Last weekend, Teamster 853 members of Golden Brands in San Jose held a proposal meeting to discuss their upcoming contract negotiation.
“We are unified and on the right path,” said Teamsters 853 Vice President Ray Torres. “Our members are motivated, involved, and behind their committee; it’s the best way to get a great contract for everyone in the group! I’m proud of each and every member who participated.”
Teamster 853 Costco workers in the Bay Area will soon be gearing up for contract negotiations. And what better way to start getting our Costco Teamster family focused and united on this coming contract than a delicious barbecue? Costco has a National contract with thousands of members across the country, and a good way to start getting our Costco Teamster family focused on this coming contract is to have a meal together and discuss strategy. So last week, Teamsters Local 853 served barbecue to our members in San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Redwood City.
“When Teamsters are unified, we win big. So, we are bringing our Costco family together to get ready for our upcoming National Contract negotiations.” Said Teamster President Steven Lua. “We’re looking forward to working with our Costco sisters and brothers across the whole country.”
“We come out to these members’ workplaces, serve them food, and talk about the best way to maximize our opportunity in this contract.” Said Teamster Business Agent Cesar Martinez, “It’s a great way to kick things off among a group that is already very strong and focused.”
This was a multi-day affair. Local 853 made sure there were enough staff in attendance to talk to members and help with the barbecue. In attendance were Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beck, President Steven Lua, Vice President Ray Torres, Recording Secretary Mike Henneberry, and Business Agents Scott Gonsalves, James Long, Cesar Martinez, Efren Alarcon, Gloria Segura, and Jonathan Pinney.
This Tuesday evening, the teamsters at Watsonville Community Hospital held a ratification meeting, and they voted unanimously to accept the new contract offer. This has been a long-running affair. Three years ago, the Hospital was in financial trouble under previous leadership, preventing substantive increases for its employees at that time. However, things have changed as the Hospital is now under new leadership and ownership.
“We spent six months working to improve wages and benefits for our members and came out successful in our efforts.” said Teamster 853 President Steven Lua, “This road has been long and winding. Congratulations to these members. They have really earned this victory!”
Teamsters helping Teamsters in Santa Cruz and Monterey County: The history of how Parajo Valley community residents teamed up with Teamsters Local 853, other locals, politicians, and community leaders to save the Watsonville Community Hospital.
The Watsonville Community Hospital is the go-to facility for many residents in the Parajo Valley community. A community made up of parts of Santa Cruz County to the north and Monterey County to the south. This hospital has been a mainstay in the community. In 2022, the “for-profit” hospital filed for bankruptcy and faced a shutdown, which would have been a devastating loss to the community. So Local Unions, including Teamsters Local 853, several area politicians, and community advocates, successfully lobbied to create a specific Parajo Valley Health District to carve out funding to publically save and run the hospital. And in 2022, the bill was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, and the hospital was saved.
The very same Parajo Valley community is home to many Teamster 853 food processing and warehousing workers. These Teamster 853 women and men process and pack the fruits and vegetables in Watsonville for brand names like Green Giant and Driscolls. That food is then shipped all across the country.
So today we not only celebrate this great new contract for the Watsonville Community Hospital Teamsters, but also the success of the lobbying to keep the hospital running and supporting a community that so many other Teamster 853 members live and work in.
If you are a Monterey or Santa Cruz County resident who voted to approve the funding measure in the last election, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your role in strengthening this community of Teamsters.
Now, it’s time for the payoff. These members voted to Unionize just a couple of months ago, and now are bringing their A-game to the negotiating table.
“Stay unified, trust your committee and guidance from the Local,” said Teamster Vice President Ray Torres.
On behalf of every member and staff at Teamsters Local 853, we are watching; you have our support; make us proud, get that good contract, and change the lives of you and your coworkers for the better!!
Stay tuned to this space as we report back to you on the results of their efforts.
Congratulations to these new members from Tony’s Fine Foods, who got together on Sunday with Teamsters 853 President Steven Lua and Vice President Ray Torres to begin preparations for negotiating their first contract. There are 190 drivers who span a large geographic area across multiple Teamster Locals.
Stick together, be smart about your contract, trust your committee and representation. And get that great contract!!
Way to go, sisters and brothers; this is how you strengthen your group.
MV Transportation members came out to the Teamsters Local 853 hall in San Jose this Saturday for a Contract Enforcement meeting. The group discussed Weingarten’s rights and rights to representation, the Grievance procedure, and NLRB violations.
When everyone knows the protections that the Union provides, every member can advocate for a better work environment with the protections of our contract in their back pocket. Bravo! 👏👏👏
We give you the fine gentleman from Douglas Parking at Stanford Hospital. These Teamster 853 members are critical in making sure people have a safe way to travel around the campus and hospital.
“I have the pleasure of getting to know these members on a personal level,” said Business Agent David Crawford, “knowing and understanding our members this way is the best way we can effectively address their issues. We are building a community based on trust and mutual understanding, so when we need each other to stick together, we are already most of the way there.”
At the meeting we discussed a variety of topics, including sick pay, vacation entitlements, and how to build better relationships and communication between the union and the company so that we all may benefit.
Thank you, Brothers, for putting the time in to make things better.
This past Saturday, 80 Performance Food Group drivers in Gilroy assembled at the company to vote their first contract. It was a tremendous success as the members voted 100% YES in unity.
This has been a year-long effort made by the IBT, Tom Erickson, and Teamsters Local 630, all of whom graciously sent videos and supported these drivers through the entire process from UNION YES to RATIFICATION AT 100%. We also want to thank the company for getting to a cooperative point in negotiations and doing the right thing for these drivers.
“With so many coming together to make this happen, these drivers were so excited to vote on this life-changing contract.” said Teamster 853 Vice-President Ray Torres “Big shout out to the contract committee, the IBT, International Vice President, Tom Erickson, Teamsters Local 630 for all the videos and support….and especially to Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beck who made the contacts, commitment, and resources available to hit a grand slam on this organizing drive.”
Coca-Cola stewards Jerry Trujillo and Jason Aguilar sit down with members of Teamsters Locals 315 and 70, along with members of the company management, to discuss the restructuring of territories. To top it off, this restructuring occurs just months before the Coca-Cola contract expires for Drivers, Merchandisers, and Warehouse workers.
Teamsters Local 853 would like to recognize all of the hard work stewards like Jerry and Jason do, not only to protect their fellow workers on the job during the day-to-day but also the sizable extracurricular work of contract prep and negotiation and, in this case, a major shift in the overall business in the Bay Area.
Under the leadership of the bakery chairs Don Garcia & Mike Pratt, and with the assistance of the IBT Director Jeff Padellaro and IBT Rep Pete Lamb, and Teamsters 853 Secretary-Treasurer and IBT Rep Steve Beck, the members at Bimbo Bakery voted overwhelmingly to ratify an excellent contract. They received significant gains across all divisions, and the members of 853 had excellent representation in the room, stewards Minger Dorcey and Roheilo Vargas, whom they could trust to fight to improve standards for all members working at Bimbo.
“Our members were very pleased with the outcome of this contract; they earned every penny, and it’s well deserved,” said Steve Beck, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters 853, “we owe thanks also to the Chairs, Don Garcia and Mike Pratt, for giving the members the confidence to stick together and get it done.”
