After a long organizing drive that included educating the employees on union busting tactics and the benefits of having a collective bargaining agreement, on April 25, the employees of DS Services of Manteca voted 25-12 in favor of having Teamsters Local 439 be their union representative.
The organizing team did an amazing job in keeping the group together and keeping the union informed on what was being said and handed out at the union busting meetings.
Keep readingTeamsters Local 439 represents about 443 members at Tracy Logistics in Stockton, so when their lone Pest Control worker asked to organize, we didn’t think it would be a problem for the company to add one more classification to the existing contract.
Unfortunately, due to greed and the need for control, the company denied the union’s request for card check using an “Armour-Globe” election, which easily allows non-union units in an otherwise union shop to join the union.
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On June 14, the drivers at Filld voted 65-35% in an NLRB election to affiliate with Local 287. “We are looking forward to starting negotiations,” says Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Sweeney.
Founded in 2015, Filld is a mobile fueling company that delivers fuel to individual consumers and to fleets.
As market demands shift, Filld’s trucks and technology platform will transition to support electric vehicle charging and delivery of other alternative energy fuels.
Located in San Jose,
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Teamster members who drive the construction vehicles for the City and County of San Francisco are now doing that work with a little more of a smile. Local 853 members haul the big equipment, the tractor trucks that clean out the sewers, the water trucks, and more. On May 9, those 200 Teamsters overwhelmingly ratified their new three-year agreement, and according to Business Rep Dan Harrington, “It’s the best contract we’ve been able to get in the last 20 years.”
Harrington explained that the negotiations had to go to mediation,
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More than 50 Local 2010 members hit the State Capitol in full force on June 5 showing Teamster power to support our bills for the fair treatment of workers. The day started early with travel to Sacramento and kicked off with a brief orientation. Then members hit the hallways to meet with over a dozen legislators and aides to encourage them to vote to restore salary steps for California State University workers and paycheck protections for University of California workers.
Keep readingLocal 70 members spent a lovely May afternoon talking with students from Mt. Diablo High School about unions, in general—and Teamsters, in particular.
“We talked about the opportunities available for a great career if college was not in their plans,” says Business Agent Rich Fierro.
The group was joined by Local 853 Trustee Mike Fritz, Joint Council 7 Transportation coordinator Ron Valdez, and Local 856 Stewards Ken Olsen and Craig Bartzi who work for the School District.
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Gerald Payton O’Hara
1936 – 2018
Gerry O’Hara, long-time advocate for the Teamsters Public Affairs Council in Sacramento, died in April, 2018 following many years of struggle with heart and lung issues. He was 82 years old.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Gerry received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of San Francisco in 1958. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958-1960 at Fort Ord,
Keep readingSolidarity is a word that you’ll usually see in any article pertaining to labor. Solidarity is a powerful word that resonates throughout the labor movement. But the ultimate form of solidarity occurs when members rally around their fellow brothers and sisters to flex the power of brotherhood. On May 16, 145 members of Teamsters Local 350, who work for Recology San Mateo, did just that by voting unanimously to approve strike sanction.
The negotiating committee,
Keep readingOn November 1, 2018, Local 137 won the election to represent 32 employees of AccentCare Home Health of California. The bargaining unit consists of in-home health care providers and clerical staff.
“Shortly after we won the election, we learned that the company had stopped paying employees for ‘Windshield Time’,” which Business Agent Kim Carelli described as an additional stipend paid based on the number of miles driven per day to care for patients.
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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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