January 31, 2019

A full year as Union members has “exceeded all expectations” for this group of 100 new Teamsters

One year ago, on a Saturday evening in late January, a group of fuel tanker drivers met at the Local 174 Union Hall to make one of the most important decisions of their lives: they were going to vote on their first-ever Union contract. This vote came after more than a year of negotiations and a unanimous strike authorization, and would decide the future for nearly 100 drivers in the Seattle area.

Their decision that night was to ratify the contract by a margin of 96% – thereby setting in motion a complete transformation of their day-to-day experiences in a difficult and dangerous job.

These APP workers’ story began well before that January evening, though, when Teamsters Local 174 Organizer Meaza Ogbe – along with 13-year APP driver and ‘ringleader’ Tony Inglett – began a campaign to organize the group of drivers. That campaign ended in November 2016 when the group voted affirmatively to join Teamsters Local 174.

“Before we got there, these guys were overworked and underpaid, especially given the certifications and skills they need to do the job,” said Ogbe, the Union organizer. “Management had favorites and treated everyone differently based on who they liked best that day. It was terrible for morale.”

Inglett, who has been a tankhaul driver for more than three decades, described the push for a Union contract as an absolute necessity for this group. “I knew that this had to be done if we were ever going to move forward in this industry,” he said. “We had such an inequity between the highest-paid and lowest-paid drivers. There was no fairness.”

Once the group voted to organize, Inglett served on the Bargaining Committee with his coworkers David Storm and Antonio Anaya, fighting tooth and nail against a hostile APP management team. Their goal? To get a Teamster contract their coworkers could thrive under.

That mission appears to have been an unparalleled success. Now that the group has spent a year working under their new contract, the workers describe a completely different environment than the one they lived with before they went Union.

“I got four raises in the last 11 months because of this contract,” said Dean Siegman, who has been working for APP for 10 years. His pay has increased nearly 24% in a year, all because of the new Teamster contract.

“I was never one of management’s favorites. I got under their skin because I don’t do office politics,” he explained. Because of this, he was one of the most underpaid drivers relative to his skills and years of service with the company – a fact that the new Teamster contract swiftly rectified. “The financial gain alone has made it a lot better for me,” he said.

Even management’s former ‘favorites,’ like 19-year employee Darren Foreman, are glad to be free of the grip of politics and popularity contests in the workplace. “The contract has really given stability to the job, and made it to where we actually know what we have and know what we’re going to get,” he said. “Everyone just goes and does their jobs, and we don’t have to wonder where we stand. It’s all right there in the contract.”

Beyond the economic improvements and better predictability on the job, Tony Inglett also describes a huge improvement in morale among the workgroup. “Before we were Teamsters, we really didn’t know each other. We weren’t friends. We’d go to punch in, maybe nod at each other, that’s it. But now, we all know each other. We’re all brothers. We’re all in this together.”

“We’ve got a collective voice now,” Inglett continued. “Guys are starting to realize how much better being Union is. I think this year is going to be our year as drivers.”

That optimism is shared by Inglett’s coworkers, who are already looking forward to negotiating their next Teamster contract in 2021. “We’ve got a good base, a good starting point,” said Siegman. “Next go around, we can hold out for the things that are really important.”

Foreman agreed that the future looks bright. “I told our guys, nothing’s ever given to you. You have to be willing to work for it. And if you believe in it, you have to fight for it 100%. That’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”

The APP drivers’ Teamster contract has already created ripples throughout the fuel hauling industry, as other nonunion workers become increasingly interested in what these APP drivers were able to achieve. “They’re wanting to know how we did it, they’re wanting contacts at the Teamsters,” said Inglett.

“The nonunion guys are hoping for an industry change as far as everything that we’re fighting for,” Siegman agreed. “The things we got, those are things that are important to guys in a whole lot of companies. Company owners can’t just give their guys peanuts anymore.”

The APP contract has already led to more organizing victories, as 16 APP propane drivers and service technicians as well as 4 APP warehouse workers joined Teamsters Local 174 in November of 2018. Negotiations on both of those contracts will be starting shortly.

“This APP contract was groundbreaking when it was ratified, and it has continued to be an inspiration to an entire industry,” said Teamsters Local 174 Senior Business Agent and Western Region Tankhaul Director David Jacobsen. “Everyone is looking at APP, looking at the guarantees they have in their contract, and wanting to be next. It is very gratifying to see. I think the organizing victories we just saw at APP propane and warehouse are just the beginning.”

Teamsters Local 174 leadership is also impressed with everything the APP group has been able to accomplish in one short year of Union membership.

“When this contract was first ratified, I said that its strength was a direct reflection of the strength of this group of drivers, and this past year has proven that again and again,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “APP drivers went from being nonunion and beaten down by management, to being some of our strongest members and organizers. It is truly amazing how completely this group transformed. They are an unstoppable force, and we are proud and honored to have them in our family.”

Of course, Hicks is not the only one pleased to have APP in the Teamster family. Darren Foremen, who was a bit uncertain about the Teamsters when the APP organizing drive first began, says his 40-year Teamster mother was one the strongest voices pushing him to go Union. When he made the decision to support the Teamsters and placed a Teamster sticker on the back of his car, she summed it up in true Teamster fashion: “It’s about damn time!”

Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 7,600 working men and women in the Seattle area. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.