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  • 2017-10-02 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Puerto Rico's Teamsters Union Go on Strike During Hurricane Maria Relief Efforts? (en)
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  • With Puerto Rico experiencing a humanitarian and infrastructural crisis in the aftermath of a series of hurricanes, a flurry of stories appeared at the end of September 2017 falsely claiming that a local union representing truck drivers had gone on strike, using the devastation to leverage an improvement in their pay and working conditions. On 30 September 2017, the Conservative Treehouse blog quoted extensively (but selectively) from comments given to the Huffington Post by United States Air Force Colonel Michael Valle: The Conservative Treehouse then went on to claim, again falsely, that the cause of this shortfall in truck drivers was a deliberate, coordinated strike action by the local Teamsters union. Similar claims were also made by the Gateway Pundit and entrepreneur Kambree Kawahine Koa. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters rejected these claims entirely, telling us the reports were fake news and adding that the Teamsters Local 901 in Puerto Rico was doing everything but refuse to help in relief efforts. In a statement, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa called the reports nothing but lies: On 29 September 2017, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued a plea for help to members throughout the mainland United States, describing the efforts being made by local truck drivers in Puerto Rico, in the face of infrastructural devastation: Indeed, Colonel Michael Valle — one of the sources cited by the Conservative Treehouse — went on to tell the Huffington Post: A CNBC report cited in the Conservative Treehouse post also undermines the claim that there was a strike. As the reporter explains: Contrary to all this, the Conservative Treehouse claims that the local Teamsters union, which the article (again, falsely) identifies as Frente Amplio, is refusing to move the product. A spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters confirmed that Frente Amplio is an independent truck drivers' union in Puerto Rico and is not affiliated with the Teamsters in any way. In any event, the Conservative Treehouse cites a Wapa TV interview with Victor Rodriguez, President of Frente Amplio, as evidence of a strike by truck drivers. In fact, it is evidence of no such thing. In the interview, Rodriguez criticizes Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rosselló for a law he signed in April that changed how truck drivers obtain permits, but he does not declare strike action or a refusal to work on the part of Frente Amplio members. He says: Rodriguez states that his organization had actually called off a planned strike before the arrival of Hurricane Irma, which caused widespread infrastructural damage to Puerto Rico in early September. At one point, Rodriguez does point to the power and leverage held by his members, saying: However, he does not declare a strike or refusal to work and affirms the truckers are going to work, in this exchange with Wapa TV's Eliezer Ramos: Puerto Rico's Teamsters Local 901 are not on strike or refusing to work, and they are in fact pleading with truck drivers on the United States mainland to help in the distribution of fuel and supplies there. The Conservative Treehouse's claims about this are based on cherry-picked quotes from a United States Air Force Colonel and a CNBC reporter, both of whose full remarks make clear that truck drivers in Puerto Rico are hampered by severe problems with infrastructure and distribution, but are not refusing to work. On 2 October 2017, a government spokesperson also refuted the rumor in an interview posted by CBS News reporter David Begnaud on Twitter saying, Everyone's working and the supplies are getting to where they have to. (en)
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