Local 853

The contract for the 60 school bus drivers at First Student in San Jose had expired in August 2020, but because COVID was hot and heavy, the union decided to do an indefinite extension. “We had no idea what was going on in the world,” says Business Rep Tracy Kelley. “Schools shut down in March and never re-opened. Students were distance learning for more than a year, and there was no bus service at all. Would it ever re-start? At that point, we had no idea what the future held.” Kelley adds that this unit was already underpaid by the industry standard, and being unable to work just added insult to injury.

In October 2021, the drivers were back to work and it seemed like things were moving in a positive way, so Kelley opened up the contract for negotiations. “Our members turned down the company’s first offer because it was so sub-par,” Kelly explains, adding that he advised the company to try to get more money out of the school district. “We met with the company again and they sharpened their pencils and presented us a much better offer, proving significant increases from where they started.” Even though the union would like to see significant increases in the future, the members passed the contract unanimously in June.

Many thanks to Lupe Avalos and Lucy Seramento who did a great job representing their co-workers at the bargaining sessions.

The 175 employees at these two stores ratified their new five-year contract in June and will collect historic wage increases, while the union succeeded in eliminating some steps in the wage progression.

“Our members do everything—from being head clerks to utility clerks to meat clerks—they were the ultimate essential workers,” says Business Rep Jonathan Pinney. “The industry offered $2/hour ‘hazard pay’ raises during the pandemic, but then withdrew those quickly, even as the pandemic lingered for another few years. At least now, they can begin to catch up to where they should be.”

If you rent a car from Hertz at the Oakland Airport, likely it will have been serviced by Teamster members. Thirty Local 853 members work as Vehicle Service Attendants who wash and detail returned rentals, and Tire and Lube Mechanics who change the cars’ oil and tires, and do basic maintenance.

These members and the whole airport car rental industry were hard hit during the height of the pandemic when airport travel dropped to almost zero. But as travel has gotten busy again, these workers needed a raise, and they definitely got one.

Business Rep Jonathan Pinney reports that the negotiations took nine long months. “The members will get a very substantial raise over the three-year contract duration, with a huge boost the first year. They also got large checks representing nine months of retro pay.” They’ll also see increases to their pension and vacation benefits while maintaining the current cost-sharing on the Teamsters health plan.

The 75 members at STA in San Jose ratified their new three-year contract in July. “In addition to getting substantial raises each year, they doubled their number of sick days, from the bare minimum of three up to six; and they squeezed what was a 10-year progression to achieve the top wage rate down to five, getting them to the top wage rate that much quicker,” says Business Rep Jerry Cordova.

The master contract just opened for about 800 bus drivers who work at four companies (Hallcon, WeDriveYou, Compass, Mosaic) and shuttle employees to their offices in the Silicon Valley from across the Bay Area and the Valley. Their first meeting was in July, and many more are slated for September. The contract has been extended until the end of September. Watch this space for more news.

In 2021 and 2022, the workers at the Kellogg’s facilities in Nebraska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Kansas had to go on strike for nearly three months to get a decent contract. When the contract at the Kellogg\’s Eggo Waffle facility in San Jose was due to expire in June, that recent history was all too real for the 150 Local 853 members and Business Rep Ray Torres.

“It took a lot of internal organizing and educating the membership for at least a year before the proposals even started,” said Chief Steward Eric Calderon. “We knew we had a long, hard fight ahead of us. But we also knew that the company was fearful of us taking the same position that the mid-west locals had.” Fortunately, with two strike authorizations in hand, no strike was necessary and, in May, the members ratified their best contract ever.

The four-year contract includes substantial annual wage increases, maintenance of benefits for the health and welfare for the life of the contract, and significant pension contribution increases. It also includes a slew of additional benefits, like company-supplied tools, additional sick days, a jury duty benefit, more sick leave, better bidding language, and more.

“We had a strong committee of five stewards with more than 120 years of service at the company,” Torres adds. “Not only are they experienced stewards, but they also know the ins and outs of this company. At our opening bargaining session, we learned that the management side had less than 10 years experience at the company, combined.”

Torres says that after the members rejected the company’s first offer, “we gave them one more chance to sweeten the deal with a two-hour zoom negotiating session. At the end of that session, we had a recommended offer.”