All in the family: Teamster Nicholas (l) together with his father Alfredo (r). Alfredo's daughter Brenda is also a Teamster.

At the US Foods ratification vote on Saturday, 30-year Teamster and former Executive Board member, Alfredo Espino, looked on proudly as his son Nicholas voted on his first Local 117 contract.

With just a month under his belt, Nicholas is a new night shift order selector at the company's distribution center in Fife, where he pulls cases of food with his pallet jack and shuttles them around the warehouse. Loaded onto trucks, his orders are hauled off to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and restaurants throughout our region.

At just 19 years old, Nicholas is prepping for a long Teamsters career and already has his eye on the pension. "The pension rate is really good for my future," he says. "Especially for somebody like me who's starting at a really young age."

In addition to pension increases, the new US Foods contract touts big jumps in wages, protections against health and welfare increases, double time after 60 hours in a workweek, and an annual boot allowance, among other improvements. Members voted overwhelmingly to approve the deal.

Utility worker Gregory Patterson knows about the union difference.

"I'm happy with what I see," says 15-year utility worker Gregory Patterson. "Quite a few times I've put in well over 60 hours, so now the company has an incentive not to work us like that anymore." Patterson came to Fife from one of US Food's non-union facilities in South Carolina, so he understands the value of being a Teamster. "I've seen how brutal the company can be if you don't have strong representation like we do at Local 117," he says. 

For these negotiations, that meant a top-notch bargaining committee together with Union Representative James Borsum and Secretary-Treasurer and lead negotiator Paul Dascher. 

"This is a demanding job with a lot of wear-and-tear on the body," Dascher said. "These workers deserve a safe workplace, good compensation, and excellent health and welfare coverage. We fought hard at the bargaining table to achieve those goals."

The result is one of the strongest contracts the Teamsters have with US Foods in the country.

Secretary-Treasurer Paul Dascher (center) together with US Foods members (and 2 very cute kids!) after the meeting.

After the meeting, proud father Alfredo praised son Nicholas and his daughter Brenda, who is also a member of Teamsters 117. "I'm really proud of both my kids for following my path at the Teamsters," he said.

But that gratitude was also tinged with a bit of nostalgia. No longer a Local 117 member, Alfredo moved out of his Teamsters job in the scrap metal industry when his company was sold off to an anti-union bidder. "I really miss my Teamsters family, and I'd love to return at some point," he said.

Maybe at some point he will!