2007 Political Action Agenda
Below is a list of top issues identified by the Teamsers Government Affairs Department that will maintain and grow good jobs at home, protect workers at their jobsite, and help provide Teamster members with good wages and benefits. As Congress changes its focus and we identify other priorities affecting our members, our agenda will be modified accordingly.
Employee Free Choice Act
The Teamsters will continue to fight for passage of this important bill. A bipartisan coalition reintroduced the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress in April 2005 (S. 842 and H.R. 1696). The act would strengthen protections for workers to choose to form a union. It would require employers to recognize the workers’ union after a majority sign cards authorizing representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes, and would authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law.
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage has not been increased in 10 years, and its real value has plummeted to a 50-year low. Teamster members generally make more than the minimum wage, but all workers should have an opportunity to earn a living wage from their hard work. The Teamsters will support “clean” bills that would raise the minimum hourly pay to $7.25 per hour over two years. Such a change would affect nearly 5.6 million workers currently earning the minimum, and could raise the pay of another 9.2 million who earn just above the minimum. Workers in 26 states already have a higher minimum wage than the federal $5.15 an hour.
Health Care
Now is the time to make universal health care a reality. Despite a 7.7 percent rise in costs over the last year, benefits are being reduced. Close to 16 percent of all Americans do not have any health insurance. Eighty percent of the nearly 46 million uninsured Americans are from working families. Quality, affordable health care for all Americans must be a priority for this Congress.
Retirement Security
We must ensure that all Americans are provided with retirement security and work to reverse the decline in defined benefit pension plans. More than 40 percent of working families are in danger of not having enough retirement funds.
Mexican Truck Pilot Program
The Teamsters will continue to fight to keep our borders closed to unsafe Mexican trucks. Transportation Department officials have indicated they intend to implement a pilot program to initially allow 100 Mexican carriers that they deem as meeting U.S. safety requirements access to the United States beyond the currently permitted commercial zones. Mexican trucks and drivers have not met all safety requirements, especially hours of service, drug and alcohol, and hazmat background checks.
NAFTA Superhighway
The Teamsters Union is educating members of Congress about the Bush administration’s plans to construct a NAFTA superhighway. This highway is intended to ease the movement of imported goods from Mexican ports into the United States to a major distribution point in Kansas City. It would allow global conglomerates to exploit cheap labor and nonexistent work rules, and to avoid potential security enhancements at U.S. ports. If the Bush administration succeeds, American drivers and their families will be forced to share the roads with unsafe, uninsured trucks, and millions more good paying American jobs will be lost. One weapon of mass destruction in an unchecked container will be too many.
A New Fast Track Model
Fast-track presidential trading authority sunsets on June 30, 2007. The current model has not worked and does not have sufficient support in the new Democrat-controlled Congress. The Teamsters will work to change the model, including how trade agreements are negotiated, what criteria are met to ensure benefits for American workers and businesses, and require Congress to vote before trade pacts can be signed and finalized with other countries.
Peru and Colombia Free Trade Agreements
These free trade agreements are almost identical in every way to previous agreements that follow the flawed NAFTA/CAFTA model. There are no labor or environmental protections, and both agreements would permit foreign governments to take control of vital infrastructure assets. The Teamsters will fight these agreements and push for worker protections, to stop the flow of jobs overseas and to stop undermining U.S. domestic regulations.
Immigration
The Teamsters will continue to work for comprehensive immigration reform that includes smart border security measures and earned legalization for undocumented workers who have contributed to our communities. The Teamsters will oppose legislation containing a guest worker program.
Food Safety
The Teamsters Union is pushing Congress to examine the causes of the recent E. coli contamination of our nation’s food supply. The Teamsters represent the largest number of workers in fruit and vegetable processing in the nation, and is providing information on sanitation practices, enforcement and the kinds of protections workers need to report violations without fear of reprisal.
Overtime Pay for Drivers
The Teamsters have blocked several attempts by FedEx and UPS to reverse a change in SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users) that allows drivers of vehicles 10,000 pounds or less to be paid overtime. This change in last year’s highway bill removed this class of vehicle from the authority of the Transportation Department secretary, and consequently removed drivers of these vehicles from the Motor Carrier Exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is estimated that close to 1 million workers are now eligible for overtime pay. This issue is sure to come up again in the new Congress, and the Teamsters will continue to fight a reversal of this law.
Rail Safety and Security
Any rail security bill must provide for secure infrastructure and equipment, address hazardous material storage, transport, monitoring and secure rail yards, and enact procedures for reporting security breaches and suspicious activities. The Teamsters also are fighting for the following issues to be included: remote control, whistle blower protections, infrastructure improvements, rules covering switches on non-signaled track, increasing the number of railroad police, access to passenger and freight yards, nuclear waste shipments, public access to equipment and train movements, and train car integrity. Increased funding also will be necessary to ensure safety.
Amtrak
The nation’s passenger railroad continues to be starved for cash and has received only enough funding to fail for more than a decade, forcing the carrier to defer capital maintenance to an unacceptable extent. The White House has stocked the Amtrak Board with ideologues whose goal is the dismantling and privatization of the system. Because of chronic underfunding, contract negotiations have been at a standstill and the vast majority of Amtrak workers have not had a general wage increase since 1999. The Teamsters Rail Conference and all of rail labor are committed to securing full funding for Amtrak to address all deferred issues and to provide a base for growth in the 21st century.
Background Check Uniformity/Redundancy
The Teamsters Union has been in the forefront of protecting workers’ rights and privacy, and limiting offenses that disqualify them since Congress enacted additional background checks after 9/11. Improvements were made in limiting disqualifying offenses for drivers who haul hazmat, giving them rights for appeal and limiting look-back periods. While the Transportation Security Administration followed the hazmat model to some degree for port workers, additional improvements were made in limiting disqualifying offenses. That model is the basis for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). Final regulations implementing TWIC have now been released, and the Teamsters will continue to push the Bush administration and Congress to make worker background checks uniform and less intrusive across the transportation modes. The Teamsters will also work to ensure that workers do not have to bear the burden or expense of undergoing multiple background checks to satisfy security requirements in various sectors of the industry.
Commercial Driver Licenses/Personal Vehicle Violation Relief
Teamsters who incur certain serious traffic offenses while driving personal vehicles face suspension or revocation of their commercial driver license (CDL) driving privileges. This provision was part of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act that passed the Congress and was signed into law in 1999. The Teamsters Union fought these changes in Congress and in the regulatory arena, filing a Petition for Reconsideration with the Transportation Department. Some improvements were made as a result of this action, but some Teamsters are facing suspensions/revocations of their CDLs and possible termination from employment because of these laws. Hardship and temporary “work only” licenses have been eliminated. The Teamsters Union is urging Congress to review this law and will continue to work to ease these onerous restrictions.
Federal Prison Industry Reform
Federal prison industries continue to unfairly compete with the private sector by using cheap prison labor and limiting competition for federal contracts. The Teamsters will continue to support and work for passage of legislation that removes these barriers and allows the private sector to compete on a level playing field.
Kentucky River Decision
The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that some workers with minor authority over other workers were supervisors and should not be able to belong to a union. This new definition of supervisor could affect more than 8 million workers, and the Teamsters Union, along with all of organized labor, is committed to reversing this decision.
Political Links
