What a night! Dozens of prizes, gift cards, and lots of union cheer. Have a happy holidays everyone!  

It was a packed house last night at the Teamsters Hall in Tukwila! Hundreds of Local 117 members from across our union joined in the festivities of our Holiday Membership Meeting extravaganza.

As is tradition at the event, we raffled off dozens of prizes including power tools, electronics, gift cards, TVs, bottles of wine, and best of all…NUTS!

Check out photos from the event here.

Before getting to the raffle prizes, John Scearcy, our Union’s Secretary-Treasurer, kicked off the meeting with a few announcements.

He started by recognizing the outstanding service of Scott Anderson, who will be stepping down from his position as Trustee on our Union's Executive Board after an incredible 45-year Teamster career with 20 years on the Executive Board.

"Our members at UNFI are an inspiration to all of us."

Since the 1980s, Scott has organized food and blood drives at the Safeway distribution center in Auburn. Over that time span, hundreds of Teamsters have donated food to families in need and blood to help save lives in our community. Thank you, Scott! We are grateful to you for your service!

Taking Scott’s role on the E-Board will be Sysco Shop Steward, Will Buff. Will is an 18-year Teamster with 9 years’ experience as a Shop Steward and has helped secure strong contracts in the food service industry.

Scearcy also shared our Union’s ongoing fight with UNFI, the company that has unlawfully laid off over 200 Teamsters from its Tacoma warehouse.

“Our members at UNFI have galvanized the labor movement across the country,” Scearcy said. “Facing extreme pressure from an unscrupulous employer, they have stuck together and are demanding that UNFI honor their contractual rights. They are an inspiration to all of us.”

We've established a hardship fund for our members at the Tacoma warehouse, some of whom are facing eviction and struggling to support their families.  Contributions are welcome! 

We also passed the hat for Frank Ordonez, a Teamster UPS driver from Florida who was tragically killed after his truck was hijacked earlier this month. In total, members pitched in $1400 for Ordonez's family. Our Teamsters 117 Executive Board has approved matching donations collected from the membership last night.

Thank you to everyone for a great event. Happy holidays to you and your family!