Summer 2003

TEAMSTERS
BAKERY AND LAUNDRY NEWS
SUMMER 2003
Organizing For Power
New Members at Wonderbread, Entenmann’s
For Teamster bakery mem bers, orga n i zing is like yeast, it grows the union. Our
co ll ective strength grows with each new
mem ber. Thanks to a ren ewed emphasis on
or ganizing throughout the Teamsters
Union, bakery and laundry mem bers are
seeing their ranks grow.
“These vi ctories impact our other contracts because we are able to show the companies that there is no way around the
union,” said Rich Volpe,
Bakery and Laundry
Conference Director. “If
the companies don’t
re s pect us, we can make
them pay.”
Ed Kelley began working at Entenmann’s after
working at Merita Bre ad , a
union facility.
“Wh en I started with Entenmann’s,
there wasn’t a union but the bosses were
tre a ting us pret ty good. Th en I learned that
without a lega lly binding union con t act ,
none of the benefits I enjoyed were guara nteed,” said Kell ey, a route sales driver and
newly orga n i zed mem ber of Local 385 in
Orlando, Florida.
Entenmann’s management started cutcontinued on page 5
Coordination Is the Key
New Resolution On Contracts Goes Into Effect
Many bakery and laundry local unions have con tracts with
the same companies. Negotiations can take place with one
company simultaneously. It is important that local unions
know when other negotiations are taking place.
The Teamsters Ba kery and Laundry Conferen ce has
addressed the issue by passing a resolution on con tract
negotiations. The resolution states that each bakery and
laundry local must notify the Conference Director and
Conference Chairman of any negotiations or renegoti ations involving bakery and laundry mem bers. This mu s t
be done at least 60 days before the beginning of negoti ations.
“What we’re trying to do is improve communication
among these locals,” said Denny Vadini, the Conferen ce
Chairman. “The Conference can now keep track of a ll the
con tracts and serve as a bet ter resource as each local
begins negotiations. By communicating bet ter, we can
ach i eve stronger con tracts for everyone.”
The resolution goes on to state that locals must also
notify the conference if an employer first proposes a twotier wage system or any other provision that is conce ssionary or not up to indu s try standards.
“If we know that an employer wants giveb acks, we
can use levera ge from our other con tracts to fight it off.
But we can’t do that if we don’t have the information,”
Vadini added .
TEAMSTERS
BAKERY AND LAUNDRY NEWS
A Message from Bakery and Laundry Conference Director Richard Volpe
Increasing Our Power
This is an exciting time to be a mem ber of
the Bakery and Laundry Conferen ce .
Our coll ective strength is
growing daily as we add new
We are doing good mem bers and increase the
work but we can’t coordination among locals.
Recent organizing vi ctories at
let up.
Wonderbre ad and Entenmann’s
extend our power in the indu stry. S trong con tracts mean that companies have to
re s pect our mem bers.
The resoluti on passed by the Conference
regarding notification of con tract negotiations wi ll
pay off in stron ger con tracts for everyone. Many
times our local unions are taking on the same
companies in different regi ons for separate contracts. The Conference can use the reports on
wh en each negotiation is starting to bring these
local unions toget h er to share information.
We are doing good work but we can’t let up.
Our mem bers know first-hand the tactics that the
companies wi ll use to divi de us. We’re not going
to let that happen .
A Look Back…
This arti cle was taken dire ct ly from the March 1944 issue of Te a m s ter Magazine. Wo m en were taking on
po s i tions in many fields wh ere they had not ven tured before be c a u se of the war effort. Once that door was
opened, many wo m en discovered they liked the wo rk and the opportu n i ti e s , and co n sequently decl i n ed to
“tu rn ba ck” once the war ended.
They’re Teamsters!
Local 404 of S pringfield Mass., has
15 feminine mem bers, according
to the proud announcem ent of
Secretary B.E. Nayl or, who submitted photogra phic proof of the
accomplishment. The evi den ce is
produ ced herewith to show that
Local NO. 404 has its arti s tic side.
In reporting his progress to
the International, Nayl or wrote: “It
seems to some of us that a bit of
the feminine to u ch would do no
harm to the staid old International
Teamster and with that thought in
mind I am sending a picture of
four of our “b a kerettes” who are
doing a fine job on the retail bakery routes of two
of the large companies in this area.
“We did not go to any tro u ble to pick out the
good looking ones, as they are all good looking
(that’s Nayl or’s ex pert masculine touch). We
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caught these four as the appe a red to cast their
votes at our recent el ection. Oh course the ph o togra pher just happen ed to be around waiting for
s ome good subject s , and what bet ter could he
find?’
