DC Velocity - April 2017

BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS

THE DC VELOCITY Q&A thoughtleaders

THE SUPPLY CHAIN IS A BIG AND SMALL PLACE. Big in that it touches virtually every part of the planet and affects each one of us. But small in that the people who make it go are often one- or two-person bands that don’t get much notice yet are vital cogs in an enormous wheel.

For the Teamsters union, this collection of port drivers, warehousemen and women, and loaders and unloaders, among others, offers tremendous opportunity to bulk up its membership rolls. It is uncharted territory, however, and one that’s difficult to crack because of labor laws that bar independent contractors, which many of these workers happen to be, from forming a union.

The union’s director of organizing, Jeff Farmer, recently spoke with Mark B. Solomon, DC VELOCITY’s executive editor–news, about the problems facing workers who feel they have no voice, how the Teamsters want to move the needle on the all-important issue of worker classification, and the supply chain becoming the union’s top organizing priority.

QWhat is your message to persuade workers who have never been unionized and may never have thought about the value of union representation?

AWe listen to what workers say about their work. Their primary concerns are not about wages and
benefits. Their issues are with how they are treated, their
employer’s lack of respect for them, unilateral changes
imposed on them, and general unfairness in the work-
place. Simply put, their voices are not being heard. Our
message is simple: To have a real voice on the job, work-
ers need to stand together, form their union, and win
the right to sit across from their employer and bargain
collectively. The only way workers can have effective
input on the issues that affect their work lives is to win
the right to bargain a union contract—which guarantees
those wages, benefits, and conditions.

Most workers intuitively understand that with strong Teamster representation backing them, they can win improvements. We also know from research that, if given a free choice, a huge percentage of workers would choose union representation. Nevertheless, workers face real fear in exercising their rights: fear of retaliation from their boss, weak labor law protections, and the widespread use of union-busters. Our job is to give workers hope, confidence, and a plan to successfully fight back, to demonstrate that it can be done.

QThe growth of e-commerce fulfillment has created job security for warehouse labor that has seen wages rise in the past two years at a faster rate than virtually any other U.S. occupation. How do you convince these workers, who finally have bargaining leverage given the industry’s dynamics, that union representation is an asset?

AThis has not been our experience. If anything, there is less job security, less worker power in this

There are a lot of folks working in transport and logistics who are unaffiliated with a labor union. Jeff Farmer, the Teamsters’ director of organizing, wants to change that.