West York Borough Police Officer to be reinstated

West York Borough hired Officer Bree Wilson on March 7, 2008. On January 26, 2011 Officer Wilson was placed on administrative leave for alleged misconduct pending an investigation. On March 4, 2011 Officer Wilson was officially charged and placed on suspension without pay.

At the time of suspension a grievance was filed by the Local Union, which was held in abeyance until all issues were resolved. Charges against Officer Wilson were dismissed two (2) years later on March 6, 2013. Instead of being reinstated, the Borough terminated her employment on June 17, 2013.

This grievance remained in limbo until Local 776 Business Agent William Olmeda actively pursued the case and in April 2015 it went to arbitration for a determination on a wrongful discharge. The case was heard and a decision was rendered on December 9, 2015.

The arbitration award stated that Officer Wilson was to be reinstated as a police officer and made whole for all lost wages and benefits. The Local Union estimates that she is owed in excess of $220,000.00 dollars in lost wages and benefits.

L-R: Local 776 Business Agent Bill Olmeda, Officer Bree Wilson, Local 776 President Ed Thompson

On February 17 Local 776 President Edgar Thompson along with PA. Conference of Teamsters Secretary and Local 776 member Tom Felice, attended Governor Tom Wolf's Labor Round Table. The focus of the meeting was issues affecting Labor Unions. At the conclusion of the meeting Governor Wolf thanked those in attendance for their continued support and committed to stand with Labor in the battles we may face in the coming months.

After the meeting President Thompson commented; “It is important for the Local Union to build strong relationships with politicians who support our views on working men and women. One of the ways the Local Union does this is through DRIVE, the Teamsters Political Action Committee. For more information about DRIVE please visit the DRIVE web page under Member Resources.”

L-R: PA. Conference of Teamsters Secretary Tom Felice, PA. Governor Tom Wolf, Local 776 President Ed Thompson

Workers Memorial Day is observed in York and Adams Counties on April 28 to remember workers who have lost their lives on the job. The York-Adams County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council offers a scholarship program to encourage students to learn about and examine issues that affect the labor movement. For more information on the Richard L. Boyd Workers Memorial Day essay contest follow the link below to download, view and print the scholarship information flier.

2016 Workers Memorial Day scholarship

The Circus is coming to town! And Local 776 has tickets for you! The Local Union has purchased 100 adult tickets and 100 children's tickets. The tickets can be picked up at the Harrisburg Union Hall during normal business hours. Tickets are limited to two (2) adult tickets and two (2) children's tickets per member and are available on a first come,first served basis. Childrens ages are from 12 years and younger. Anyone over 12 years of age is required to have an adult ticket. The tickets are for the 1:00 PM show on March 20, 2016. The circus is held at:

       Zembo Shrine Circus

                                        Sunday, March 20, 2016

                                        1:00 P.M.

                                        2801 N. 3^rd Street Harrisburg, PA 17110

To download, view, and print the circus flier follow the link below:

Shriner Circus 2016

See you at the Circus!

On February 3, 2016 Local 776 Secretary-Treasurer Ron Hicks and Business Agent Spencer Dearth, along with Local 509 representatives from Gaffney, South Carolina met in Richmond, Virginia with IBT officials to address sub-contracting issues and the layoffs of Teamster members at UPS Freight.

On February 4, 2016, along with the IBT Eastern Region UPS Freight Representatives, they met with the top officials of UPS Freight at UPS Freight headquarters in Richmond. The meeting went well, many issues concerning subcontracting were discussed.

At the conclusion Secretary-Treasurer Hicks commented: “Hopefully the results of this meeting with UPS Freight officials will bring more work back to the bargaining unit and get our members back to work.”

L-R: Local 776 BA Spencer Dearth, Local 776 Secretary-Treasurer Ron Hicks

Getting down to business...

Recently the PA Senate Transportation Committee held hearings on Senate bills 93 and 94, pertaining to the removal of snow and ice from vehicles operating in the state. Local 776 members employed by numerous employers perform every operation in the commercial trucking field. With this being said Local 776 President Ed Thompson was asked to address the committee for his evaluation of Senate bills 93 and 94.

To download, view, and print the Senate Committee’s agenda and President Thompson’s testimony to the committee follow the link below:

Senate Transportation Committee testimony

Local 776 President Ed Thompson provides his testimony

 In June of 2014 a dispute arose between Teamsters Local 776 and The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, after the Medical Center, without bargaining or even notice to their Union, imposed a policy that restricted the number of overtime hours that non medical employees could work, even when additional overtime was available and the employees had volunteered in advance to perform it. Several Teamster 776 member employees filed Grievances under their CBA. Unable to resolve the Grievances in the pre arbitration steps of the grievance procedure, Local 776 Business Agent Dave Vrona, with the approval of the Local 776 Executive Board moved the case to arbitration, the contractually agreed upon method of dispute resolution between the Union and the Medical Center.

