Teamsters target city of Somerville (raiding)

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=1018184&srvc=home

Teamsters target city of Somerville
By Herald staff
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 - Updated: 04:14 AM EST

The controversial Teamsters Local 25 is trying to lure Somerville municipal employees away from their current collective bargaining group and into the Teamsters’ fold.

In an Aug. 17 letter to members of the Somerville Municipal Employee Association, Local 25 President Sean M. O’Brien wrote that his union “has been approached by a large number of your fellow city employees who are very unhappy with the leadership of SMEA.”

The 250-member employee association is unaffiliated with any national or international union.

Its membership includes school nurses, clerical workers, Somerville Department of Public Works employees, traffic and parking clerks and library workers.

Local 25 officials did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday. SMEA President Michael Browne could not be reached for comment.

“The idea of an employee association in a very political city, such as Somerville, has the inevitable potential for favoritism and backroom decision-making,” O’Brien wrote. “This behavior can be negative for a majority of the workers in the city.”

FULL story at link.


Unions in general in the old days would not raid another unions members. Unions also used to stick to one area or type of workers. Here is to the good old days.

It could get very ugly. Somerville has a long history of very corrupt public administration. It got better after the mayor and several aldermen went to jail but there's still plenty of greasing the skids needed to get anything done there. The Teamsters could be in for a rough fight there.

extremely pathetic and belligerent. sounds like they need a REAL Union.