Newsletter

Delegate Spotlight: Laurie Mesa, UFCW 5

Laurie Mesa is a San Jose-based Area Director for UFCW Local 5. She is responsible for guiding the activities of union representatives in the local’s largest geographical area with more than 7000 members who work at grocery stores and other retailers in Santa Clara County.

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Strike Threat Leads to New Contracts with Lucky, Food Maxx

Following a nearly unanimous strike authorization vote, more than 10,000 UFCW members at Lucky, Save Mart and Food Maxx stores throughout California, including 3500 represented by Local 5, ratified new contracts in December.

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Stanford Graduate Workers Win First Contract

After a nearly two-year long organizing campaign and a contentious contract fight more than 4000 graduate workers at Stanford University have secured their first collective bargaining agreement.

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Delegates Elect Two Public Employee Union Leaders to Fill Executive Board Vacancies

South Bay Labor Council delegates have elected ATU 265 President Raj Singh and San Jose Firefighters Union Local 230 President Jerry May to fill vacant positions on the Council’s Executive Board.

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Local 5 Members and State-Wide UFCW Locals Ratify New Three-Year Deal

After nearly six months of bargaining backed up by union member solidarity and store-site actions that included a three-day unfair labor practice strike at seven stores in Los Angeles and Orange County, California UFCW members have overwhelmingly approved a new contract with CVS.

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Delegate Spotlight: Bob Prola, Oak Grove Educators Association

When Bob Prola graduated from college, he thought he had to get a job in the business world, he says, so he got into the insurance business. He quickly discovered that it wasn’t for him and that he had to find a career that made a positive impact and wasn’t “soul sucking”.

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Delegate Spotlight: Will Smith, IBEW 332

When Will Smith first joined IBEW Local 332 as an apprentice inside wireman in 1999, he recalls that his uncle, a Sheet Metal Local 104 member, told him “Work hard, learn your trade, listen to the journeyman, give back to your union and maybe, one day you will be a union rep.”

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Troy Jones Views Pacific Printing as an ‘Extension of the Labor Movement’

When the Jones family purchased Pacific Printing in 2003, the company employed three workers and enjoyed modest success in the San Jose area. Today, it is the largest union printing shop in the Bay Area with 28 employees who are represented by the GCIU and Allied Trades and UFCW Local 5.

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Local 19 Members Win Big Contract Settlement with Levi’s Stadium, Set Sights on Battle with Major Hotels

UNITE HERE Local 19 members working at Levi’s Stadium have overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement. 

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Delegate Spotlight: Yvette Simon, SEIU 521

Yvette has worked for the Santa Clara County VTA for nearly 17 years. Her job in the vault room
includes processing the revenue collected on the system’s trains and busses in addition to other
accounting duties. While much of her job revolves around paperwork, it includes lifting 50-
pound bags of coins.

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