Teamsters 856 members at Grayline Trucking Company reviewing their first collective bargaining agreement in 1956.
From our very inception in 1949, Teamsters 856 has been distinctive — our first members were women working white-collar clerical jobs in the freight industry, atypical of the truck drivers represented at most other Teamster Locals. Like our members today, the founding members of Local 856 understood the benefits of organizing with their co-workers to negotiate together were not limited to traditional jobs, but that all workers could better achieve fairness on the job and economic progress through a Teamster contract.
Since then, Teamsters 856 has continued to aggressively pursue this principle — that all workers, regardless of industry or profession, deserve respect and a voice on the job.
Today, more than 20,000 working people across Northern California are Teamsters 856 members and work in nearly every profession imaginable, from aircraft mechanic to zookeeper.