Teamsters Fight To Defend Living Standards In Orange County, California

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/5916

Teamsters Fight To Defend Living Standards In Orange County, California - 05/15/07

By Doug Cunningham

Patrick Kelly is Secretary Treasurer of Teamsters 952 in California - representing 1100 coach operators working for one of the richest counties in America. They're in a struggle to defend their living standards from high living costs and Orange County Transpo is offering just a 2.75 percent raise.

: “When your membership has lost six percent of their purchasing power, obviously 2.75 doesn't make it. To rent an apartment around here is about fifteen hundred bucks a month. And gasoline, regular gas, is about $3.55 a gallon."

Orange County Transpo is also refusing to allow voluntary automatic payroll checkoffs for Teamsters political action.

: “United Way is OK, but the Teamsters political arm which is Democratic, Republican , Independent Voter Education - the acronym is DRIVE - is not acceptable. So we have an issue with respect to that, too."