Member Profiles

Eric Wright – City of Hercules (Local 315)

Eric Wright calls himself a “jack of all trades and master of none,” but after 24 years of working for the City of Hercules as a Maintenance II lead worker, he’s really a renaissance man with a wealth of skills who has a strong dedication toward achieving his job duties.

Wright works with an 8-person maintenance crew and they take care of the parks, trees, irrigation, concrete, roads, and basically whatever needs maintenance and repair.

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Matthew Whaley – UPS (Local 315)

The Ten Point Commentary (Sung to the tune of A Horse With No Name, by America.) I drive through the city on a car with no name Giving space, visibility. Safe by choice is not by chance…A way to be accident free. La la, etc.

 

This is one of several songs that Matthew Whaley wrote to promote safety for the drivers at UPS when he served as co-chair of the safety committee.

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Merritt Billington – UPS (Local 853)

Merritt Billington has worked at UPS for about 25 years; a career he started when he was 18 years old. He delivers packages in the city of Gilroy for UPS and serves as the Local 853’s chief shop steward at the Morgan Hill Center in San Jose. He makes 150-190 deliveries each day — a workload that’s up by about 25% since COVID started.

For most of his career at UPS, Billington was an active member with Local 287.

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Ricardo Barba – Recology Sunset (Local 350)

Ricardo Barba has been a dedicated driver for Recology for 30 years. His career began in 1990 with Recology Golden Gate; he then transferred to Recology Sunset in 1996. For the majority of his career, Ricardo has proudly serviced San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood.

“This career isn’t just about being a Garbage Truck driver; it’s about being an essential part of the community and servicing others. Waking up early or staying late at work is worth it,

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Joseph Gomes – South Bay Recycling

Joseph Gomes has worked at South Bay Recycling for more than 34 years.  He currently works as the transfer station’s heavy equipment operator, and also serves as the unit’s shop steward. “I like operating equipment. I also enjoy my position as the shop steward because I work with great guys and I like working for an organization that helps protect its workers’ rights,” he says with pride.

Aside from being both a proud member and shop steward,

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