Local 853 History
Local 853 was founded in 1937 to represent a few thousand workers at Lucky’s, Safeway, and Montgomery Wards in the East Bay. The Local has grown to its present size of nearly 15,000 members through aggressive organizing and by merging in smaller local unions. Here’s a timeline:
1937
Founding
1980s
Organized Gillig bus manufacturer
Now with over 500 members
1990s
Local 216 (Construction) merges
Local 291 (Construction) merges
2000s
GCC 583 (Printing Industry) merges
Local 78 (Misc.) merges
GCC 468 (Concessions) merges
Local 15 (Newspaper) merges
2010s
Tech Bus organizing
Brings in more than 800 new members