Denver Windigo Perishable Teamsters Win Industry-Leading Contract

Long-term Windigo Perishable Teamsters had seen a lot over the years. Four different company names. At least three different general managers. Nine human resource managers. They'd survived a pandemic. But by the time the Windigo negotiating committee got to the bargaining table, the 360-person warehouse unit had managed through sheer determination and fundamental trade unionism to meld into an unstoppable force at the table. 

When the dust had settled, the Windigo negotiating team had reached an industry-leading agreement that members say will change the culture in their workplace -- clenching language changes that protect the bargaining unit, eliminating a two-tiered health and welfare plan that had previously split the group between senior and newer members, and reaching a record-breaking wage package that increases their pay $8.50 and  pension contributions by 80 cents per hour over four years. 

"These guys worked together. It wasn't overnight. It took over a year to build this group," said Teamsters Local 455 Secretary-Treasurer Dean Modecker. "And there was no stopping them when they got to the table." Said Business Agent Joe Smith: "Their power is in their numbers. Unity has been the common message throughout this process." 

Workforce Wednesday

Ask just about anyone how they made such big change in their warehouse and you'll hear them talk about Workforce Wednesday, an effort by two motivated stewards to talk to their union brothers and sisters about struggles in the warehouse, from attendance to safety to basic work rules. 

"The management team likes to press the easy button," said Scott Nilsson, Windigo steward, in addressing attendance, the most pressing issue at Windigo and in virtually every warehouse across the country. "I told everyone we have to go to work and do our jobs to leverage our labor to get the deal. Management was focusing on the people who weren't here. We knew they needed to reward the people who are doing the work." 

Nilsson convinced management to allow the crew to gather before morning and night shifts, five-minute sessions to cover the most pressing issues facing Teamster members. And Workforce Wednesdays were born. Though the days sometimes varied, the focus was always the same, Nilsson said. "We gave members a platform. It's all about bringing everyone together. If you come to work and you have my back, and I have your back then we can work together to get a contract." 

Workforce Wednesdays are now enshrined in the new agreement. As for the attendance: The new contract includes a letter of understanding that gives every member an extra $2 per hour per week for completing their assigned schedule, bringing the potential total wage increase to $10.50 an hour.

Bridging Divides, Building Solidarity

Kris Hernandez, a 16-year employee and union steward, is Nilsson's partner in Workforce Wednesdays, in part because he knows the value of having a senior Teamster in the workplace having his back. He remembers a day early in his career when a senior Teamster saw Hernandez headed toward the time clock, having finished his work, but before the end of his guaranteed eight-hour shift. 

"He shouted at me and said, 'What are you doing? You have a guaranteed eight hours,' " Hernandez said. "He told me I needed to look at our contract. I felt the security instantly. Somebody put something in my hand that meant something to me and my family."

He credits Local 455 -- Modecker, Smith, President Alan Frisbee, Vice President Herb Whitaker and Organizer Jake Kucera -- for their time at the facility, talking to workers and rallying them. Members still talk about a visit by Frisbee whose call-and-response speech led to some very popular FAFO t-shirts. Nilsson says it wasn't uncommon to hear a member shout, "Who are we?" and the workforce respond with the time-honored "Teamsters!" 

That solidarity, Hernandez says, led to massive improvements including one that spread overtime among a larger group of members; and improved insurance that immediately bumped 38 of the members into the legacy insurance as of ratification with nearly another 100 members nearing the threshold. "We listened to the members who said at some point, my years of service should count," Hernandez said. "We had to fix that divide." 

Chris Suazo, former Windigo worker turned Local 455 Business Agent, said even seemingly small language changes in the deal -- like one that changed wording from the company "may" give two hours-notice of daily overtime to "must" give two hours -- are significant to Teamster members. Said Suazo: "These are the things that will change the culture."