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Orange County Employees Join Teamsters
(ORANGE, Calif.) – A majority of the more than 400 operations and service maintenance workers employed by Orange County, Calif., voted to join Local 952 yesterday. After years of being part of an association, the new members of the local, which include custodians, laborers, mechanics, public works maintenance, equipment operators and pest control workers, overwhelmingly chose Teamster representation.
“We look forward to representing these county workers,” said Patrick D. Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 952. “We currently represent over 1,000 Orange County transportation authority employees. We want to thank the employees of the county of Orange and the organizers from the IBT and the local union that worked on this campaign. This was possible because of the strong leadership of General President Jim Hoffa and General Secretary Ken Hall who have set the table for public employees to come into the Teamsters union.”
Orange County is one of the largest counties in the state, with more than 3 million residents.
“I wanted to become a Teamster because for the last 8 ½ years the association that represented us never fought to increase our benefits for me and my co-workers,” said Andrea Brone, a 19-year employee and equipment operator at the Glassell Yard. “It was time for change and that’s why we voted Teamsters. We need a strong union to fight for better wages, working conditions and help improve moral.”
Local 952 represents a wide variety of members, including warehouse workers at Albertson’s grocery, freight and UPS workers among others. The Orange County employees will be part of the Teamsters Public Service Division which represents state, county and federal employees across the U.S.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.