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Hoffa Remarks on
Historic Port Pact
North
America’s ports will once again be wall-to-wall Union. With the
help of the ILA and ILWU, the Teamsters will organize the 50,000 truck
drivers serving our ports. The
plight of the port driver in our country is appalling. This
largely immigrant group of workers earns an average of only $8 an hour
– when truck drivers under Teamster contracts earn more than twice
that. Port drivers have no health benefits and no retirement
benefits. They are exploited by the shipping lines, the terminal
operators, the port trucking companies, and the oil and gas monopolies.
Port drivers are forced to perform hundreds of hours of unpaid work each
year. They are forced to wait in line for hours on end just to
make a pick up – all unpaid. They are saddled with overweight
and often improperly labeled containers carrying hazardous
materials – even though these practices are in gross violation of
state and federal laws. They are forced to clean out the
containers that transported hazardous materials. They are forced
to drive unsafe chassis on public highways. When
they speak out, they are harassed, intimidated, and often fired.
Many have been silenced and continue to endure these abusive conditions.
The
labor movement can no longer allow these hard working men and women to
suffer. We
must all speak out against this injustice. And the Teamsters, ILA
and ILWU will lead the way. I
am pleased to announce at this Convention, that three unions that have
sometimes been in conflict — but have always understood the need for
unity — have entered into a historic pact to level the playing field
for port drivers. This
alliance brings to reality the dream my father, Harry Bridges, and Teddy
Gleason had more than 40 years ago. They attempted to build a
united labor front at the nation’s ports — at a time when all three
unions were outside of the AFL-CIO. Today we have achieved what
they worked so hard to do. Through this alliance, we will take
back the ports for the workers. As
Harry Bridges told the delegates to the 1961 Teamsters Convention,
“[W]e have to demonstrate the old fashioned idea of trade union unity,
trade union solidarity, the right to work together, and fight
together.” Today,
the Teamsters, the ILA, and the ILWU are doing just that. In
closing, I’d like to send a message to the 50,000 port truck drivers
and their families in the United States and Canada. The Teamsters
Union, the ILA, the ILWU, and the more than 13 million members of the
AFL-CIO will not tolerate the oppression you endure. We
will level the playing field. You
will have a voice on the job! You
will be heard! WE
WILL TAKE BACK THE PORTS! Thank you. |
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