Hundreds of Illinois Manufacturing Employees Unite for Respect, Proper Representation
CHICAGO, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- By a 3-to-1 margin, approximately 350 automotive, energy, medical and aerospace supply manufacturers in suburban Chicago voted to join Teamsters Local 330 on Feb. 15.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/IBTLOGO)
The overwhelming vote of 233-73 at Senior Flexonics secured Teamster Power for the company's workforce. Hundreds of workers attended a rally hosted by Local 330 and Teamsters Joint Council 25 just two days before the election to send a clear message to management and to demonstrate their support for Teamster representation.
"We used to be nobodies. Nobody would listen to our problems," said Gloria Ortegan, a Senior Flexonics employee who addressed co-workers at the rally. "With the Teamsters, now we're somebody. We have someone who will stand up for us. We have someone to represent us, and people we can trust."
Local 330 President Dominic Romanazzi, Joint Council 25 Organizing Director Mike DiGrazia and several Teamster organizers met with workers for months in an articulated campaign to win representation for Senior Flexonics employees. Workers attended numerous after-hours and early morning meetings at the Local 330 union hall to discuss workplace rights and their issues within the plant, based in Bartlett, Ill.
Teamster supporters were also met with an aggressive anti-union assault waged by Senior Flexonics, a global company, but found a way to stick together.
"One word: representation. We'd never really had that before, and that's what we'll get now with the Teamsters," said Mark Zalce, a longtime Senior Flexonics worker. "We felt the Teamsters were really the only union out there that could step in and help the workers make some real changes."
"Now that we've got the Teamsters," Zalce added, "I don't think I've ever seen so many happy people at this company."
"Our heartfelt congratulations go out to all the workers at Senior Flexonics, who stuck together and fought hard for this victory," said Romanazzi, who also serves as President of the Joint Council's Teamsters Volunteers in Politics committee. "Local 330 is proud of each and every worker who stood up, voiced their concerns and supported the fight for Teamster Power. We are prepared to stand beside our members every step of the way and secure the fair contract they deserve."
Workers at Senior Flexonics manufacture fuel system components, medical products, green energy products, high-pressure fuel rails and heavy-duty machinery. The company was founded in Chicago in 1902.
"The Illinois Teamsters welcome the workers of Senior Flexonics into our Teamster family with open arms," said John T. Coli, President of Joint Council 25 and International Vice President for the Central Region. "You are joining an army of more than 125,000 hardworking men and women who fight hard for America's middle class, and who make equal rights and advantages available to all workers."
For more information, visit Local 330 online at www.Teamsters330.org.
Teamsters Local 330 is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents 28 local unions across Illinois, metropolitan Chicago and northwest Indiana.
SOURCE Teamsters Joint Council 25, Chicago
