After two years, SamTrans workers get union

The SamTrans organizing committee is pleased to have won union representation
The SamTrans organizing committee is pleased to have won union representation

The Local 856 members at Sam- Trans know the meaning of perseverance. Nearly two years after starting their fight to unionize, the Transportation Supervisors, Radio Controllers and Dispatchers’ struggle paid off in June when they could finally call themselves Teamsters.

Ben Mahabir, a 24-year employee, said he never thought that the day would actually come when they could call themselves “union.” “It was the biggest surprise,” he said. “We’re making history.” Mahabir said that the group initially contacted the Teamsters in 2007 because of the solid reputation that Teamsters have as a union. “Some of the group had already been members and had a good experience.” However, it was a long road from when the group contacted Local 856 until they achieved recognition.

Local 856 Organizer Rudy Gonzalez explained that this group had unique circumstances because they are employed by a special transit district. “They faced a number of challenges. Special transit districts do not go through the NLRB or PERB, they have their own piece of the California government code, which says they can apply ‘relevant’ federal law. That’s where we get the ambiguity.”

Gonzalez said that SamTrans chose a line from the Labor Management Relations Act that they interpreted to mean that supervisors could not join a union. He said that their take on the law was flawed, and that the group seeking representation was undoubtedly an appropriate unit.

“These workers fought hard for just the right to organize, so that they could exercise their fundamental right of freedom of association,” Gonzalez said.

“The key to victory in this campaign was getting the employer to change their mind. If we couldn’t do that, we had to be prepared to win a Department of Industrial Relations hearing while at the same time making sure that we had a majority of the unit sign cards.”

As it turns out, there was no problem getting the workers to sign cards. “We had a strong committee, workers were motivated to be heard in the workplace, and wanted to bargain collectively,” Gonzalez said.

“A lot of things were going on,” Mahabir said. “We wanted to join the union because management was getting away with a lot of things. It was like ‘you listen to us or you’re no longer working.’ There was a lot of favoritism. Our wages had been frozen for five years while the top guys were still getting raises.”

In a true show of Teamster solidarity, Local 856 Transportation Supervisors from the Golden Gate Bridge and Transportation District wrote letters of support and encouragement to their counterparts at SamTrans urging them to stick with it.

“We don’t want much,” Mahabir said. “We want respect. We want the company to realize that we are people too and we work hard for them.”

“They kept it positive,” Gonzalez said of the group. “These are proud employees who serve the community. It wasn’t just about wages. They just wanted a voice in the decisions that affect their day-to-day jobs.”

In the end, the District conceded and recognized that the unit had a right to hold a union election and on June 23, Local 856 proudly welcomed 23 of its newest members in a landslide victory.

The group recently voted in their bargaining committee and is ready to get the ball rolling on negotiations for their first contract.

“Years from now, people will look back and know that we were the ones who got the first contract,” Mahabir said. “It’s a very happy moment.”