Teamster members who drive the construction vehicles for the City and County of San Francisco are now doing that work with a little more of a smile. Local 853 members haul the big equipment, the tractor trucks that clean out the sewers, the water trucks, and more. On May 9, those 200 Teamsters overwhelmingly ratified their new three-year agreement, and according to Business Rep Dan Harrington, “It’s the best contract we’ve been able to get in the last 20 years.”

Harrington explained that the negotiations had to go to mediation,

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More than 50 Local 2010 members hit the State Capitol in full force on June 5 showing Teamster power to support our bills for the fair treatment of workers. The day started early with travel to Sacramento and kicked off with a brief orientation. Then members hit the hallways to meet with over a dozen legislators and aides to encourage them to vote to restore salary steps for California State University workers and paycheck protections for University of California workers.

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Local 70 members spent a lovely May afternoon talking with students from Mt. Diablo High School about unions, in general—and Teamsters, in particular.

“We talked about the opportunities available for a great career if college was not in their plans,” says Business Agent Rich Fierro.

The group was joined by Local 853 Trustee Mike Fritz, Joint Council 7 Transportation coordinator Ron Valdez, and Local 856 Stewards Ken Olsen and Craig Bartzi who work for the School District.

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Solidarity is a word that you’ll usually see in any article pertaining to labor. Solidarity is a powerful word that resonates throughout the labor movement. But the ultimate form of solidarity occurs when members rally around their fellow brothers and sisters to flex the power of brotherhood. On May 16, 145 members of Teamsters Local 350, who work for Recology San Mateo, did just that by voting unanimously to approve strike sanction.

⁣The negotiating committee,

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Teamsters 856 member, Chelsey Yu is a front desk agent at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco. Last year, she gave birth to her daughter and began her maternity leave. A few months later, she received a letter from the Clift stating she had exhausted her protected leave and her health and welfare benefits would no longer be covered.

Based on a clear and established past practice and contract language, Chelsey knew she should have been able to use her sick leave and vacation hours to meet the minimum 80 hours she needed each month to qualify for her collectively bargained health benefits.

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