Esta corrupta y delictiva acción casi tiene éxito. Berg fue afortunado al ser empleado otra vez en el otoño del 2007, justo para poder ser elegible y lanzarse como candidato a presidente del NLS Local 743, en una nueva elección supervisada por el Departamento del Labor en el otoño.

El NLS había probado que las elecciones del 2004 fueron fraudulentas, y con DoL supervisándolas en el 2007. Finalmente pudieron evitar el robo de votos.

En el mes de febrero de 2008, Richard Berg regresó como empleado al departamento de Servicios de Sanidad y Ambiente en el HUdeCH. Se han llevado a cabo dos reuniones y cada una de ellas con la asistencia de 120 personas que le dieron la bienvenida y lo felicitaron a su vez coreando, “Richard es un héroe.”

La lucha sigue en la universidad aún después del despido

Richard remarcó: “Cuando el hospital me despidió en el 2004 ellos pensaron que habían derrotado la lucha de los trabajadores aquí. Nunca se imaginaron que cuando un trabajador cae, otro se levanta a continuar la lucha.”

Esta verdad ha sido demostada pues los trabajadores del otro lado en el recinto universitario dos veces en el otoño pasado han rechazado un contrato malo. Pero, ésta fue la última obra de la corrupta pandilla sindical del Local 743. Esta manera de resistir de los trabajadores evitó que la oferta de $0.50 centavos de aumento salarial fuera rechazada. El agente negociador había manipulado al Comité de Negociaciones Colectivas recomendándoles que aceptaran el paquete ofrecido. Sin embargo, estos se vieron ridiculos cuando los miembros se rebelaron contra ellos y ganaron miles de dólares más de la administración a través de su militancia de resistir y luchar.

Antes no habíamos tenido representantes que hablaran por nosotros y que se enfrentaron a la administración.

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #RichardBerg

Chicago, IL – Fight Back! learned May 9 that Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., at a meeting in Las Vegas, has joined with the corrupt Teamsters officials in Chicago to remove President Richard Berg and Secretary Treasurer Gina Alvarez from office in Local 743. Berg and Alvarez are rank-and-file reformers who fought for years against the gangsters who ran their union while Hoffa and officers of the Joint Council in Chicago turned a blind eye to the corruption in the local.

While the official decision has yet to be received, Berg confirmed that he has been notified. The decision rests upon a charge brought against Berg and Alvarez by other officers in 743 who had turned against the reform agenda.

The factual basis of the charge is that Berg had let go a former staff member who was no longer able to perform his duties. A severance was agreed upon, which the local executive board was informed of and to which they assented. Six months later, the same board members cooked up a scheme with the top Teamster old guard in Chicago. These ex-reformers knew the Joint Council was dominated by officials who were hostile to Berg and Alvarez’ agenda – reviving a fighting union with power in the hands of the members. The sole charge upon which the two are being removed was Berg’s failure to get an official vote from the board.

While the immediate impact of this is a blow to efforts to rebuild a fighting workers’ movement in the Teamsters, the members of Local 743 are not likely to watch the sell-outs turn back the hands of time. At the members meeting last week, worker after worker rose from the floor to speak against threats to remove Berg and Alvarez. Black, Latino and white, workers remember what the union was like under the old gangsters, with sweetheart deals that favored management, and crummy contracts.

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #RichardBerg #JimmyHoffa #Jr

Chicago, IL – “Ganamos” mensajes de texto con estas palabras se distribuyeron la noche del 3 de noviembre entre huelguistas de SK Hand Tool a miembros de familia y apoyadores.   Los reportes directos al hecho de los trabajadores de SK Hand Tool tendrían seguro de salud. Había mucho más que celebrar al marcharse a la calle 47 y tirar la casa de campaña los trabajadores dejaron su voto final para el acuerdo la tarde del 3 de noviembre. Habían estado en huelga por diez semanas – desde el 25 de agosto.

En cada categoría se podía apuntar hacia una verdadera lección que cuando luchas ganas victorias.  No solamente ganaron la cobertura de su seguro de salud, sino que los trabajadores tendrán segura su pensión y la posibilidad de pagar cobertura familiar dentro del plan de salud y bienestar del Comité de los Teamsters 743 de Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

La oferta salarial aumento comparada a la ofrecida antes de la huelga.  El presidente del Local 743, Richard Berg, quien era el negociador líder, dijo, “ellos estaban luchando no solamente por su cobertura de seguro de salud sino también por todos los trabajadores de Chicago y EU.

