Bib overalls, insulated boots, thermal gloves - you can never have enough gear in the freezer!

Damn, it's cold in the freezer. The frozen section of a Teamsters cold storage warehouse can dip down to twenty below.

Now, imagine zipping around on a forklift in that environment for a 12-hour shift. That's the work of Local 117 members like Richard Eldridge at Lineage Logistics aka City Ice. Brrr!!

"After 12 hours, your feet just feel like frozen potatoes - you can hardly walk," Eldridge says.

A twenty-year Teamster, Eldridge now works as a yard goat driver at the company's facility in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood, moving cargo off vessels coming in with pollock and cod from the Bering Sea.

Eldridge and his group of twenty-five Teamsters are celebrating a new three-year contract. Members voted unanimously to ratify the deal, which contains solid wage and pension increases, strong health and welfare coverage, an increased boot allowance, improved bereavement leave, among other upgrades. 

"In the 20 years I've been here, this is probably our best contract," Eldridge says. "Wages were our top priority, and we were able to achieve good increases. It will have a definite immediate impact on groceries and the gas tank - it will make a tangible difference."

Rich Eldridge (l) and Quincy Zanders (r) are feeling good about the new Lineage contract.

Eldridge chalked up the unanimous vote to a unified group and a strong bargaining team. Representing the Union in negotiations were General Counsel Fallon Schumsky, Union Rep Quincy Zanders, and fellow Shop Steward Richard Walker.

"It was obvious the Union went to bat for us and got every nickel," he said.

Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer Paul Dascher congratulated the group. "These workers earn every penny that we were able to get Lineage to give them. Congrats to the crew for a well-earned win in this bargain."

Watch Shop Steward Eldridge talk about the contract