When members’ rights are being trampled on and their livelihoods are at stake, you can be sure that Teamsters Local 117 will not back down from a fight.

Across our Union, in a variety of industries, members of have been banding together and standing up to powerful forces intent on destroying labor.

At Davis Wire, Local 117 members displayed incredible courage and determination in a three-month strike with a heartless employer.

Against all odds, they fought and won a victory that will improve working conditions and restore their dignity that had been stripped by billionaire owner, Michael Heisley.

RECYCLE AND YARD WASTE WORKERS 

At Waste Management, Local 117 members refused to be bullied by a multi-billion dollar corporation that was trying to undercut industry standards.

Members raised pickets and withheld their labor for seven frenzied days.

Television crews swarmed the picket line, and the fight played out on the nightly news and on the front page of the Seattle Times.

In the end, it became clear that workers had caught the company off guard: Waste Management’s so-called “contingency plan” was an abject failure, and the company was forced to negotiate a settlement or face massive fines from municipalities throughout our region.

FOOD SERVICE AND GROCERY NEGOTIATIONS

Meanwhile, with the Davis Wire and Waste Management contracts ratified, the fight turned to the food service industry, where Local 117 members at Sysco and Food Services of America voted to authorize a strike over retirement security and health care.

“The vote sent a clear message that we are united and prepared to do what we have to do to get where we need to be,” said 18-year FSA warehouseman, Jason Stepner.

In the grocery industry, Local 117 members at United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), a highly profitable organic foods distributor with a warehouse in Auburn, followed suit.

On September 9, the group rejected a substandard proposal and demanded changes that address the gross inequities at the company and other questionable business practices.

DOC CONTRACT FIGHT LOOMING

At the Department of Corrections, where members have been fighting for a safer working environment for the last three years, in the face of pay reductions and budget reductions, the Union is pushing for changes at the bargaining table that will help protect the brave men and women who work in our prisons.

“Unless we see a good faith effort to address the serious safety issues at DOC, we will be calling on all members across our Union to rally in support of our State’s correctional workers,” said Tracey A. Thompson, Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer.

“Because at Teamsters 117, we are not afraid to take on a fight, no matter how powerful the opposition. And when we fight, we win!”