Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Woo-hoo! Another Teamster organizing victory in Calif.

Please welcome our 66 new brothers and sisters at Local 890 in Salinas, Calif. They are drivers at Foothill Packing. On Monday they voted overwhelmingly to become Teamsters.

We'll let Fritz Conle, union representative for Local 890, tell us what happened:
Here at Local 890 we have been working with the 66 truck drivers at Foothill Packing for the last 4 months. They haul produce from the fields to the coolers and salad plants for River Ranch, Taylor Farms, Dole and others.  Luis Flores, Roberto Sanchez and I visited drivers and held meetings in Salinas, Santa Maria, Mendota, Huron, Yuma, San Luis, Ariz., and Calexico. 
Yesterday they won their election to join the Union, by a 2-1 margin! The vote was by mail ballot and the result was 29 Yes, 16 No and 3 challenged.  Now we start to negotiate for a contract. 
Foothill Packing also employs over 1000 farm workers harvesting the produce in the fields.
Welcome to our great union!