Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 24 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Life Arts   

Teamsters Strike at Sotheby's supported by Occupiers

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   1 comment
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Justin Samuels
Become a Fan
  (4 fans)
 

The striking Teamsters at Sotheby's have been locked out for three months. Sotheby's is a privately owned, high end art dealer. Its clients are very wealthy people.The employees in question are art handlers. They went on strike as Sotheby's as sought to reduce their compensation and benefits. For the first half of this year, Sotheby's sales were 3.4 billion dollars and its net income was 127 million dollars. The sales figures were a record high for Sotheby's The teamsters argue management is acting purely out of greed in a desire to increase profits at the expense of employees. The locked out workers have been replaced by temporary workers. Teamsters 814 began dialog with Occupy Wall Street at Zucotti Park and Occupiers have been assisting them.

Weekly protests occur at 6pm, when Sotheby's does its auction. As talks between various working groups at Occupy Wall Street and Teamsters 814 increased, a small contingent of Occupiers joined the teamsters a few weeks ago. Each week the crowd increased as more people became aware of this strike. The protesters had a giant inflated rat, played loud music, whistled, and shouted "shame on you" at clients of Sotheby's as they entered the auction. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, a number of allies from Occupy CUNY, Occupy NYU, joined other occupiers to protest the greed of Sotheby's management. I was told that this was the biggest crowd to date. There was a heavy police presence. Overall, police and protesters respected each other. As the sidewalk became crowded, a few protesters blocked traffic. A police van arrived and apparently arrested perhaps two people.

In the crowd, there were a number of people from other unions as well. The TWU, New York's transportation union, had members there. There were people from the Healthcare union, teachers unions, and other unions. The various union members felt that if one of them should be defeated by management, that they are all endanger. The significant thing about this is in the past, when a union struck, its members were on their own. Other unions didn't assist. Occupy has created a platform in which unions united together, and also bring in allied members of the public. One Union, spread out fliers for its event in Woodlawn Cemetery Teamsters 808 are the workers at Woodlawn Cemetery There were other protesters who identified as socialists. The socialists felt that it was important to be there in solidarity with all working class people. A number of signs at the event simply said we are the 99%. Others mentioned the union that the protester was a member of. A good thing about these events is that university students are present. Years ago university students were conditioned to think that they were all going to become corporate executives. Now in today's poor job market and high student loan debts, students increasingly identify with the working class. Certain signs were critical of the concept of temporary workers. Some signs equated temporary work with permanent second class status. The mixed crew that came out for Teamsters 814 indicate a changing consciousness among many. Teamsters isn't a well known union, and its workers don't cover an industry known to most in the public. Yet its getting more public attention as workers realize their duty to each other.

Rate It | View Ratings

Justin Samuels Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Screenwriter. Historian. BA in History and certificate in Latin American studies from Cornell University. MA in English Education from Columbia University. Very interested in public policy.

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

NBC Universal Telemundo Host Raymond Arrieta Does Racist Blackface and Brownface Performances On TV

Ghana's Right to Return Law for the Descendants of African Slaves

Rapid Gentrification Hitting Bed Stuy and Changing the Neighborhood's Racial Demographics

Occupy Wall Street's Founders and Take Ownership of the Movement

Marjorie Hill, GMHC's First Black Woman CEO, Thrown Under the Bus

The Degeneration of Occupy Wall Street Into A Charity

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend