INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS PUBLIC AND LAW ENFORCEMENT EMPLOYEES UNION

LOCAL 320
Fall/ Winter 2016 Edition

Volume XIX - Issue #4

NEVER STRONGER!
TEAMSTERS LOCAL 320

IN THIS ISSUE...
2. Secretary-Treasurers Report, Brian Aldes
3. Presidents Report, Sami Gabriel
4. Vice Presidents Report, Curt Swenson
5. Recording Secretarys Report, Craig Johnson
6. Sign-up for Email Action Alerts and Local 320

Smartphone App

2016 ELECTION
STATEMENT
PAGE 6

OFFICERS AND STAFF

Brian Aldes

Secretary-Treasurer and
Principal Officer
Sami Gabriel
President/Business Agent
Curt Swenson
Vice President/Business Agent
Craig Johnson
Recording Secretary/
Business Agent
Marcia (Marty) Lamb
Trustee, St. Paul ISD 625
Richard Wheeler
Trustee, MSUAASF
Alston Dutchin
Trustee, U of M
Paula Johnston
General Counsel

Local 320 Business Agents

Amy Hill
Mike Horton
Michael Kopp
Josh Loahr
Roger Meunier
Terry Neuberger
Vance Rolfzen
Erik Skoog

Communications | Lobbyist
Gus Froemke

Organizer

Claire Thiele

Support Staff

Susan Bastian
Katie Glaser
Ron Phillips
Suzanne Slawson
Joni Spaulding
Kristi Ziegler

Minneapolis, MN
Local Union Office
8:00am - 4:00pm
P: 612-378-8700
F: 612- 331-8948
1-800-637-5430

LOCAL 320 SECRETARY-TREASURERS REPORT

STEWARD TRAINING AND TISA

By Brian Aldes

At Local 320s fall

steward seminar I
discussed the major
accomplishments we
have made together
as well as the challenges we face.
Teamster Local 320s major goal moving
forward is to utilize the organizing model to
grow our unions activist base and to engage members at the worksite. I addressed
this approach at the steward seminar in
great detail.
The results of the presidential election are
a real turning point for Local 320, as the
Supreme Court could revisit cases similar
to Friedrichs v. California Teachers
Association, which posed a real threat to
public sector unions. At the state level,
public employees in Iowa are poised to
lose their union bargaining rights, and in
both Kentucky and Missouri unions are
bracing for right to work battles with GOP
governors and state legislators.
On a positive note, the election has almost
assured us that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is dead in Congress.
Brian Aldes addressing Local 320 stewards

Online
www.teamsterslocal320.org
Email
local320@teamsterslocal320.org

Published by
Teamsters Local 320
3001 University Ave SE #500
Minneapolis, MN 55414

Page 2

The TPP is a so-called free trade agreement with all the Asian Pacific countries.
Its demise is good news because the next
item on the free trade agenda was a devastating agreement called TISA or the Trade
in Services Agreement.
TISA involves about 70 percent of the
global services economy including services
provided by the public sector in various
counties. This agreement would be a direct
threat to national sovereignty!
The overriding concern with TISA is how it
could put public services in direct competition with private services both domestically and internationally. There would be a
international regulatory system imposed on
the participating countries with the power to
privatize public services through a tribunal.
The tribunal would identify and determine
what global services are provided and by
whom. If a private corporation brings a
complaint or suit against a public service
provider, be it a city, county, or school district, and demonstrates how the corporation
can provide the service at a lower cost or
more efficiently, then that private corporation may be entitled to a damage award
paid by the public service provider or would
be granted the service rights entirely.

IBT Public Services Division Director Michael Filler discussing TISA

LOCAL 320 PRESIDENTS REPORT

ST. PAUL TEACHING ASSISTANTS

MAKING WAVES!
By Sami Gabriel

Teamsters at St. Paul Public Schools are

fed up with the District and its treatment of

Teaching Assistants, or TAs.
TAs work with students in the classroom,
the lunchroom, the playground and on the
bus. They work directly with teachers to
help students succeed in all subjects, including math, reading,
and daily living skills. They monitor behavior and make sure all
students are able to learn in a safe, distraction-free environment.
Many work with special needs students and help with eating,
toileting skills and make sure they have a safe bus ride each day.
These are just a few examples of what they do.

Sami Gabriel addressing SPPS Board of Education

In the past 20 years, the wages for TAs have only gone up $4.00. Many work less than 40 hours a week and
could be paid more working at a union grocery store or warehouse. Nearly one-third of the 660 TAs are paid
less than $15.00 an hour. TAs choose to work for the District because they care for their students.
Many of the TAs ride the bus with students and meet those buses out in the community away from where they
live. At times, TAs are forced to intervene in situations where children become unruly and create a disturbance,
and this has in some instances resulted in injuries. Now thats true dedication to the students!
Teamsters Local 320 has confronted the St. Paul Board of Education on three occasions and we have been
joined in solidarity with the St. Paul Teachers Federation and AFSCME Clerical and Technical workers. We will
continue to confront the District until TAs are treated with the respect they deserve!

SPPS Teamsters and

allies at the Board of
Education meeting Sep.
20, 2016

Page 3

LOCAL 320 VICE PRESIDENTS REPORT

LOCAL 320 FIGHTS ATTENDANCE POLICY!

