Striking Emery/Menlo Workers in San Jose Win Tentative Agreement

Striking Emery/Menlo Workers in San Jose Win Tentative Agreement

Pact Protects Workers’ Jobs, Offers Generous Severance to Others

December 15, 2003

(San Jose, CA) – Teamsters on strike at Emery/Menlo Worldwide in San Jose, California, an air freight company, have reached a tentative agreement with the company that protects many workers’ jobs and offers generous severance packages to those who choose to leave.

The workers set up picket lines on November 3 after the company fired about 40 workers in March and announced the San Jose center would close. The company then shifted the work to non-union companies. The company’s move violates the contract, which is in effect through March, 2005.

Under the tentative agreement, many of the fired workers will get their jobs back. Those who choose to leave would share a $1.7 million severance package. Workers will vote on the tentative agreement on Saturday, December 20.

“This agreement protects many of the jobs, which was our goal all along,” said Chuck Mack, a Teamsters Western Region Vice President, who negotiated the agreement. “Plus it offers some security to the workers who choose to leave the company.”

The tentative agreement was reached late Friday, December 12 after the Teamsters announced that they would extend pickets to the Los Angeles area and at Emery/Menlo centers across the country. Those pickets are now suspended.

Under the tentative agreement, the current contract would be extended 18 months to October, 2006. The agreement also clarifies route areas in the Union City and Gilroy areas.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States and Canada.