What Happened at Mauser?, Chloe Palmer and Joe Allen

[OT+]

[AlJackson1962!]

Excellent and very important article. The Local 705 Mauser strike disappeared from the IBT website months and months ago.
This is another blatant circumstance of all talk and no action by OZ and the empty expressions of "solidarity" voiced by O'Brien, his entire GEB (excepting John Palmer), and
the now hapless TDU "leadership".

- Dave Robbins, Local 251, retired

[Jazzman]

O'Brien preaches solidarity and "Teamsters vs Everyone" at the same time, TDU is just pathetic these days. It's amazing how these long strikes just disappear, Mauser will be encouraged to pick off Teamster units one by one.

[Gimme_Danger]

So, a local led by a sitting VP, didn't get the full support of the International? I find that hard to believe. Do you think organized workplaces can just go out on strike when another workplace goes out on strike? You should learn more about 'no strike no lockout' clauses in contracts and picket line protection language. One big push by Sean and Fred is to have picket line language in every contract, so you don't have situations where there is a strike and workers nearby can't honor a picket line extension. But I'm sure the one 'dissident' vp some people hold on a pedestal, is actively working on making this practical solidarity a reality.

[Gimliboston9]

I find it amazing that a TDU “ expert” like you calls out a VP who stands up for what he believes in as opposed to TDU championing people who stood against leaders who didn’t serve the members. This Is “Alice through the looking glass”

[Gimme_Danger]

The TDU people actually doing the work are the ones putting in the contract language and calling the strikes if necessary, to flex worker power. The drunk guy at the bar who doesn't do anything but has a lot to say on the internet, doesn't stand for anything except a do nothing job.

[AlJackson1962!]

Yo: Gimme_Danger: Your continual criticism and disrespect for both elected and rank & file Teamsters that have proven their willingness to stand up against the OZ/Trump/MAGA alliance, speaks volumes.
Paff, Levin, and their fall-in-line supporters that voiced opposition (before, during and since the 2025 TDU Chicago Convention) to any meaningful challenges to O'Brien's right wing path he has taken our Union, has set back the US labor movement and the once proud reform organization TDU.

Even a straightforward resolution that simply encouraged TDU and TDU members to openly and actively support other Unions in their fight to save their collective bargaining rights and their Unions, was openly opposed by Paff,and Levin, and described as a "hostile amendment" and anti-Trump amendment to the TDU strategic planning and goals for 2026.

These expressions by TDU "leadership" come from Paff, who to my understanding last was a dues paying Teamster in 1976 and Levin, who to my understanding never worked as a rank and file Teamster. Yet they feel compelled to criticize and disrepect Teamsters that are willing to stand up against the current state of our Union:

[X-TDUer]

Gimme_Dangers comments are typical old guard, never challenge leadership, shut down opposition and always defend the status quo. Sounds like 90% percent of the union officers.

[Gimme_Danger]

Of course you ignore the main part of what I was commenting on. The article mentions the farcical notion of sympathy strikes, which would violate 99.9% of contracts (with no strike no lockout provisions). Putting in protective picket line language takes work in bargaining. The decades when the area standards approval was not utilized at all to enforce strong contracts, has literally set our union back decades. Being able to extend picket lines to other workplaces of a common single employer is powerful. The article mentions the actual work being done by the IBT to do what it takes to take on these big employers, but criticizes this one situation. Maybe there are particular realities that the authors didn't bother to find out about (i.e. does the 743 contract mentioned have picket line language??)?

[AlJackson1962!]

It would be interesting to see the bargaining history of Teamster/Mauser CBA’s and proposals relative to primary picket lines. Certainly language allowing members to use their federal rights to honor primary picket lines is a very central demand in any first contract. But even if the non-striking Chicago Mauser Teamsters don’t have language allowing them to honor primary picket lines, it seems clear that the International abandoned the Local 705 Mauser strikers.

The NLRB has previously ruled that votes cast by undocumented workers must be counted in an NLRB RC election, therefore making them bona fide bargaining unit members that the Union has, upon certification, the responsibility and obligation to represent them as the Union must represent documented workers in the unit. Same struggle, same fight. Clearly, OZ doesn’t see it that way and neither does Gimmedanger.

[Gimme_Danger]

Considering that an OZ vp led the fight, I would doubt your assumptions on what the fight is. If there aren't other contracts to legally extend to, where is the fight to be taken? The company closed the 705 location, so pain was inflicted on the company at that location.

[AlJackson1962!]

So Gimmee: Why was reporting omitted from the IBT webpage regarding the Local 705 Mauser strike? And why is your revered leader O’Brien silent when striking Teamsters are harassed by ICE agents? It’s because their fight is not OZ’s fight.

[Graveyard]

So, the person that knows everything about everything want us to believe that “The drunk guy at the bar who doesn't do anything but has a lot to say on the internet, doesn't stand for anything except a do nothing job.”

In the retaliation complaint to the IIO signed and dated on 3/17/24 (First post on this site 1 VP and 3 Old Teamsters File IDO Complaint Against OZ) states “…the removal of VP JP from his assignments (By O’Brien) after he questioned some aspects of the UPS agreement.” We all know providing false statements, as seen in past cases, have consequences. I am sure any negative outcome for the signers would have been above the fold-front page in the paradoxically named “Teamster Voice.”

BTW, O’Brien didn’t stop the robots or AI, 48,000 + Teamsters lost their jobs, pension contributions in the agreement cut from past agreements lowering monthly payout, now drastic increases in H & W, but hey the contract was historic thanks to Practice Picketing! How did all those A/C cars feel last summer? Want to talk about UPS acquired the same-day delivery platform Roadie? Maybe VP JP was on to something!

That complaint also describes O’Brien’s IBT hiring of a union-busting-law firm to shut down members free speech because of the use of the word “Teamster.” Apparently, to O’Brien & TDU, reaction to the use of the word “Teamster” depends upon whether you’re stroking O’Brien’s ego or not. I guess banning members from their own convention, endorsement of MAGA, TDU’s new policy of hear no evil-see no evil-print no evil all to flatter and heap praises on O’Brien’s self-esteem and to make him feel important, is now admirable.

Wonder what this type of “admirable” pays now-a-days?

[AlJackson1962!]

Gimmee_Danger wrote above on his post: "The article mentions the farcical notion of sympathy strikes, which would violate 99.9% of contracts (with no strike no lockout provisions)."

Is Gimmee claiming that 99.9% of Teamsters contracts do not include provisions that allow unit members to honor primary picket lines? Now, I've only worked under dozens of Teamsters collective bargaining agreements over 6 decades, but I can't remember any of them that did not provide the contractual right to honor primary picket lines. I recognize that such Teamsters contracts exist, but "99.9%", no way. That claim is "farcical".

And Gimmee_Danger further writes in his above post: "If there aren't other contracts to legally extend to, where is the fight to be taken?"

Gee Gimmee, you don't have any other options to legally pressure an Employer to win a decent contract? You may as well lay down and surrender; just let Seannie boy and his lackies handle it and things will be just great? How is that working? Oh yeah, you're probably among the veteran former reformers that have thrown their lot in with OZ and got a "seat at the table." Right?

Dave Robbins, Local 251, retired

[OT+]

Here's the settlement.