By Curt Swenson

The University of Minne-

sotas unjust application of its

attendance policy is not only
being fought through the arbitration process, but we are
fighting it on all fronts!
On November 1, 2016, Teamsters Local 320, SEIU
Local 284 (MN Academics United), Minnesota
Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG), and
the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) joined
together at Morrill Hall to tell President Kaler and
other administrators that enough is enough!
Our special guest was State Representative Debra
Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center) who is a U of M
alumni. Rep. Hilstrom chastised the University
for its attendance policy and publicly supported a
system-wide minimum wage of $15.00 per hour for
all University employees.
MNA President Mary Turner thanked Teamsters
Local 320 for its support of striking nurses at Allina
Health Systems. She then turned her attention to
the University and her professional displeasure
with its attendance policy as a public health issue.

Teamsters Local 320 is arbitrating up to 30 grievances over the Universitys unjust application of its
attendance policy. Local 320 Secretary-Treasurer
Brian Aldes told the crowd gathered at Morrill Hall
that Local 320 will not quit until all unjust discipline
is rescinded by the University.
Research scientist Geoff Rojas spoke against the
Universitys attendance policy as not only a faculty
member of the University, but as a representative
of MN Academics United. MN Academics United
is comprised of tenure-track and non-tenure-track
faculty at the University of Minnesota who are
forming a union to negotiate salaries and benefits,
and to restore a strong faculty voice in University
governance as opposed to the current top-down
corporate model.
Teamsters Local 320 supports MN Academics
Uniteds effort to organize a powerful union of faculty, Post-Doctorate Associates, Research Fellows,
Academic Advisors and other classifications in the
Professional & Administrative group. Together
Teamsters Local 320 and MN Academics United
supports a system-wide $15.00 minimum wage and
tuition remission for U of M faculty and staff!

Representative Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center)

MNA President Mary Turner, Rep. Debra Hilstrom and

Local 320 Secretary-Treasurer Brian Aldes

Page 4

LOCAL 320 RECORDING SECRETARYS REPORT

VICTORY AT THREE RIVERS PARK DISTRICT!

By Craig Johnson

The employer bargained

hard against our members

this past year and it took real
courage to fight back. But
Im happy to report that we
persevered and won a major
victory!
For the past several rounds of negotiations, District
employees have continued to win stronger contracts and build leverage through solidarity.
This is the first contract in almost a decade where
weve gotten the District to come off their initial
offer, and I think attending District board meetings
and sticking to our principles paid off, says Shawn
Howard, Three Rivers steward. Ive had several
co-workers personally thank me and the other
stewards for our effort and the positive result.
As the business agent for the District employees, I
can say management is back on their heels and will
not take us for granted in the future.

Local 320 showed the resources they have by getting us information on other regional contracts, says
Andy Martinson, Three Rivers steward. Craig personally did an excellent job of keeping the membership informed and I always felt like he was honest
with us and had our best interest in mind.
In our final meeting with management I informed
the District that we would have no choice but to
take a strike vote. The management team was visibly shaken. They came back and agreed to give in
to our demands.
The actions we took at the District board meetings
and threat of a strike certainly increased our bargaining position and leverage, but I also think the
District understood how important its employees
are to its success and patrons. The District must
recognize that the continued success of the park
system relies on a dedicated workforce.
I want to thank the bargaining team, the stewards
and the members who attended the District board
meetings and went to bat for the group. We couldnt
have done it without you!

Page 5

2016 ELECTION STATEMENT

Teamster brothers and sisters,

The 2016 election results are disappointing for organized labor and
public employees. President-elect Donald Trump poses several threats
to workers rights including his support for so-called right to work and
the mistreatment of his employees for organizing a union. Most important of all, will be his appointments to the United States Supreme Court
which could be devastating to public sector unions. We will continue to
reserve any further judgment until President-elect Trump until he puts
forth a comprehensive economic policy. In some instances, we have
heard President-elect Trump say positive things about labor unions,
working men and woman, and law enforcement; nonetheless, we must
remain cautious over his intentions and overall policy agenda.
Here in Minnesota the GOP has retained and increased its balance
of power in the State House and has won a majority in the State Senate. This will have immediate and lasting implications for Local 320
members. There will be calls to cut taxes and deplete the surplus, cut
spending, and there will be attacks on state labor contracts. We are
lucky to still have Governor Mark Dayton at the helm of state government to provide executive leadership and
to support public employees.
In all respects, we anticipated this type of resultperhaps not with Donald Trump or with this election, but we
predicted future assaults on Local 320 and public employees. We devised our internal organizing program to
fight against attacks on our collective bargaining rights and public services. Once again we must ramp up the
organizing program to encourage non-members to join our Union and we must organize workers to become
active at their worksites and at the State Capitol.
We are aware that in Iowa public sector workers will soon be under attack by a GOP governor and a GOP legislature. They are expecting an assault similar to ACT 10 of Wisconsin where state collective bargaining laws
were repealed. The widespread anti-union populism which confronts us today is a clear and present danger
that we must face together. Through Local 320s strategic plan we must once again pull together to weather the
storm and right the ship of economic democracy!
In solidarity,
Brian Aldes
Secretary-Treasurer

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