TEAMSTERS LOCAL 533
NORTHERN NEVADA/NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA


BREAKING NEWS

 

First woman Teamsters CEO re-elected to new term

Debbie Calkins
Secretary-Treasurer & Principal Officer
She is the first woman to head the union.

RENO, Nev. — The first woman to hold the top job at Teamsters Union Local 533 has been re-elected to a third term.

Secretary-Treasurer Debbie Calkins won an additional three years in office in November, 2016. She was sworn in at the union's Jan. 19, 2017, general membership meeting, as was President Gary Watson, also re-elected for another three years.

Before election to the top post, Calkins worked as a feeder driver at UPS. She has been a Teamsters member for 26 years and served as a shop steward for 22 years. Calkins, her husband and a son reside in Sparks. Watson was employed by UPS and Luce & Sons in his 20 years as a Teamsters member, during 13 of which he served as a shop steward. Business Agent and Organizer Michael Sealy, Sr., was re-elected vice-president. He first joined the union in 1973.

John Patterson, who works at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, was re-elected as recording secretary. Tim Renshaw, an employee of Chugach (support services) at Naval Air Station-Fallon, was re-elected as a trustee. He joins newly installed trustees Gino Prina who drives for Bimbo Bakeries (Wonder Bread, Sara Lee, Entenmann's) and Lee Harris who drives for UPS. Harris, Patterson, Prina and Renshaw all serve as shop stewards.

Longtime UPS Shop Steward Jodi Johnson conducted the oath of office.

Chartered in northern Nevada in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 averages about 2,000 members in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout northern Nevada, eastern California and the Tahoe basin.


Among others, Local 533 represents workers at the following:
ABF (freight)
Alsco Linen
AmeriPride Laundry
Aramark
Associated General Contractors
Benefit Plan Administrators
Bimbo Bakeries (Grupa Bimbo: Wonder Bread, Sara Lee, Entenmann's)
Breakthrough Beverage
Cemex
Chugach (Naval Air Station-Fallon)
City of Fallon
Dyncorp
EP Minerals
Farmer Brothers Coffee
First Transit (RTC Access formerly CitiLift formerly Elderport)
Lanier Brugh
Model Dairy
MV Transportation (RTC/Citifare — Washoe County)
MV Transportation (Carson City bus system)
Reno Tahoe Airport Authority
Rillite Aggregrates
Ruan Waste
Sheldons Pest
SGWS Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits
Statewide Sweeping
Sysco Foods
Tahoe Transit District
UPS
UPS Freight
US Foodservice
Waste Management
YRC Freight

 

Teamsters 533 CEO Debbie Calkins on statewide TV
Corporate welfare's bitter fruit: Union-busting, prevailing wage-violating Syufy burns Sparks City Hall again
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-4-2016 Sparks Tribune

Teamsters union relocates to new headquarters
U-News 8-22-2016

Reno City Councillors decry City Hall administrative breakdown on Waste Management contract
By Joe Hart / KRNV TV-4 / 8-22-2016

Listening in: Teamsters Union and Regional Transportation Commission fight over audio recorders
KRNV TV-4 / 3-7-2016

 

Teamsters OK new contract with Reno-Sparks-Washoe transit system

September 23, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
ANDREW BARBANO / U-News
NevadaLabor.com
(775) 786-1455

RENO, Nev. Sept. 23 (U-News) — Members of Teamsters Union Local 533 today ratified a new three-year agreement with Texas-based MV Transportation, the contractor employing workers operating the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system.

In secret balloting on August 10, members voted down the previous contract offer from the company.

The earlier two-year contract expired on June 30. The new three-year deal is retroactive to July 1 and includes substantial improvements to employee wages and benefits.

There were no work stoppages. Unlike the August referendum which required members to show up and vote on a single day, workers were able to vote by mail. The secret ballots were opened and counted today.

Local 533 has represented RTC bus system and RTC Access paratransit drivers and support personnel for a quarter-century. The contract covers drivers, mechanics and dispatchers employed by MV Transportation, a third party hired by the elected regional transportation board which is comprised of elected members of the Reno and Sparks city councils and the Washoe County Commission.

Chartered in northern Nevada in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 averages about 2,000 members in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout northern Nevada, eastern California and the Tahoe basin.

The history of negotiations with RTC representatives and the union may be accessed via NevadaLabor.com/

-30-

September 5, 2014

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
ANDREW BARBANO / U-News
NevadaLabor.com
(775) 786-1455

Teamsters reach new tentative agreement with transit contractor

RENO, Nev. Sept. 5 (U-News) — Negotiators from Teamsters Union Local 533 and Texas-based MV Transportation this afternoon reached a new tentative agreement for workers operating the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system.

In secret balloting on August 10, members voted down the previous contract offer from the company.

The earlier two-year contract expired on June 30. The contractor and the union agreed to an extension and had reached a tentative contract at deadline on July 31.

A federal mediator has been involved. There have been no work stoppages. The union negotiating team is recommending ratification of the new proposal. Unlike the August referendum which required members to show up and vote on a single day, workers will be able to vote by mail. The secret ballots will be printed and sent later this month.

"This will make it more convenient for more union members to vote on their contract," Teamsters Local 533 President Gary Watson stated. Watson and Teamsters Secretary-Treasurer Debbie Calkins again led the union negotiating team.

