Photo of General President Jim Hoffa administering the oath of office as Western Region Vice Presdient to Rome Aloise

New Leadership for Joint Council 7

On June 1, 2009, the Joint Council 7 Executive Board elected Rome Aloise to succeed long-time President Chuck Mack. A month earlier, Aloise was sworn in to serve as Western Region Vice President, completing Mack's term in that position, as well.

As President of Joint Council 7, Aloise is charged with overseeing Teamster contracts, initiating and supporting organizing campaigns, representing Bay Area Teamsters politically, promoting the IBT through community relations and, when necessary, resolving jurisdictional and internal disputes for 70,000 Teamsters in 13 Northern California Locals.

Aloise will join Western Region VPs Al Hobart and Jim Santangelo to work with the Locals and Joint Councils in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Hawaii, Nevada and California. He'll also work closely with the At-Large Vice President in the west, Randy Cammack. Aloise began his Teamster career in 1967, when he worked out of the Local 70 hiring hall.

After a brief stint with Local 291 driving construction trucks for OC Jones, he was back to Local 70 driving for Pepsi. He was elected Shop Steward in 1974.

The next year, he became an organizer for the Western Conference of Teamsters and worked with the employees at Gillig Corp., Warden West, and Price Club, among others, to gain union representation. He later became Director of Organizing for Joint Council 7.

Over the years, he has been elected to serve as a Trustee, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer of Local 853, a position he has held since 1992. In that time, he has built the Local to become the largest in Northern California through organizing and mergers.

While organizing may be Rome's long-time priority, he believes that negotiating good contracts is critical to the success of the union and to keeping members involved. He has chaired negotiations for several industry groups and large companies, including national Costco, the statewide liquor negotiations, and the Bay Area Building Materials group.

And he is also committed to ensuring that Teamster members have the best possible health and retirement benefits, and for that he has served as Chair of both the Teamsters Benefit Trust Fund and the Supplemental Income 401(k) Plan, as well as serving as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust.

"Rome has consistently provided Teamster members with the best contracts, the best health coverage, the best pensions and the best representation," says long-time Local 853 shop steward Terry Post. "Joint Council 7 is in good hands with him at the helm."