While age and health issues have slowed her down, 86-year-old CNA Labor Council delegate Pat Schramm remains a regular presence at delegate meetings and in local labor and progressive political activities because “people out there need our help, especially when it comes to the need for universal health care,” she says.

David Bini has been the Executive Director of the Santa Clara and San Benito Counties Building and Construction Trades Council since 2018. An electrician and IBEW 332 member by trade, he leads the Council’s work on behalf of 27 affiliates and more than 30,000 members.

Ernie Arranaga is the president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 193, leading more than 800 members and 500 retirees from post offices in Milpitas, San Jose, Saratoga, Gilroy, Campbell, Morgan Hill, and Los Gatos. He began his career as a letter carrier in 1985, became a shop steward in 2009 and worked as the union’s executive vice-president before being elected to his current position in 2015.

On Friday, March 20, during the Santa Clara County Finance and Government Operations Committee (FGOC) hearing, leaders emphasized the urgent need for a coordinated response to the impacts of H.R. 1.

This month, the South Bay Labor Council was proud to stand with SEIU 2015 long-term care workers as nursing home workers across California continue organizing to protect their industry, their rights, and the residents they care for every day. SBLC joined the picket line in both Mountain View and Gilroy, standing shoulder to shoulder with workers and labor allies calling for real accountability and fair standards across the long-term care industry.

As rising rents continue to stretch working families in Santa Clara County, the labor movement has an opportunity to lead on real solutions to our housing crisis that lower rents AND create family-supporting union construction jobs.

If you’ve attended a South Bay Labor Council delegates meeting in the last thirty or so years, you have likely met Sam Saiu – the bearded, motorcycle gear-clad Brother with his signature (unlit) cigar, and have heard his sage, and sometimes humorous, commentary on a variety of topics.

Tour guides at Winchester Mystery House in San Jose will now be represented by Teamsters Local 856. The workers voted for strong union representation to secure higher wages, better benefits, and improved working conditions.

Despite unprecedented attacks on working people throughout 2025 by the Trump administration and its billionaire allies, the labor movement never backed down. Last week was a powerful reminder of what solidarity and organizing can achieve—delivering real wins for workers and their families.

While he didn’t know it at the time, Robert Sandoval was likely destined at an early age to lead Teamsters Local 350 – Sanitary Truck Drivers and Helpers.

His grandfather, Robert Morales, was the executive officer of the union from 1975 until 2015, and his father was a second generation “garbageman”. Morales was a legend within the Teamsters Union and one of its first Latino leaders.