What Happened Around the Local

Effective May 6, 2023 the new location and contact information is: 3040 Williams Dr., Ste. 640 Fairfax, VA  22031 Phone: 571-800-1860 Fax: 571-520-4167 Email: jpt@gaijpt.org Website: www.gaijpt.org

What happens when you have a motivated workforce, a solid organizing team, and connections with local politicians? The workers at the Oakland Zoo just found out when they voted on September 30 by a four-to-one margin to unionize. Teamsters Local 853 is proud to welcome the 55+ zookeepers at the Oakland Zoo and looks forward […]

In our largest drive-thru membership appreciation event yet, more than 800 members came by Local 853’s offices in Oakland (Oct. 29), San Jose, and Watsonville (Oct. 30). They filled out a card to enter the raffle and collected a Local 853 long-sleeved t-shirt. The Local has held this event since 1993, but until the pandemic […]

Getting a union is not easy, as the 50 workers who run the mail room for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, will attest. They work for a contractor called Canon Business Services. Back in the fall of 2021, they contacted Local 853 determined to gain union representation because, according to Business Rep Pablo Barrera, […]

When Local 853 chose its winner of the 2022 Harry Polland/Bob Morales Joint Council 7 Scholarship, they didn’t realize how much that choice was a family affair. Nathan Sanchez, the winner, is the son of Paul Sanchez, who has worked at Southern Glaziers Wine and Spirits in Union City for almost 15 years, the last […]

There’s an old saying in the union world: 10% of the members take up 90% of the time of business reps. It’s always the squeaky wheel who gets the attention and not often does the union hear from members about the good job their doing. So, when Business Rep Stu Helfer opened his email and […]

When Hallcon, a contractor that runs commuter shuttle buses for the tech industry, terminated a driver for falsification of records, the union fought back—and won! Hallcon had fired a member for not showing up for work one day, but the union disputed that very fact. The company had stopped having members use the electronic timeclock […]

On June 30, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case. As a result, AB5 is the law of the land. Huh??? By setting out a clear definition of who should be an “employee” and who can be an “independent contractor,” AB5 is the law written to rein in the growing “gig” economy. Local 853 […]

Business Rep Steven Lua reports that in December, Watsonville Community Hospital filed for bankruptcy. If this, the only hospital in Watsonville, were to close, it would be devastating not only for the 55 Teamsters who work in the business department, but for the entire community. Lua and the Teamsters sprang into action. Working with Joint […]

Sadly, the big Anheuser Busch (AB) distribution facility in Oakland got sold and suddenly closed in July with minimal notice. Local 853 represented 113 drivers, warehouse workers, draft technicians, merchandisers, and salesmen at that facility. “We only had about two weeks\’ notice, which, besides being terrible for our members, didn’t even meet legal requirements,” says Business Agent […]