Teamsters at Waldner’s Approve New Contract, End Lockout

This week, Teamsters Local 814 announced it has reached a new contract with Waldner’s Business Environments. The company has been unionized for 50 years, and had a good working relationship with the union until Waldner’s refused to negotiate earlier this year. Workers reported to work on July 5th to find they had been locked out and replaced with scabs.The union ran a campaign targeting the company’s largest clients, including NY Presbyterian Hospital, with support from labor allies and elected officials across the city. The contract agreed upon this week won all the locked out workers their jobs back.

“This agreement should put all moving companies and all Teamster employers on notice that we won’t stand by while you try to bust our union. We will fight back, we will go to your customers, and we will win,” said Jason Ide, President of Teamsters Local 814. “New York is a union town.”

“When workers stand together with a collective voice, they win,” said Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “I commend Teamsters Local 814 for standing together to get members’ jobs back, after being unjustly fired with no warning. This victory sends a clear message that union busting, and attempts to take away workers’ hard-earned wages and benefits cannot and will not be tolerated.”