When UPS took no action after the union reported that a supervisor made a homophobic comment, Local 533 jumped into action. The Local has started an LGBTQ+ group, which is growing rapidly.
“We are determined to make a difference both in the community and workplace for all members or allies in support of the LGBTQ+ community,” says Secretary-Treasurer Debbie Calkins.
This logo will be screen-printed onto t-shirts and tank tops and will be available to purchase for $20.00.
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After voting to unionize in 2021 by a vote of 17 to 1, the 25 drivers from Zephyr Express (Winebow) in Benicia unanimously ratified their first contract in March. These drivers deliver alcohol to grocery stores, BevMo stores, and other liquor retailers.
“We believe that the talks went smoothing precisely because of the resolve these drivers showed in demanding a union,” says Secretary-Treasurer Don E. Garcia. “And that resolve paid off. Their day one wage increases ranged from $2 per hour to $10.16 per hour.
Keep readingIn 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.
Keep readingIn its first legislative conference since 2019, the California Labor Federation and State Building Trades Council brought back hundreds of union members to Sacramento on May 16 and 17 to promote labor’s legislative agenda. Joint Council 7 was there in force.
Every attendee had to take an on-site COVID test to gain admittance. Due to lines and the mandatory 15-minute wait time, many attendees (including this writer) missed several of the morning speeches.
Keep readingAmerican Automobile Association declares war on middle-class jobs
Teamsters Local 665 is condemning the American Automobile Association (AAA) for closing branches in Yreka and Stockton, Calif. during negotiations, likely terminating the jobs of insurance sales agents who are currently bargaining for their first union contract.
“These workers chose to organize with us because AAA is outsourcing high-paying, middle-class careers into churn-and-burn, low-paying, high-turnover telemarketing jobs,” said Tony Deloria, Local 665 Secretary-Treasurer. “AAA needs to stop acting like a hedge fund and start acting like a membership association.
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If you have a child who is graduating from high school this year and can use some extra cash for college or vocational school, now is the time to have them apply for a Harry Polland/Bob Morales Joint Council 7 Scholarship.
Joint Council 7 is pleased to announce the Annual Teamsters Joint Council 7 Harry Polland/Bob Morales Scholarship Fund. This program will provide $1,000 to the child of one member in each of the following affiliated Local Unions: 70,
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How would you feel if, one day in January, you opened your pay stub and saw that your wages were cut by up to $6/hour? You’d probably be angry, wondering how a company that’s been going gangbusters since the start of the pandemic and has recently raised its prices to customers could do this to you. That’s just what happened to about 4,000 part-time workers at UPS—most at big-city hubs where the cost of living is highest,
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In September, 2021, Joint Council 7 launched our campaign challenging Amazon’s rapid expansion plans in the Bay Area. In particular, we set our sights on the company’s plans to build a giant distribution center in San Francisco on property purchased from one of Teamster Local 350’s largest employers, Recology. This project directly threatened 1,400 Teamster Local 2785 members at UPS.
Our campaign won on March 22 when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation imposing interim zoning controls on that project and on all parcel delivery stations in San Francisco for the next 18 months.
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In June 2021, more than 400 AAA insurance agents organized with Teamsters Local 665 in a hard-fought campaign that covered 77 separate locations from Merced up to the Oregon border. Nine months later, these workers still don’t have a contract and AAA recently proposed a 40% wage reduction.
For the past 30 years, AAA has held its annual membership meeting in Walnut Creek or San Francisco, but this year, the company took the unprecedented step of moving the meeting to Farmington,
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