Local 853

After long battle, Watsonville Community Hospital Teamsters have a new contract

October 17, 2024
Local 853

Teamsters at Watsonville Community Hospital have voted unanimously to accept the new contract offer.

This has been a long-running affair. Three years ago, the hospital was in financial trouble under previous leadership, preventing substantive increases for its employees at that time. However, things have changed as the Hospital is now under new leadership and ownership.

“We spent six months working to improve wages and benefits for our members and came out successful in our efforts.” said Teamster 853 President Steven Lua,

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Not so fast, Tony’s Fine Foods, we will take our jobs back with full back pay and benefits

Local 853

Aurelio Mendoza and Ivan Gonzalez are Tony’s Fine Foods stewards who were instrumental in moving the organizing drive forward for their group. So when this group voted UNION YES, what did the company do? They tried to terminate the employment of Aurelio and Ivan on some trumped-up charges. How surprising.

 

Under the law, this is called retaliation, and it is illegal in the United States.

So despite the company’s best efforts to intimidate these members,

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Local 853 shows solidarity with Costco employees nationwide

July 5, 2024
Local 853, Teamster News
Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien (center) and Local 853 leaders rally with Costco Teamsters in Virginia.

In May, in Virginia, Costco employees did something no Costco location has done in 20 years. They voted to join the Teamsters.

Nationally, many workers at Costco believe that the corporate culture has been changing for the worse. This change has made it more difficult to get good jobs with good benefits at Costco. So, the only option workers have to improve their situation is to begin to organize at Costcos around the nation.

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Strong partnership at Gillig secures industry-leading contract

Local 853, Teamster News
The California Workforce Development Board met with Local 853 leaders, members and Gillig executives in April.

The success of the Labor movement depends on many variables. Two of the most important are the solidarity of our members and our leaders’ ability to work with politicians and government organizations to create partnerships and laws that support workers in our communities. If done well, the results are our members’ good contracts.

Member-Company Partnership and Showcase

This year, Gillig has been a focal point of many high-level political visits because Teamsters Local 853 members and the company have forged a strong worker-company bond that showcases what can be done when the company and their employees work well together.

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Five Local 853 business agents sworn in as Alameda Labor Council Delegates

July 3, 2024
Local 853, Teamster News
Five Local 853 Business Agents were recently sworn in as delegates to the Alameda Labor Council.

Teamster Local 853 would like to recognize five business agents, Gloria Segura, James Long, David Crawford, Ralph Campos, and Jonathan Pinney, for being sworn in as Alameda Labor Council delegates.

These business agents will be responsible for advocating for the betterment of our members in the general Alameda Labor community. They take the concerns of our members and support political agendas in Alameda County.

Most of the time, we highlight our members,

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Local 853 website now available in Spanish

April 30, 2024
Local 853, Uncategorized

Teamsters Local 853 is reaching out more aggressively to the 30% of its 13,000 members who prefer Spanish as their primary language.

This was achieved this by converting the Local’s  website to be fully bilingual in Spanish. Additionally, Local 853 has added a Spanish preference option to email and text communications for its members.

Until now, those members largely depended on friends and coworkers to translate information for them. It was a major milestone for Teamsters Local 853.

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Teamsters build low-emission buses for ABQ Ride

Local 853, Uncategorized

GILLIG, America’s premier heavy-duty transit bus manufacturer, built by skilled unionized workers represented by Teamsters Local 853, proudly announces the delivery of the first batch of 35 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to ABQ RIDE in Albuquerque, with plans for an additional 18 buses later in 2024.

This milestone highlights the collaboration between GILLIG and its dedicated union workforce. 

“Our members at GILLIG, with the strong support of the stewards committee,

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Unanimous ratification at Performance Food Group

Local 853

In March, 80 Performance Food Group drivers in Gilroy assembled at the company to vote their first contract. It was a tremendous success as the members voted 100% YES in unity.

This has been a yearlong effort made by the I.B.T., Warehouse Division Director Tom Erickson, and Teamsters Local 630, all of whom graciously sent videos and supported these drivers through the entire process from UNION YES to RATIFICATION AT 100%.

We also want to thank the company for getting to a cooperative point in negotiations and doing the right thing for these drivers.

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United States Department of Labor Secretary Julie Su meets with Teamsters 853 members – lauds positive partnerships between Union and company

April 20, 2024
Local 853, News and Press, Teamster News
Acting United States Secretary of Labor Julie Su met with Teamsters Local 853 members earlier this month.

In a visit to GILLIG earlier this month, Labor Secretary Julie Su’s organization tweeted, “Our clean energy transition needs strong partnerships, including between workers and management.  Happy to meet with GILLIG to see their facility creating zero-emission buses, talk about their labor-management partnership, and see the benefits of employing unionized workers.”

The Biden Administration is focused on furthering its commitment to Unions across America as a pathway to worker success. This visit, and many others like it, further solidifies their commitment.

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Oakland Zoo keepers vote to join union

December 23, 2022
Local 853, Teamster News
Zookeepers meet with Cong. Barbara Lee (2nd from left). Senior Keeper Jason Knight is at left.

What happens when you have a motivated workforce, a solid organizing team, and connections with local politicians? The workers at the Oakland Zoo just found out when they voted on September 30 by a four-to-one margin to unionize. Teamsters Local 853 is proud to welcome the 55 zookeepers at the Oakland Zoo and looks forward to negotiating their first union contract.

“These workers demonstrated tremendous courage so they can get a contract that addresses the issues they care about – respect,

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