El huelguista John McHale señalo que uno de los factores clave cuando dijo que desde un principio, “nosotros votamos unánimemente para ir a huelga.”  El apoyo grande que esta huelga recibió del movimiento laboral también ayudo a lanzarlos como una fuerza nacional.

Una y otra vez se podían ver ejemplos de la solidaridad en el movimiento laboral, como cuando la huelga encabezó el desfile del Día del trabajo.  La Red para la Lucha por la Justicia Económica se comprometió a apoyar la huelga es uno de los primeros ejemplos de acciones colectivas.  Como lo explico Armando Robles del Local 1110 de UE, “yo espere nueve meses para ver cuál sería la próxima lucha como la de Republic Windows and Doors, y acabó sucediendo solo a unas cuantas calles de mi propia casa.”

Otra de las razones mencionadas por los trabajadores por la victoria es que gente como el presidente Richard Berg y la secretaria-tesorera quienes están dispuestos para una lucha verdadera.  Los trabajadores estaban enfurecidos porque el patrón no les aviso que su seguro de salud había sido cancelada. McHale y otros  han explicado que otra razón fue que ellos comenzaron la huelga al momento en que comenzaba el debate nacional por la cobertura del seguro de salud. Ellos se convirtieron en la imagen nacional de lo que realmente sucedería con los trabajadores cuando se pierde el seguro de salud.

Como ejemplo, la huelga se convirtió en una fuerza tan ponderosa que políticos como el gobernador Quinn del estado de Illinois, el congresista Luis Gutiérrez y la Secretaria de asuntos laborales, Hilda Solís tuvieron que apreciar tal fuerza y apoyar la huelga.

Otras decisiones estratégicas tales como el distribuir folletos informativos frente a la tienda Sears y la campaña de llamadas,  tuvieron mucho éxito para convencer a Sears, uno de los más grandes compradores de los productos SK, para presionar al dueño de la compañía Claude Fuger a regresar a la mesa de negociaciones.

La huelga cambio la vida de muchos trabajadores.  Norma Trinidad, quien llevaba trabajando 23 anos, dijo en cada discurso que dio, “siempre recordaremos como nos apoyaron otros  trabajadores y activistas comunitarios.” Ellos comenzaron la huelga con la experiencia en huelgas de uno solo de los 70 trabajadores hasta convertirse en un grupo solidario que regresaba camiones con acero una y otra vez.

La camiseta de los Teamsters del 743 famosa por su frase, “el dañar a uno es dañar a todos” en varios idiomas.  Estos huelguistas vieron como ese lema cobraba vida día con día.

En los próximos días los huelguistas resumirán y compartirán sus experiencias sobre cómo, en medio de la peor crisis económica desde los años 1930, ellos se convirtieron en héroes y en una inspiración de la clase trabajadora de toda la nación. En esta semana cuando entren a su trabajo en la calle 47 caminando juntos llevando su camiseta de los Teamsters, ellos dirán, ¡Lo logramos!

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #Healthcare #strike #SKHandTools

Chicago, IL – “We won!” Text messages with those words went out the night of Nov. 3 from the SK Hand Tool strikers to family members and supporters. Reports went right to the fact that the SK Hand Tool workers will have health insurance. There was more than that to celebrate as the workers left the final agreement vote late Nov. 3 to go back to tear down the strike tent on 47th Street. They have been on strike for ten weeks – since Aug. 25.

In category after category, they could point to the truth in the lesson that when you fight back, you win victories. Not only did they win their health insurance coverage, but the workers will have their pensions protected and the ability to buy into family health coverage with the Teamster 743 Health and Welfare Committee’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans.

The salary component was more than what was offered to them before the strike. Richard Berg, the Teamster Local 743 president who was the chief negotiator, said, “What they were fighting for was health coverage for themselves but also for all Chicago and all U.S. workers.”

Striker John McHale pointed to one of the key factors they had going for them right from the start when he said, “We had a unanimous vote among the workers to go for the strike.” The overwhelming support this strike got from the labor movement also helped to make them into a national force. Over and over there were examples of labor solidarity, like when their strike was put front and center at this years Chicago Labor Day parade. The Network to Fight for Economic Justice made a commitment to support the strike as one of its first examples of collective actions. As Armando Robles from UE Local 1110 put it, “I waited nine months to see what the next Republic Windows and Doors struggle would be, and it wound up happening just down the street from my own house.”

