whats the latest, anything new?

Graniterock's bastard CEO Bruce Woolpert continues to thumb his nose at the Teamsters. All but one of the former Teamster ready mix drivers have decided to quit the Union, giving up lifetime medical coverage, decent health care and their pension (those that are vested will have to wait until they are 65 to get their share). We are picketing the Redwood City and South San Francisco facilities and following ready mix trucks to the jobs. So far, we have had a decent impact on Woolpert's business. We have been given absolutely NO support from the Operating Engineers or Laborers, either at the plant or out on the jobsites we picket. In fact, OE3 asphalt workers signed a contract behind our backs giving up all rights to honor ANY picket line, ANYWHERE! Electricians have been awesome! Life on the picket line is getting more tense everyday, and the police are starting to crack down on our activities. It's going to be a very long, hot summer.



The following letter was sent out to all Graniterock drivers.

July 27, 2008


To Our “Brothers” at Graniterock:

It wasn’t long ago that we stood side-by-side outside the gates of Graniterock’s Redwood City plant and confronted the scabs Bruce imported from Southern California to bust your one-day strike. You know better than anybody the gut-wrenching feeling of having your job, your security, and your future threatened by a scab busting through your picket line. Throughout that experience, we stood our ground, got to know each other and built what we thought was the foundation for a sustained battle against Graniterock.

Well, here we are. Bruce no longer has to import a scab to cross the picket line. He has you to be that scab. Yes, this time it is YOU that is threatening your job, your security and your future. Tragically, Bruce and a few of his “pet employees” have “convinced” you to discard your Teamster membership along with guaranteed superior pay rates, quality health care, seniority, grievance procedures, the RSP, further pension contributions and all the other benefits that come from being a member of Teamsters Local 853.

Ironically, your decision to believe in Bruce has made your life a little simpler. No longer do you have to endure the awesome responsibility of living up to and fighting for a contract, or building your pension, or planning for retirement, or providing health care for you and your families; now, all of that is in Bruce’s hands. He alone will decide how much you get paid, when you report to work, how long you will work, what benefits you will receive and, well, pretty much everything else. All you have to do is just sit back (or bend over) and take it.

But you are not just threatening your own future . . . you are threatening every Union ready mix employee in the Bay Area. By driving down wages, benefits and working conditions, you are opening the door for Union companies to demand the same concessions you have given Graniterock. You can bet that if Union wages go down, Bruce will follow suit. It is a slippery slope and the blood is on your hands. So, don’t think this is just about you; it is about us, all of us. We’ll be damned if we will stand by and let Bruce’s little band of malcontents ruin what the labor movement has built over the past century.
Keep this in mind as you pass by your brothers on the picket line: the day the Union walks away from this battle with Graniterock will be the day your wages, benefits and working conditions will begin a steady and carefully calculated decline. As soon as Bruce senses no pressure from the Union, he will maximize his profits at your expense; a little cut here, a little cut there, a co-payment here and a layoff there.

We’ve seen some of you training new employees; YOU are training your replacements. After all, why are they hiring new people when their work is down and the economy is in such dire straits? The new hires will be making less than you and will eventually cause you to take a pay cut or force you to quit in frustration (remember Bruce’s contract proposal about job sharing?). Bruce likes new hires better than you, not just because he can pay them less, but because they don’t have the experience of working under superior Union conditions and they don’t have the deep bitterness most of you have towards Bruce for screwing up your lives. So, train them well, brothers. When Bruce works them instead of you, or fires you and keeps them, don’t come crying to the Union. Yes, Bruce has made you a scab for life.

Of course, you do have one last option. You can renounce Bruce, park your truck, grab a picket sign and re-join Teamsters Local 853. This is your decision, not Bruce’s. He has his millions, his land, his homes and the rest of his inheritance. Quite frankly, in spite of all his “team member” rhetoric, Bruce doesn’t REALLY give a damn about you . . . does he? Please give it some thought.

Regardless of which way you go, we’ll see you on the picket line.


Terry Post
Doug Radonich
Teamsters Local 853

thanks tpacter
i wish you guys alot of luck. i have yet to see a laborer honor a picket line. dont you think its about time to turn up the heat and extend the pickets to all teamster locations?