We have seen how UAW chief Shawn Fain has been everywhere lately, like the Energizer Bunny. Teamster President Sean O’Brien is giving him a run for his union dues with this flurry of ever-present activity. However, O’Brien appears to be focusing everywhere else but inward, which could backfire for him, as we will discuss below:
Costco negotiations halted: The Teamsters suspended national contract negotiations after the company declined to accept a card check agreement that would ease the path to unionization. The current contract expires on Jan. 31, 2025, and covers 18,000+ Costco workers, including 300 Norfolk, Va. employees who voted this month to join the Teamsters. In January, the company called the Norfolk organizing drive a wake-up call regarding workplace culture.
Rail workers ordered back to work: The Canada rail strike that began last Thursday was ended on Saturday by the Canada Industrial Relations Board. This decision forces the parties into binding arbitration with current contracts continuing in effect for 9,000+ workers, and Sean O’Brien has vowed to appeal. In this dispute, the Teamsters are pushing for significant raises despite one rail company citing how “its engineers make about $150,000, and conductors earn roughly $121,000 for working 160 days a year.” Yet, as with Biden’s choice to block a 2022 U.S. rail work strike, Canadian officials moved to avoid economic catastrophe and commuter chaos.
An NLRB regional director classified Amazon as a joint employer of certain third-party delivery drivers – in this case, subcontracted drivers of an Amazon Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS) in Palmdale, CA. Those drivers unionized in April 2023, and although Amazon did terminate the BTS contract, the NLRB feels differently.
This joint employment finding only applies to around 80 Palmdale drivers, yet the Teamsters want much more after recently merging with the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). O’Brien would love for potentially 280,000 DSP drivers to boost the Teamsters beyond their current 1.3 million members, and the union also began picketing in June near the Amazon Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Int’l Airport. The ALU, meanwhile, has unionized only one Amazon warehouse and has a new president, so stay tuned there.
Here are two clear-cut news bites: Kroger drivers at the fulfillment center in Forest Park, Ga, voted to unionize with the Teamsters this month, and Bigfoot Beverage Teamsters members authorized a strike in Oregon following a dispute over retirement benefits.
As outlined above, Sean O’Brien is (currently) succeeding at stirring up turmoil for companies, yet life might not be so smooth with his base:
- His recent RNC speech alienated him from some union members.
- He was reportedly ghosted by Democrats after requesting to speak at last week’s convention, which has led to O’Brien being roasted by some Teamsters.
Whether O’Brien will endorse any presidential candidate is a subject for speculation, but don’t be surprised if O’Brien’s failure to heed his own members’ criticism means he won’t last as long as his Hoffa presidential predecessors.
