2025: Our year of investment
December 19, 2024
November 5 came with a mixed bag of results and a lot of mixed emotions. But no matter how anyone feels about the results of the election, we should take a moment to applaud ourselves for electing some very Teamster-friendly candidates in Joint Council 7’s jurisdiction. We elected Teamster Local 856 members who ran for city council seats in Alameda County, we won tax measures to support our public sector members, and we flipped a Congressional seat in the Central Valley.
A big shoutout goes to Local 948, who had soon-to-be-Congressman Adam Gray working out of their office during the election. This was one of the most closely watched Congressional races, and a place where our volunteers mattered most, as Gray won and flipped this seat by fewer than 175 votes.
This election season every Local participated in candidate interviews, volunteered for different candidates or ballot measures important to their Local, encouraged their members to vote, and signed up DRIVE members—some locals even tried something new. In Northern Nevada, Local 533 ran an independent expenditure committee, Working Families for Washoe County, and won all but one of their local races. Local 533 also played a crucial role in securing another term for Senator Rosen.
The participation of members like you is what makes or breaks elections, and ultimately local elections will have a direct impact on our day-to-day lives. Member participation allows us to invest in the future, as many of our endorsed local candidates will eventually run for higher office. The better local candidates we have, the better state and federal candidates we will have down the road.
Now that the election is over, the real work begins. Our Joint Council will continue to fight for worker protections when it comes to automation, our pensions, misclassification, and other issues that impact our day-to-day working conditions. We plan to run a strong Worker Protection Package of bills in Sacramento through the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, and to work to strengthen our war chest for the next California gubernatorial election in 2026 by doing a big DRIVE push in 2025.
2025 will be our year of investment. We’ll invest in our future by showing up for lobby days to pass our Worker Protection Package of bills, contributing DRIVE to ensure we have the funding to elect in a new Governor who supports workers in 2026, and participating in political actions to protect our jobs and to support our fellow Teamsters who are fighting for the right to organize or for a fair contract. We don’t all have to be from the same political party to agree that we need to invest in ourselves—and that means investing in protections for Teamsters and our work. As 2024 comes to an end, I look forward to investing in our future with you in 2025!