We now have twelve gi rls with the Hathaway
Ba keries and three with Gen eral Baking CO. Of
the four in the picture, three are now in their second year of employment, and, as a general ru l e ,
our feminine mem bers have made exceptionally
good sales records on their routes.
“Last year we had one of our famous New
E n gland wi n ters, but they took the weather as it
came and the servi ce was uninterru pted . Some of
t h em have acquired sufficient sen i ori ty to entitle
t h em to permanent jobs if they wish to stay, and
with the amount of enthusiasm they have displayed, it is likely that some of t h em wi ll con ti nue
on with the work. One of the bakeret tes is in military servi ce, having enlisted in the Marine Corps
last April.”
Bimbo Pays Up
Local 63 Wins Multi-Million Dollar Arbitration
Bakery route sales can be tedious, but the wage formu l a
is fairly standard. A driver is paid a base rate and commissions can be earn ed on top of that. Local 63 in
Covina, California negotiated and sign ed a standard
con tract of that type with Bimbo Ba keries. Now the
company is signing checks for failing to live up to the
con tract’s terms.
Louis Portilla, a shop steward and ro ute sales driver
at Bimbo Bakery su pports his wi fe and two kids with
his salary and every penny is important. “My family
depends on me and the base pay is income that we
count on since the commissions from my route can go
up or down ,” he said.
Bimbo attem pted to rescind the negotiated base pay
of $252 a week for Porti lla and nearly 200 of his brothers and sisters at the facility.
Six Million Dollar
Settlement
“Bimbo took that pay
away and tri ed to say that the
con tract did not inclu de the
base pay,” said Hector Fernandez, a business agent wi t h
Local 63. “We went to arbitra tion and won a major settlement.”
Now the company will have to compensate all bargaining unit mem bers who were el i gi ble for the base
pay back wages of almost two years. With the amount of
workers affected , the settlement will be in the nei gh borhood of six mill i ondo ll a rs.
“My union took this fight all the way,” Porti ll a
added . “I am proud of what the Teamsters accomplished
for my family.”
The Fight For
Overtime
Teamsters Protect 40-Hour
Work Week
Ba kery and Laundry Teamsters know all about hard
work and dedication. Th ey also understand that their
workdays are often exhaustive, chaotic and lon g. No
matter what though , they know that a good union contract and federal laws always en su re that they get paid
for the hours they work.
Recen t ly, the Teamsters protected their mem bers by
fighting for them on Capitol Hill. The Teamsters joined
u n i on mem bers from the health care indu s try, constru ction trades and defense industries, as well as the AFLCIO to force Rep u blican leaders to pull H.R. 1119 from
considera ti on by the full House. H.R. 1119 would have
weakened the 40-hour work-week by let ting employers
offer com pensatory time off inste ad of overtime pay.
Teamster members faxed and called lawm a kers over
the last two months and personally lobbied them from
their home districts during the recent congressional recess.
“Most ob s ervers wi ll agree that we out-worked and
out-hustled big business on this legislation but the figh t
is not over,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters Gen era l
President. “Th ey will regroup and attem pt to bring this
l egi s l a tion to the floor again and we must keep the calls,
l et ters and visits coming until we have driven this bad
l egi s l a tion back into the corporate boardrooms from
wh i ch it came.”
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www.teamster.org
Shout It Out Loud
Young Laundry thought they could make
Hawaii Teamsters pay in co u rt for beating
them on the picket line. But free speech
proved to be as to u gh as the stri kers that
fo u ght and won justice.
A 1998 strike by Local 996 in Honolu lu
lasted for seven months before ending in vi ctory. Young Laundry su ed Local 996 for
defamation due to statements made by Mel
Kahele, President of Local 996.
Ka h ele made the statements in question at
meeti n gs with Young employees du ring
Septem ber 1998. Local 996 was renegotiating
a con tract for the workers who had been covered by a master laundry agreem ent that was
expiring that month.
During con tract negotiations, the owner
of the company propo s ed wage and ben efit
cuts. Kahele told workers that the union was
investi ga ting wh et h er the company’s own er
was hiding profits in a holding company
call ed Steam Press Ho l d i n gsInc. After
Kahele’s statements, the workers subsequently
went on strike to fight for a strong contract.
The owner of Young Laundry filed the lawsuit
du ring the stri ke.