Other factors always mentioned by workers were that they had Teamsters Local 743 President Richard Berg and folks like Treasurer Gina Alvarez who were down for the true fight. The workers were outraged that the boss failed to give the workers notice that their health insurance was canceled. Another factor that McHale and others have often explained is that they began the strike in the very moments of the national debate on health care. They were able to become the national face of what a loss of health coverage really looks like for workers. As an example of this, the strike became such a powerful force that the politicians like Illinois’ Governor Quinn, Congressman Luis Gutierrez and even the U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis felt the need to weigh in with support for the strike.

Other strategic decisions, such as the informational leafleting in front of Sears stores and the call-in campaign, were successful in getting Sears, a major buyer of SK hand tool products, to pressure company owner Claude Fuger back to the table.

The 24-hour, seven day a week strike changed the lives of many workers. Norma Trinidad, an SK worker for 23 years, said in every speech she gave, “We will always remember how workers and other community activists supported us.” They began the strike with only one of the 70 workers ever having experienced a strike before to becoming a tight crew of people who literally turned steel delivery trucks away with their picket lines, again and again.

The famous navy blue Teamster 743 t-shirt says on the back, “An injury to one is an injury to all,” in many languages. These strikers saw that slogan come to life each day. In the next days and weeks the strikers will begin to sum up and share their stories about how, in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, they became working-class heroes and an inspiration to the whole nation. This week, when they march back together into work at the 47th Street site wearing their Teamster 743 gear, they will say, “Yes we did!”

#ChicagoIl #ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #Healthcare #strike #SKHandTools

Norma Trinidad and 20 of her co-workers stood in front of the Sears store on Dearborn Street in Chicago’s Loop, Sept. 18, handing fliers to people as they walked past. These members of Teamsters Local 743 are on strike against SK Hand Tools. They came to ask Sears customers not to buy the tools made by the SK workers.

“They took away our health care,” Norma told people as they entered the store. On Aug. 25, the workers struck because the wealthy French businessman, Claude Fuger, who owns their company had stopped paying their health insurance premiums as required by their contract. To put additional pressure on Fuger, they are asking for support from shoppers at Sears. Sears is the largest purchaser of the SK and Craftsman brands made at the factory on 47th Street.

The workers and 30 supporters were in front of every door of the giant Sears store, which covers half a city block. After leafleting the lunch hour crowd, the workers rallied across the street. Richard Berg, President of Local 743, got cheers from the crowd when he said, “We will fight until victory!”

The workers plan to go to the Oak Brook Mall on Saturday. The Sears store there is having a sale on hand tools.

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #Healthcare #SKHandTools #Sears

Local 743 Business Agent J Burger remarked that while the contract has “… more money for our members, of course it doesn’t go far enough.” In looking at the struggle that lies ahead for the union there, Burger said, “This is an aggressive, multi-billion dollar employer. To defend our jobs, and the community and to get what we really need, we’ve got to use our greatest strength – our members.”

Florrie Brooks, a member of the bargaining committee, spoke at a contract rally held one week before the final vote. In her view, the challenge for her coworkers is to realize the power they have at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “We have 1300 people who work here. They couldn’t run this place without us.”

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #UniversityOfChicagoMedicalCenter

The federal time is a result of rigging two union elections in 2004. They did this to keep from being voted out of office and replaced by the reform group, the New Leadership Slate, headed by Richard Berg.

Jean Moore, a housekeeper at the University of Chicago Hospitals, said Lopez and company are “…dirty dogs, and they got what’s coming to them.” When they ran the local, Moore noted, “If you filed a grievance or called the union office, you never heard from them.” Further, Moore explained that Lopez even got her co-worker Berg fired from his job. “They didn’t like Richard because he was a union steward that raised hell with management.”

Now president of the local, Berg commented, “Stealing elections worked for 10 years for the criminals who controlled our union. But in the end, through unity and hard work, we were able to figure out how they stole the election; we gathered the incriminating evidence; and in 2007, with our election, the members finally won. With their jail sentences, we are getting a little more justice.”

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #unionCorruption

Chicago, IL – As the strike at SK Hand Tool moves into its second week, it is clear it is picking up momentum. On Sept. 2 a contingent of workers went downtown to tell their strike story to U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who was in town to present a Labor Day speech.

