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Teamsters strike Medford Penske location
Matt Byrne
Members and supporters of Teamsters Local 25
demonstrated Thursday outside of Penske truck rental location on
Riverside Avenue, where four teamster employees are on strike over
health care and wage disputes.
At issue for the members are health care benefits and a delay of wage increases that would hinge on the union employees joining the company’s health plan, said Sean O’Brien, president of Local 25, the chapter that represents the striking employees. Contract negotiations were ongoing before Wednesday, O'Brien said.
Currently the four are covered under a union health care plan, O’Brien said. Randy Ryerson, a spokesman for Penske, defended the contract the company has offered the four workers.
“Our current proposal allows our employees to remain among the most highly paid employees of their kind in the Greater Boston area and also allows Penske to be more economically competitive,” said Penske spokesman Randy Ryerson in a statement. “We will continue to seek an agreement that will help us contain costs and retain jobs in the area.”
Ryerson said in a telephone interview that the union health care coverage is the "Cadillac" of plans, and other union employees at the same location have signed on to the company's plan, which would require the payment of monthly premiums.
Ryerson said under the current plan the striking employees are trying to keep, Penske picks up the tab for monthly costs, requiring no premium deductions from the employee's pay.
In interviews, O’Brien disagreed, arguing that the contract concessions requested by the national trucking company are too severe and that the company is using the nation's economic climate as an excuse to cut benefits and wage increases.
“It’s a strike that we don’t feel was necessary but we feel was prompted by the employer when they tried to use these tough economic times as an excuse,” O’Brien said. “We have a lot of other locals that have also committed that if we do in fact extend picket lines throughout New England they would support them, so we do have a tremendous amount of support.”
O’Brien said the contract on the table would allow for wage increases after two years, only if the employees agreed to change to the company health plan.
Ryerson said in the statement that Penske had been negotiating in good faith with the union when the strike began.
“Our last communication with the union was we would be back at the table at 9 a.m., Wednesday,” Ryerson said. “We were surprised and disappointed to learn a strike was initiated Wednesday morning. We remain open to further discussions to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.”
The Medford location provides short and long term truck rentals, truck maintenance, and fuel service, Ryerson said. A total of 32 people are employed there, 24 of whom are unionized with either the Teamsters or the Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 447, he said, with the remaining eight employees representing management and administrative staff.
Yesterday the rental location was only partially effected by the strike. Today the rental office was closed for business, Ryerson said.
Outside the doors, the four employees were joined by workers from other union who also work at the Penske site and who refused to cross the picket line, O’Brien said. The group includes machinists and mechanics, O’Brien said in a telephone interview.
About 25 demonstrators congregated in front of the Penske location by about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Many held signs that decried unfair labor practices. Others milled around on the sidewalk, raising their placards at the occasional honk of support from passing motorists. One demonstrator who declined to give his name said busloads of sympathetic union members were slated to join the group from around the area today.
A half dozen uniformed police officers from Medford stood near the protesters yesterday morning. The Teamsters brought a tented canopy, bins of ice, sandwich fixings, and cold drinks in preparation for the day, when temperatures are expected to break 90 degrees.
About an hour later, several police cars stopped a grey sedan and a yellow Penske box truck near Medford City Hall not far from the Penske lot. An officer at the scene said that a Penske customer may have been followed by a carload of union supporters, and that officers stopped the truck as a precaution.
That report could not be confirmed, however, and a spokesman for the police department was unavailable to comment.
“Our last communication with the union was we would be back at the table at 9 a.m., Wednesday,” Ryerson said. “We were surprised and disappointed to learn a strike was initiated Wednesday morning. We remain open to further discussions to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.”
The Medford location provides short and long term truck rentals, truck maintenance, and fuel service, Ryerson said. A total of 32 people are employed there, 24 of whom are unionized with either the Teamsters or the Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 447, he said, with the remaining eight employees representing management and administrative staff.
Yesterday the rental location was only partially effected by the strike. Today the rental office was closed for business, Ryerson said.
Outside the doors, the four employees were joined by workers from other union who also work at the Penske site and who refused to cross the picket line, O’Brien said. The group includes machinists and mechanics, O’Brien said in a telephone interview.
About 25 demonstrators congregated in front of the Penske location by about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Many held signs that decried unfair labor practices. Others milled around on the sidewalk, raising their placards at the occasional honk of support from passing motorists. One demonstrator who declined to give his name said busloads of sympathetic union members were slated to join the group from around the area today.
A half dozen uniformed police officers from Medford stood near the protesters yesterday morning. The Teamsters brought a tented canopy, bins of ice, sandwich fixings, and cold drinks in preparation for the day, when temperatures are expected to break 90 degrees.
About an hour later, several police cars stopped a grey sedan and a yellow Penske box truck near Medford City Hall not far from the Penske lot. An officer at the scene said that a Penske customer may have been followed by a carload of union supporters, and that officers stopped the truck as a precaution.
That report could not be confirmed, however, and a spokesman for the police department was unavailable to comment.
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