In February, front desk and reservations employees at the new Grand Hyatt at SFO voted to form a union with Teamsters 856–joining the over 1,000 hospitality workers already represented by the 17,000-member strong local.

The Grand Hyatt at SFO opened its doors last fall and is the only hotel on the San Francisco International Airport’s property.

This win is another victory for the Teamster Organizing Network–a coalition of Teamster Locals across California and Nevada whose goal is to help working people gain a voice on the job and build Teamster power in core industries.

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August 26, 2019, might have been just another workday for Hector Camacho and his City of Millbrae Public Works co-worker, Evan Ramirez, but an accident at the end of the day made it one to remember.

“We were getting off work and it happened right by the freeway on-ramp,” said Hector. Hector and Evan were returning to the Public Works corporation yard with the intention of going home for the day when they saw a car collide with a bicyclist.

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In June, with a resounding 90% yes vote, the members of Teamsters Local 601 voted to merge with Local 856. Their goal for the merger is to increase member strength, build on the current Teamster Central Valley infrastructure, and advance organizing opportunities while maintaining local control. Local 856 is fully committed to meeting those goals.

The merger, effective August 1, establishes the creation of the Teamsters Local 856 Food Processing Division, with a board of rank-and-file leaders headed by Director Ashley Alvarado.

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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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Last fall, devastating fires left families centered in Paradise, CA, displaced from their homes and communities with the monumental task of rebuilding. The Camp Fire was dubbed the worst in California history because of the tragic number of lives lost and structures destroyed.

In the midst of it all, pets and other animals were caught up in the confusion and often separated from their owners. To help manage this problem, employees from the City and County of San Francisco’s Animal Care &

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Local 856 members in San Francisco recently ratified a new agreement at 23 of the top hotels in San Francisco including the Fairmont, the Palace Hotel, and the Clift Hotel. The new contract builds upon the strength of their previous contract and covers more than 1,000 members who work in reservations, front desk, concierge, and accounting.

“This agreement is one that we all worked hard on and one that I believe is second to none in the hotel industry,” said Local 856 President Mike Lagomarsino who led negotiations along with Local 856 Secretary-Treasurer/Principal Officer Peter Finn.

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