On December 15, 2015 an Arbitration hearing was held in Hershey PA, both sides presented testimony, oral arguments, examined and cross-examined witnesses and submitted documentary evidence into the record. After Arbitrator Mastriani heard the testimony and reviewed all the evidence he issued the following award:

“The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center violated the collective bargaining agreement when it adopted the June 2014 policy limiting overtime hours to twenty (20) hours per week. The Center shall rescind the June 2014 policy and return to the contractual method of overtime assignment that has been used in the past. Employees who were denied the opportunity to work additional overtime that they normally would have worked but for the twenty (20) hours per week limitation on overtime hours shall be made whole for the losses suffered as a result of the denial of overtime work they would have worked and at the rate of pay they normally would have received for such work”

Teamsters Local 776 President Edgar Thompson, in commenting on the final and binding decision said, "When the Hershey Medical Center implemented this policy, without negotiation with our Union, it dramatically restricted our members' earning capacity; in this day and age every dollar counts and our Medical Center members work hard for every dollar they earn! Our members at HMC are very dedicated employees and some have to work overtime just to make ends meet, so when HMC imposed this policy, it created many issues for our members and we are committed to fight to protect our members' rights and make sure that the contracts we negotiate on behalf of our members are followed. In this case, the Medical Center attempted to ignore the plain language that they had agreed to, in writing, when they changed the overtime availability and distribution rules so our Union stepped in to assure their rights were protected. Local 776 Business Agent Dave Vrona, Stewards Doug Miller and Tom Bender, Member Richard Sitler, and Legal Counsel Irwin Aronson did an excellent job preparing and presenting this case; it is a huge win for all of our members at HMC and for collective bargaining rights."

Teamsters Local 776 is requesting that all Members at HMC review their payroll records back to June 2014, and if you were denied overtime opportunities, due to the fact that you reached the impermissible 20 hour limit, Contact Business Agent Dave Vrona at the Union Hall immediately. (717) 233-8766.

To download, view, and print the complete decision and award follow the link below:

HMC overtime arbitration decision 2016

Teamsters Local 776 is proud to announce a new scholarship opportunity for our member’s dependent children. These scholarships are in addition to the Hoffa, and the HACC scholarships that are currently offered. The awards are made possible by the raffles conducted at all our Local Union events. All active member’s dependent children are eligible as long as they meet the following criteria:

1. Be enrolled to begin college/trade school in the fall of the year scholarship is awarded.

2. Completely filled out and submitted the application to the Local 776 Secretary-Treasurer by the application deadline.

3. Be a child or dependent child of an active Local 776 Member.

For 2016 Local 776 will award two (2) $1000.00 awards. The winners will be drawn lottery style at the May membership meeting.

Commented Local President Ed Thompson “These scholarships are another example of our commitment to provide the highest level of service to our members and their families. I encourage all members to participate”.

To download, view, and print the scholarship application follow the link below:

Local 776 scholarship application

Local 776 conducted a life-saving skills training seminar on January 9, 2016. With training provided by One Heartbeat Away, LLC all of the participants were trained and certified in CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and choking emergencies.

At the conclusion Local President Ed Thompson summed it up by commenting: “Continuing with our commitment to train the Local’s Stewards thirty-one of our Teamsters now have the skills to assist and intervene when confronted with an emergency situation whether on the job, at home, or out in public. I’d like to thank the Stewards who came out today to participate in this important session.”

First  a little "classroom" instruction...

Next up a demonstration...

Followed by "Hands on" experience

Thanks to all the Stewards who came out for the training!

On January 10th Teamsters Local 776, in cooperation with the Teamster National Pipeline Training Fund, conducted a Pipeline Fork lift Training class for our pipeline construction members so that they could obtain their forklift certification.

Teamsters Local 776 President Ed Thompson commented” I'm glad that Michael Laborde from the Teamsters National Training fund was able to facilitate this training for our members, we have some big pipe line jobs starting in the spring, and our members will be ready to go, I want to Thank Mike and also Local 776 Employer Eckert Trucking for providing the trailer to help us create a realistic training experience."

The class lasted all day, with a classroom session in the morning, and after lunch everyone was able to demonstrate their skills by loading and unloading material onto a flat bed trailer.

Class room training to start the day

Thanks Mike!

Hands on training

Our guys are ready!