APP/World Fuel Services Victory Celebrated at Teamsters Unity Conference

May 30, 2018

Every year, thousands of Teamsters from across the United States and Canada head to Las Vegas to attend the Unity Conference, where major victories and battles are shared with our Brothers and Sisters. The main conference is sandwiched on both sides by a variety of meetings and workshops to allow Teamsters in the same industries to share ideas, stories, and strategies they have learned in their respective geographic areas.

This year’s Unity Conference, which was held on May 15, 2018 and attended by nearly 2,000 Teamsters, included a very special segment: three Local 174 members working at APP/World Fuel Services, along with Organizer Meaza Ogbe, Senior Business Agent/Western Region Tankhaul Director David Jacobsen, and IBT Tankhaul Division Director Keith Gleason, were invited onto the stage to tell the story of our amazing victory at APP.

Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa shakes hands with Local 174 APP fuel haulers Tony Inglett, David Storm, and Antonio Anaya after swearing them in as new Teamsters.

The three APP Teamsters on the stage were Tony Inglett, David Storm, and Antonio Anaya, all of whom served on the Bargaining Committee to help win a first contract at APP. That contract came after a difficult organizing campaign and an even more difficult contract fight, which included a 100% unanimous strike authorization vote and a “picket sign party” in which the group came together to make picket signs for a strike that seemed almost inevitable. When faced with the strength and solidarity of the group, APP management eventually changed their position on certain key issues, allowing APP and the Teamsters to reach a contract that has quickly become the envy of the industry.

IBT Tankhaul Division Director Keith Gleason speaks about Local 174’s victory at APP.

This important and inspiring story was told first by Keith Gleason, and then continued by David Jacobsen. Finally, Brother Inglett took the microphone and mesmerized the crowd in his usual way, giving a speech that was both funny and moving. “They had a plan, but this wasn’t it,” he said about his employer, holding up a copy of his first-ever Union contract. “This says ‘Agreement between APP/World Fuel Services and General Teamsters Union Local Number 174.’ I’ve never had one of these before. I gotta say, I like it.”

APP driver and Local 174 member Tony Inglett holds up his first-ever Union contract.

“We were incredibly proud to see our members honored at the Unity Conference,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “This amazing victory at APP would not have been possible without the leadership and courage of Brothers Inglett, Storm, and Anaya. They absolutely earned their place on that stage.”

Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 7,200 working men and women in the Seattle area. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.

More photos of APP on stage at the Unity Conference: