In 2021 and 2022, the workers at the Kelloggs facilities in Nebraska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Kansas had to go on strike for up to three months to get a decent contract. When the contract at Kelloggs’ Eggo Waffle facility in San Jose was due to expire in June, that recent history was all too real for the 150 members and Business Rep Ray Torres. Fortunately, with two strike authorizations in hand, no strike was necessary and members got the best contract they’ve ever had.

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It may have taken over a year and a half, but the thousands of members across California who do sales for Southern Glazer Wine & Spirits & RNDC (formerly known as Young’s Market) ratified their richest contract to date. Local 853 alone has about 684 workers under this contract who received huge wage increases, full maintenance of benefits on their health and welfare, additional holidays, and more.

Business Rep Steve Beck was quick to acknowledge that the bargaining committee,

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“Ten years ago, there were zero Amazon warehouses in California,” said Shaun Martinez, from the IBT’s Strategic Research and Campaigns Department “Today, Amazon is the state’s largest employer.”

Speaking at a training about Amazon for about 100 Local 853 UPS members at the San Jose Teamster office on November 13, Martinez reviewed Amazon’s growth, from bookseller to major customer of UPS to now being UPS’ biggest competitor—already surpassing Fed-Ex’s market share.

The battle has already begun.

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On July 10 and August 28, Local 853 sponsored job fairs in the parking lots of the Local’s San Jose and Oakland offices, respectively. In all, 18 Teamster employers showed up to fill more than 350 jobs—from drivers (truck, paratransit, school bus, tech bus, and more), to warehouse workers, merchandisers, and manufacturing workers. Hundreds of job seekers came to check out those positions.

We thank the employers for joining us and making their positions available.

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Rather than gathering in a high school auditorium, Local 853 switched its annual Membership Appreciation Event to be a “drive-through.” On October 31, nearly 1,000 members came to the DoubleTree Hilton in Newark to pick up their membership gift, and the “State of Our Union” speech and raffle were held on zoom the next day. 

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On July 18, the Northern California Ready Mix drivers working for Cemex and Central Concrete, who are members of Local 853 and 315, overwhelmingly ratified their contract extension by mail ballot. This contract impacts 600 members at facilities across the Greater Bay Area.

“Given the current circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting inability to do most things in person, full-blown negotiations would have taken months and would have put areas of our contract at potential risk,” said Local 853 Principal Officer Rome Aloise.

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