IBT Membership Grows in NC

Teamsters Local 391 has an aggressive attitude about organizing. That attitude is paying off as the Teamsters have recently won key organizing victories in both the public and private sectors.

“Organizing is tough,” said Jack Cipriani, Teamsters Local 391 President. “Here in North Carolina, the task is extra tough. But our recent success shows that when workers get an honest look at what the union can do for them, they overwhelmingly choose to join our ranks.

In the public sector, the Teamsters organized the State Capitol Police. Despite an archaic state law prohibiting public employees from enjoying the right to collective bargaining, nearly 90% of the officers have signed up to join.

In the private sector, the Teamsters are winning a long-running organizing battle with the company that was formerly Overnite Transportation. Once UPS bought Overnite, the union was quick to secure a card-check agreement. In a week and a half, more than 200 UPS Freight workers at five locations throughout the state signed up to join Local 391.

Said NC State AFL-CIO President James Andrews, "In each of these organizing victories the common thread is that when given a chance to freely choose union representation without coercion from their employer – workers will choose the union.”