35 workers went to the National Labor Relations Board and filed charges against the sell-out leadership of Teamster Local 743.

Chicago, IL – At 6:30 in the morning on Thursday, Aug. 5, over one hundred workers went to work at the Frederick Cooper lamp factory. For 80 of them, it was the end of their week, because the company had cut out work on Friday. This reduced the workers’ income by 20% – one dollar out of five.

Chicago, IL – Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 743 say it’s time for a change. “We can’t stand another term of the current officers,” Richard Berg stated. Berg is the presidential candidate of the 743 New Leadership Slate, which will be on the ballot being mailed out on Sept. 22. The votes are to be counted on Oct. 16.

Chicago, IL – Teamsters reformer Richard Berg is being threatened with expulsion from the union. A rank-and-file activist, Berg has been a housekeeper and a member of Local 743 at the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH) since 1989. The gangsters running the local are out to get him for the ‘crime’ of fighting for workers.

Chicago, IL – University of Chicago students and workers have pulled together an alliance that promises to be a force on campus for years to come. The alliance between university workers and students has challenged the university's ability to treat its workers, “just any old way,” according to Daniel Davis, a University of Chicago Hospitals environmental services worker.

Chicago, IL – The union officials at Teamster Local 743 in Chicago never fight the bosses. They never strike, and tell members that striking is bad. The result is poor contracts, smaller and smaller raises, non-union workers doing union jobs, and once good benefits disappearing. The nearly 14,000 members of Local 743, who are health, industrial, office, and warehouse workers have had enough.

Chicago, IL – For the members of Teamsters Local 743, being sold out by their union officials is a commonplace event. Rigged votes on contracts, rigged votes for union stewards, back room deals with the boss around grievances and contract issues is the normal state of affairs.