Veolia Locks Out Teamsters Local 104 Members

Company Charged with "Bad-Faith Effort to Abort the Bargaining Process" for its Failure to Bargain in Good Faith, Efforts to Outsource Union Work and Lockout

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 60 Phoenix-based Teamsters Local 104 Veolia fuelers, cleaners, parts clerks and tire service workers were escorted off Veolia property early Monday morning by security as the French multi-national employer refused a contract extension that would have provided on-going service to the Valley Metro Transit Authority and preclude any industrial action.

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Andy Marshall, Local 104 Secretary-Treasurer, called the company's actions a clear attempt at union-busting, and filed additional unfair labor practice charges (ULP) with the National Labor Relations Board for an unlawful lockout. The company issued a letter declaring impasse, Marshall said, despite Local 104's repeated requests for a contract extension and commitment to continue negotiating as long as necessary to reach a tentative agreement.

"Our members showed up for work today with every intention of continuing to provide quality service to Valley Metro Transit, and with every intention of continuing to bargain to a fair contract," Marshall said. "And they were walked off the property. This company has most assuredly shown its true intentions today, which are to bust the union, plain and simple."

The newest ULP charge says Veolia's final offer "falsely declared that an impasse had been reached. At 12:01 a.m., October 4, 2010, the employer locked out employees….and replaced them with non-union workers in a bad-faith effort to abort the bargaining process through the false claim of impasse, and to discourage membership in the union." Veolia already faces ULP charges of failure to bargain in good faith and surface bargaining based on its actions during negotiations.

Marshall denounced the company's assertion that it locked workers out to prevent a strike.

"Under a contract extension, our collective bargaining agreement contains language that would have prevented a strike," Marshall said. "By its actions, this company has made it crystal clear that it is intent on busting trade unions in Phoenix."

Company proposals throughout negotiations have threatened workers that Veolia would outsource work if union members refused the company's substandard agreement. Marshall said earlier that the subcontracting language would strip all job protection from the employees and would make the remainder of the contract irrelevant.

A lockout could affect members of two other Valley Metro Transit unions employed by Veolia, including 600 Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 bus operators and approximately 100 mechanics, members of International Operating Engineers Local 428, both of which have pledged to honor any picket lines.

In another dispute with Veolia in Prince George's County, Md., the company refused a Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service proposal for a six-month contract extension and an unconditional return to work offer from more than 175 Teamsters Local 639 members, leaving those members on the street, as well. That offer would have restored service to Veolia/The Bus customers in Maryland.

Veolia operates transit, water and waste services throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Teamsters Union represents nearly 3,500 Veolia members at Veolia's North American subsidiaries. Veolia's 2009 financial statements show more than $1 billion in revenue from its U.S. operations and more than $7.6 billion worldwide. Teamsters Local 104 represents 6,800 members throughout the state of Arizona. Teamsters Local 639 represents 8,000 members in the Washington, D.C. Metro area.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters