Local 853

Teamsters 853 wins US Foods strike

April 24, 2025
Local 853

fter a week-long strike in March, nearly 200 Local 853 members at US Foods in Livermore have won their first Teamster contact. The three-year agreement includes substantial wage increases, improved safety, paid leave, significant health care savings, and an expiration that aligns with Teamsters contracts in the West, putting the union in an even stronger bargaining position for future contracts.

“We showed this company that we would not back down until we got the pay and benefits we’ve earned,” said Victor Sanchez,

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Teamsters 853 secures $1.3 million in back pay for UNFI drivers

December 21, 2024
Local 853

After three years of battling for our members at UNFI, Teamsters Local 853 secured an incredible win for its members. Due to a contract violation over wage rates, Business Agent and Vice President Ray Torres enforced the merits of the agreement, arguing that significant back pay was due to these members.

The company did not agree that they had violated the collective bargaining agreement, and so began a three-year grievance that ultimately resulted in arbitration.

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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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