Teamsters Mourn Loss of Jaime Ortiz

Teamsters across the country are mourning the loss of Jaime Ortiz, an organizer for the national Port campaign. The 32-year-old was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Wednesday, February 10.

“There is no more important calling in the labor movement than that of an organizer, and Jaime Ortiz pursued his role in the best of the Teamster tradition – with great intelligence, energy and dedication,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “A son of Teamsters, he made all of us, his brothers and sisters, proud.”

“Jaime Ortiz was a dedicated, compassionate and smart young organizer. We, as his brothers and sisters in the Mighty Army of Teamster organizers, will dearly miss our fallen comrade,” said Jeff Farmer, Teamsters Organizing Director. “We send our love and solidarity to his family.”

Ortiz’s funeral and memorial service were held this Wednesday and Thursday in California and were attended by hundreds of family, friends and co-workers.

“Brother Ortiz worked tirelessly to improve the lives of port truck drivers and all working people,” said Rome Aloise, International Union Vice President and President of Joint Council 7, which sponsored Ortiz’s work for the Port campaign.  “His parents, Alejandro and Leticia, work at H.J. Heinz and have been active members of Teamsters Local 601 in Stockton, California for over 30 years. Jaime leaves his parents and two siblings in deep sorrow over his untimely and heartbreaking passing.”

The child of immigrants, Ortiz grew up working in the fields with his parents. Through this, he learned the value of hard work and the importance of standing up for worker rights. It is through his parents’ membership later on in the Teamsters that Ortiz realized the opportunities that organized labor could provide for a better life for workers. He made fighting for worker justice his life’s work, bringing this passion to his career with the Teamsters. 

“He impacted so many of us because he was such a giving, loving person, and I learned a lot from him,” said Valerie Lapin, Communications Director for the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports in Oakland, and a personal friend of Ortiz. “He was well liked, humble and went beyond the call of duty in his work with the drivers.”

Ortiz had also recently worked in New Jersey on the campaign to organize Continental Airlines fleet service workers, but he never had the chance to witness the fruits of his labor. He passed away the day of the successful vote.

Jaime Ortiz will be remembered as a remarkable son, brother, colleague, friend and champion for working men and women. 

“This is a huge loss, not only for all of us, but for all the workers whose lives he touched,” said Lapin, who worked with him every day for two years. “When he looked in the faces of port drivers, he saw his parents, immigrants just like them. And he wanted each and every one of them to enjoy the same benefits that the union provided his family. And that’s what drove him.”

A memorial fund has been set up to assist the Ortiz family. Donations can be made to:

Jaime Ortiz Memorial Fund
c/o United Labor Bank
Attn: Ricka Lucia
100 Hengenberger Road, Suite 110
Oakland, CA 94621-1447
 
Jaime Ortiz’s obituary, published in the Modesto Bee.