Mobile Collections Workers Are the Latest to Join Local 856

Press Contact: Matt McQuaid Phone: (202) 624-6877 Email: mmcquaid@teamster.org

(OAKLAND, Calif.) – Mobile collections workers at American Red Cross in Oakland have voted unanimously to join Teamsters Local 856. Oakland Red Cross workers join fixed collections workers in Newark and Pleasanton who became members of Local 856 two weeks prior.

“California Red Cross workers know that the key to higher wages, better benefits, and a voice on the job is a Teamster contract,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer of Local 856. “In the two weeks alone, we have welcomed three new Red Cross units to Local 856. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the Oakland Red Cross workers and to get them the best possible supplemental agreement.”

These workers will join more than 1,800 other Red Cross workers represented by the Teamsters and immediately be covered by a National Master Agreement between the Teamsters and the American Red Cross.

“The Teamsters are the best union to represent Red Cross workers – and that’s why my co-workers and I all voted for Teamster representation,” said Erika Baniqued, a collections specialist at American Red Cross in Oakland.

Founded in 1949, Teamsters 856 is affiliated with the 1.3 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters and has grown to become the second biggest Teamster local in California, representing 17,000 working people throughout Northern California. For more information, visit teamsters856.org.