Delivering Justice

Alsco Workers Win Major Arbitration

“It was kind of an emotional thing. What they did was wrong and we had to stand up to it,” said John Blough, a 10-year route sales representative and shop steward with Alsco.

An arbitrator’s ruling recently came down as a major win for the bargaining unit of about 60 Alsco workers in Denver and Colorado Springs who are members of Local 455.

“This was a very good victory for these workers,” said Steve Vairma, Secretary-Treasurer of Denver-based Local 455 and President of Joint Council 3. “We had a lot of members who took great financial hardship and that will be remedied.”

Alsco route sales representatives (RSR’s) deliver linen items to customers ranging from restaurants to hospitals. They work hard, building relationships with their clients, and earn a living through commissions.

In November 2008, the RSR’s economic livelihoods were jeopardized when Alsco restructured its routes, severely impacting the workers’ earnings.

“I lost $300 a week in pay. When you’re paid strictly on commission, the more you work, the more you deliver, the more you make. You get out of it what you put into it,” said Jason Abbott, a 10-year RSR based in Denver. “There were quite a few of us that worked the same route and built it up so we were making a very good wage and it was taken from us.”

The Decision

Vairma and Local 455 Business Agents Dean Modecker and Vince Shaw were not consulted by the company about this restructuring, despite such a requirement in the contract. They worked hard with their members to right this wrong, taking the case to arbitration.

The arbitrator found in favor of the Teamster RSR’s stating that the route revisions violated the contract. He ordered the company to restore all routes to their pre-restructuring position within 30 days of the decision and provide back pay to the RSR’s for all lost earnings and benefits, with interest on the back pay from the date of loss.

The arbitrator found that the restructuring of routes for the purpose of limiting or cutting weekly sales volume or the earnings of RSR’s violates the collective bargaining agreement. Cutting RSR sales volume, and thereby wages, or capping volume/wages were not legitimate business reasons and were barred by the language in the agreement.

“I testified at the hearings, and I’m glad we won this ruling,” Abbott said. “I give credit to Local 455 for stepping up and really helping us out. They went to bat for us and we appreciate that.”