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

Chicago, IL – The company and the union officials agreed: The workers would get nothing. These workers that had made the company owners rich by making lamps to be sold to wealthy people around the world, these workers, would now get nothing. The company was being sold and their jobs would be eliminated. Most had worked in this factory for more than 25 years and now they would get nothing.

The owners of the Frederick Cooper Lamp Company had sold the company name. They had sold the factory building to a developer who intended to turn the property into luxury condominiums. While this would make millions and millions of dollars for the owners, it would leave more than 100 workers without a job. The plan was to take the money and run. Give the workers nothing.

The owners thought that they had it made. The officials of Teamsters Local 743, which represents the Frederick Cooper workers, had agreed to the deal. “Whether they are stupid, corrupt or some combination, we are not sure, but the effect was the same, we were being sold out by the union,” said 21-year employee Esmeralda Cuevas, “and we were not going to take it.”

The workers voted down the closing agreement. Not once but twice. The union told them if they did not accept it they would lose all their vacation time and the annual bonus that had been negotiated five years earlier. Despite this, the workers said “No!” in overwhelming numbers. As he was leaving the factory after the vote, Local 743 business agent Jimmy Burns said, “Dumb Mexicans, now you will lose everything.”

This insult from the their union official outraged the workers. Many of the workers were immigrants from Mexico, as well as Poland and many other countries. Many were born in Chicago or somewhere else in the United States. But they all understood that they would have to stick together in solidarity if they were to make any gains.

A meeting was organized by the 743 New Leadership Slate (743 NLS). Frederick Cooper workers Tony Caldera and Esmeralda Cuevas had run for union office on the 743 NLS ticket and had the respect of all the workers. The 743 NLS helped the workers organize a list of demands and reach out to allies in the community.

The workers found out that the community did not want the factory to shut down either. They appreciated the union jobs in the area and did not want high-price condominiums to change their working-class neighborhood. The workers at the Cooper and Logan Square Neighborhood Association, along with community leaders, religious leaders and others formed the Cooper Task Force. The goal was to fight for a good severance package for the workers as well as to keep the land zoned for manufacturing where Frederick Cooper is located. The community wanted to keep living wage jobs in their neighborhood.

First Ward Alderman Manny Flores was asked to support the demands. At a ward meeting called by the alderman and again at a Cooper Task Force speakout, hundreds united to support the demands of the community as well as a call for a decent severance agreement. The alderman spoke in favor of the demands that the workers and community put forward.

The workers, led by the 743 NLS, decided to call for an informational picket one day after the first shift. The hope was to pressure the company before its big lamp sale. The alderman and the community showed up to voice their support, but the real story was the solidarity of the workers. Chants in Polish, English and Spanish showed everyone that these workers could not be divided. Many had never been on a picket line before, but their voices became stronger and stronger as they grew more confident. Because of the wide press coverage the union heads finally felt compelled to do something.

Local 743 executive board member Reginald Ford told the workers that if they did not have a good agreement by the time of the company lamp sale that they would go on strike. The workers were cautious of his words because they had been sold out by these officials so many times.

After Ford’s announcement the union disappeared. With a possible strike looming, the workers started to organize themselves. Where would the pickets be put up? How could we have the biggest impact on the lamp sale? Who would contact the press? They would need to translate everything into several languages. How would this be done? Who would get the materials to make the signs?

The company got the message that the workers were serious and planned to frustrate the lamp sale. The owners, afraid of losing their own ‘severance,’ finally made an offer. The alderman and Ford emerged to present the offer just before the workers had said that they would strike. The offer included $2000 for each worker, their vacation, profit sharing and two months of health insurance paid for by the company. Also, when the parking lots around the factory were sold, the workers would get a portion of the money from the sale.

“When you fight, you can win,” said Tony Caldera, “our union leaders think too much like the bosses. We need to change our union so that they fight for the workers instead of always making deals. Our labor made millions of dollars for the owners of Frederick Cooper, yet we had to fight all out against the company and the union to get any severance at all.”

#ChicagoIL #ImmigrantRights #News #Teamsters #TeamstersLocal743 #NewLeadershipSlate #TonyCaldera #CooperLamp