Once workers with Senior Flexonics in Suburban Chicago realized their former union wasn’t pulling its weight, allowing the company to walk all over them, they sought out the strength of the Teamsters Union.

“A lot of people had been thinking about what life could be like with a different union but nobody did the research on it,” said Mark Zalce, Senior Flexonics steward and new member of Local 330. “So I did some research and looked into Local 330. We fell within their jurisdiction and we saw what a good job they were doing with similar bargaining units.”

Local 330 President Dominic Romanazzi, Joint Council 25 Organizer Mike DiGrazia and other Teamster organizers met with workers for months before the election. They were met with an aggressive antiunion campaign by the company, and a campaign built on lies by the other union wanting to continue representing the workers, but the members stuck together.

Just two days before the election, hundreds of workers attended a rally hosted by Local 330 and Chicago’s Joint Council 25 to send a message to management and demonstrate their support for the Teamsters. It worked. By a 3-to-1 margin, approximately 350 workers at the automotive, energy, medical and aerospace supply manufacturer joined Local 330 in February.

“Now that we’ve got the Teamsters, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many happy people at this company,” Zalce said. “We’re unified like never before.”

Zalce is a maintenance mechanic who lives in East Dundee, Ill. and has worked at Senior Flexonics for 25 years. He’s got a 10-year-old child and realizes that joining the Teamsters isn’t just about him and his co-workers. It’s about their families.

“Our heartfelt congratulations go out to all the workers at Senior Flexonics who stuck together and fought hard for this victory,” Romanazzi said.

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