Month: July 2018

In Sept. 2017, the New York Teamsters passed a resolution to become a “sanctuary union,” following the Sept. 6 deportation of long-time Teamster member, Eber Garcia Vasquez. The union pledges to not cooperate with federal immigration agents seeking to deport its members, and to take proactive steps such as providing training and legal assistance. George Miranda, president of Teamsters Joint Council 16, stated: “Being a sanctuary union means we will do all that is in our power to keep our immigrant members safe and keep their families together. The Teamsters have fought against racism since our first days as a union, and this is the next step.”

Despite historically unfavorable conditions, the union movement continues to pick up steam in the southeast. In South Carolina, Boeing Co. technicians have scored a victory, forming the first collective bargaining unit at the South Carolina plane factory. The newly-unionized Workers face challenges, as they are still considered a “micro unit” (comprising only 180 flight-line workers). Boeing bosses have asked the labor panel to review the unionization process, accusing the workers of engaging in “artificial gerrymandering” for including employees at the North Charleston campus. Nevertheless, unionization at the South Carolina plant represents a major breakthrough for the labor movement in a so-called “right to work” state. Similar breakthroughs in organizing aerospace workers could occur in other southeast states, for example, at the Airbus SE factory in Mobile, Alabama.