Solis posed for pictures with SK workers John McHale, Julio Covar and Victor Moran and spoke with Emilio Lunar. Solis said that her father had been a Teamster and that she, “knew all about the SK Tool strike and was looking into it.” The question posed to her from the floor in front of media and labor leaders at the luncheon was an attempt to bring the real life situation of shafted SK Tool workers with no health insurance into the national debate about health care.

This week the SK Tool workers will testify to the National Labor Relations Board about the illegal cutting off of their health insurance. The French owner did not even tell the workers that they were no longer covered as their medical bills piled up.

Solidarity messages from across the country are beginning to pour into the Teamster 743 office and on the strike support Facebook page as plans develop for a national day of action.

The Labor Secretary's office called the Teamsters the very next day to follow up and get a copy of the actual workers’ contract. Governor Quinn announced that he will walk with the strikers next week. All these things make the workers optimistic that a victory is coming.

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #Healthcare #SKHandTool

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #Healthcare #SKHandTools

Chicago, IL – Sherri Taylor-Kennedy was insulted and angry at her employer. “When I got here I was informed that my position had been eliminated. I had 30 minutes to gather my belongings and be escorted off the premises.” She spoke out at a protest rally Feb. 10 to 200 co-workers and supporters at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC).

Ms. Taylor-Kennedy has worked here for 14 years as a secretary. Management has announced 450 layoffs already, and hundreds more to come. These job cuts are happening even though the hospital hasn't lost any money, nor are there fewer patients. They are getting rid of workers because their stock-based endowment lost 40% of its value. They want to make up for their bad investments by cutting people.

Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local 743, was highly critical that these cuts were made despite no financial losses in the operation of the hospital. “They're not General Motors or Ford, where sales are down. This is sheer arrogance,” he declared to cheers from the crowd.

Local 743 was joined by Service Employees International Union Local 73, the Students Organized and United for Labor and Southside Together Organized for Power (STOP), a housing group that fights University-promoted gentrification in the Woodlawn neighborhood. STOP speaker Fred Payne supported the workers, telling them they were fighting for themselves and for patients like him. In addition to cutting jobs, the hospital announced plans to turn away more poor people who come to the emergency room, and instead send them to Cook County Hospital, ten miles away. Most of the 80,000 patients that use the Emergency Room are African American.

Local 743 represents 1500 service and maintenance and clerical workers. Their union representative at UCMC, J Burger, said that many of the 450 layoffs were workers represented by Local 743. Local 73 represents trades people, including carpenters and painters, 18 of whom were given layoff notices.

The threat to these workers is very serious. Taylor-Kennedy announced, “I have $1500 rent due every month and six children to feed.”

Burger said, “We will fight until we win back these jobs and until this employer respects the workers and the residents of the surrounding community.” The workers ended their protest chanting, “Yes, We Can!” aware that President Obama's home was only a few blocks away from the University, where he had been on the faculty a few years ago.

#UniversityOfChicago #ChicagoIL #News #Teamsters743 #SEIU #Layoffs

Chicago, IL – On Jan. 22, another federal indictment was brought against Robert Walston, the former Teamster president who in 2001 and 2004 stole elections in Local 743. This time he is charged with trafficking in cocaine. He had been driving from Chicago to Texas in June 2007 when he was picked up with $135,000 in his car. The Feds had been keeping tabs on him and knew he was going to buy up to 5 kilograms of coke with that money.

At the time he was picked up with all that cash, Walston was still in office. “Apparently he was dealing cocaine while he was union president,” exclaimed Richard Berg, the reform President of Local 743. Surprised by the disclosure, Berg said, “When we ran against them, we members didn’t know the depths of the corruption, but we knew enough to know we had to get rid of the Walston and Lopez gang.”

Two months after Walston was stopped in Texas, he resigned from office and turned the presidency over to his associate, Richard Lopez. Over the years that they and their predecessors had been running the local, they cut deals with companies where workers won little or no gains in wages and benefits. When workers came together with Berg and the New Leadership Slate to take their union back, Walston and his associates engaged in rigging several elections. Indictments were handed down against Walston, Lopez and four others in 2007 and 2008 for those acts.

“The workers stayed together, we won election, we have cleaned up Local 743 and we are building a fighting union now,” said Berg.

Walston’s co-conspirator this time is a man named Victor Matos. The indictment mentions others that were involved but doesn’t give their names. The feds believe that the criminals were trying to purchase upwards of 80 kilos.

#ChicagoIL #Corruption #Teamsters743