Cut And Dried
On August 26, 2002, Local 996 won the lawsuit on appeal wh en the U.S. Co u rt of Appe a l s
for the Ninth Circuit, overturned a dec i s i on
awarding the own er of Young Laundry and
D ry Cleaning Inc. $1.5
mill i on in damages for
defamation. Judge
Alfred T. G oodwin, wh o
presided over the case,
said the statements
made by Local 996
Pre s i dent Mel Kahele,
“were a call to arms, not
assertions of objective
f act” and were not defamation.
Young Laundry sti ll would not back
down and appe a l ed the case all the way to
the U.S. Su preme Court. The case was so cut
and dri ed that the Co u rt wouldn’t even hear
the case. The Appeals Co u rt ruling stood .
“This ruling is an unmistakable statement by our courts,” said Kahele. “It su pport s
organized labor’s abi l i tyto negotiate fair
wages and working conditions without the
fear of l egal reprisal
by employers. I knew
we did the ri ght thing
from the begi n n i n g
and I am happy to see
this matter resolved in
favor of l a bor.”
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“I knew we did the
right thing from
the beginning and
I am happy to see
this matter
resolved in favor
of labor.”
–Mel Kahele
President,
Local 996
www.teamster.org
Organizing For Power
continued from page 1
ting their workers benefits. The 401k plan was
cut, sick days were reduced from five days to
three, and a week of vacation was taken away.
“Every time we tu rn ed around, t h ey were
takin’ takin’ takin’,” ad ded Kell ey. “Once we filed
cards for the el ection, the Vice-Pre s i dent came
down to make nice with us. She told us that they
‘only’ took in $24 mill i on last year. So we said, if
you’re making $24 million, you’d bet ter get your
hand out of your pocket and give us what we’ve
earned.”
The bosses failure to understand workers
resu l ted in a resounding vote for the Teamsters.
Entenmann’s ro ute sales drivers voted for the
union by a margin of 27-6.
“From day one of the campaign , these people were serious about joining the union,” said
Roger Allain, a Local 385 organizer. “We hel d
meeti n gs every week and most of them came to
every one.”
Members Spread the Word
Many times the best orga n i zers are Teamster
mem bers. Local 734 in Chicago represents drivers and shipping cl erks at Wonderbread thri f t
stores. These mem bers worked side by side every
day with cashiers and stockers who were not
union and gave them a first-hand example of
Teamster power.
Thanks to that great example, Local 734 now
The new members sought
out the union after realizing
that Teamster-represented
thrift store workers at
Entenmann’s were earning
significantly higher wages
than Wonder workers.
has 104 cashiers and stockers as new mem bers.
“I wasn’t sure about
u n i ons until I talked to the
d rivers,” said Rose Winbl ad ,
also a sales cl erk. “That’s
wh en we dec i ded we needed
a union for job sec u ri ty and
respect on the job.”
Another factor was the wages earned by
t h eir counterp a rts at com peting companies. Th e
new mem bers sought out the union after realizing that Teamster-represen ted thrift store workers at Entenmann’s were earning significantly
higher wages than Wonder workers.
“After finding out how much the thrift store
cl erks at Entenmann’s were making, I knew the
Teamsters were for me,” said Robyn Heard, a
cl erk in Northwest Ch i c a go.
Additionally, the Wonderbre ad
sales cl erks are seeking to all evi a te
seniori ty and sch eduling problems.
Scott Kunz, a Local 734 orga n i zer,
wel comed help he received from Joint
Council 25, and praised the
Intern a ti onal’s stronger commitment
to adding mem bers. “O r ganizing is a
top priori ty for us,” he said. “These
workers de s erve fair treatment on the
j ob. Th ey can’t wait for their first
Teamster con tract.”
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TEAMSTERS
BAKERY AND LAUNDRY NEWS
A message from General President Jim Hoffa
The Value of the Union
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Send us your comments
or suggestions for future
editions of this
publication to:
Bakery and
Laundry News
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
The recent organizing vi ctory by Local 385
at Entenmann’s shows the va lue of a union
con tract.
Many of our new brothers and sisters at
Entenmann’s thought they had pret ty good
working conditions. The company was
being nice to them. As soon as the going got
the least bit tough, m a n a gement showed
their true colors and began to take away
pensions, s i ck leave and vac a tion. Without a
con tract, these workers were at the mercy of
the company.
Fortunately, these workers chose to join
the Teamsters. Now they have the opportun i ty to bargain for wages and benefits that
are guara n teed by a lega lly binding con tract.
The lesson is a good one to keep in mind.
As many of our bakery and laundry members do their jobs, they come into con t act
with workers in the indu s try that aren’t
u n i on – sometimes within the same company.
We should take every opportunity to
remind them of the value of the union.
Rem em ber, United We Win.
Fraternally,