Local 533 has represented RTC bus system and RTC Access paratransit drivers and support personnel for a quarter-century. The current negotiations involved drivers, mechanics and dispatchers employed by MV Transportation, a third party hired by the elected regional transportation board which is comprised of elected members of the Reno and Sparks city councils and the Washoe County Commission.

Chartered in northern Nevada in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 averages about 2,000 members in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout northern Nevada, eastern California and the Tahoe basin.

The history of negotiations with RTC representatives and the union, including past strike activity, may be accessed via NevadaLabor.com/


August 10, 2014
4:33 p.m. PDT

TEAMSTERS VOTE DOWN CONTRACT WITH TRANSIT CONTRACTOR

RENO, Nev. Aug. 10 (U-News) — Members of Teamsters Union Local 533 this afternoon voted down a contract offer from MV Transportation, the Texas-based contractor paid to manage the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system.

The previous two-year contract expired on June 30. The contractor and the union agreed to an extension and reached a tentative contract at deadline on July 31.

A federal mediator has been involved and may call a cooling off period as early as Monday. Union members will report to work as scheduled.

Local 533 has represented RTC bus system and RTC Access paratransit drivers and support personnel for a quarter-century. The current negotiations involve drivers, mechanics and dispatchers employed by MV Transportation, a third party hired by the elected Regional Transportation Board which is comprised of elected members of the Reno and Sparks city councils and the Washoe County Commission.

Chartered in northern Nevada in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 averages about 2,000 members in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout northern Nevada, eastern California and the Tahoe basin.

The history of negotiations with RTC representatives and the union, including past strike activity, may be accessed via NevadaLabor.com/

CWA 9413/AFL-CIO

-30-

 

Waste Mismanagement
Unappealing:
Local governments turn monopolies loose on public without grievance process

By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 7-17-2014

Déjà vu all over again?
8-5-2002 —A personal message to RTC Transit Manager Mike Steele

8-1-2014 — A tentative agreement has been reached with the operators of the Reno-Sparks-Washoe transit system and Teamsters Local 533. Members will take a ratification vote on August 10.

JUNE 30 UPDATE: Current contract extended through July 31, 2014.

6-29-2014 Update: Strike authorization passed overwhelmingly.

27 June 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Debbie Calkins, Local 533 Secretary-Treasurer (775) 348-6060 ext. 18
Gary Watson, Local 533 President (775) 348-6060 ext. 14

Teamsters contract with Washoe transit system expires June 30, extension possible
Strike authorization vote set for Sunday, June 29

RENO, Nev. — Teamsters Local 533 today responded to several media requests for a statement regarding negotiations with MV Transportation, the Texas-based contractor that manages the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system.

"Our current two-year contract expires on Monday, June 30," stated Local 533 President Gary Watson, the union's lead negotiator.

"Contract talks between the company and the union have been making progress, although too much remains to finalize an agreement by midnight on Monday," he added.

"We expect to mutually agree to an extension and to conclude negotiations soon. As a normal part of the process, the union membership will vote on strike authorization this Sunday, June 29. This does not initiate a strike. It does empower the union leadership to call a work stoppage at any time beginning on July 1," Watson stated.

Local 533 has represented RTC bus system and RTC Access paratransit drivers and support personnel for a quarter-century.

Chartered in northern Nevada in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 averages about 2,000 members in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout northern Nevada, eastern California and the Tahoe basin.

The history of negotiations with RTC representatives and the union, including past strike activity, may be accessed via NevadaLabor.com/

JUNE 30 UPDATE: Current contract extended through July 31, 2014.
6-29-2014 Update: Strike authorization passed overwhelmingly.

Former Local 533 Secretary-Treasurer/CEO Louis E. Martino, Jr., dies at 67

LOU

Martino graveside memorial service Tuesday 24 June 2014 at Mountain View—NW Reno


New Starting Lineup


INSTALLATION OF 2014-2016 OFFICERS (Jan. 16, 2014) —
Teamsters Local 70 Secretary-Treasurer Marty Frates, standing at right, representing Teamsters Joint Council 7, swears in newly-elected Local 533 officers (standing, left to right) Tim Renshaw, John Patterson, Gary Watson, Debbie Calkins, Michael Sealy, Dana Elwell and Daleen Smothers.

"Everything they deal with is a negative trying to make a positive," Frates told the members in attendance.

"Have you considered that whenever they are called, it's because something is wrong?

"Work together to make things better for everybody. Just remember, it's a way of life, it's not a job."

Marty Frates

Elected Officers and Executive Board
Effective Jan. 1, 2014

Name / Position / Union Signatory Employer or Former Employer

Debbie Calkins, Secretary-Treasurer / Principal Officer / UPS
Gary Watson, President / UPS/Luce & Son
Michael Sealy, Vice-President / First joined the union in 1973
John Patterson, Recording Secretary / Reno-Tahoe International Airport
Dana Elwell, Trustee / Model Dairy
Tim Renshaw, Trustee, Chugach (support services) @ Naval Air Station-Fallon
Daleen Smothers , Trustee, MV Transportation

First woman Teamsters CEO re-elected to a new term

RENO — The first woman to hold the top job at Teamsters Local 533 has been re-elected to a second term.

Debbie Calkins
Secretary-Treasurer & Principal Officer
She is the first woman to head the union.

Secretary-Treasurer Debbie Calkins won an additional three years in office in November, 2013. She was sworn in at the union's Jan. 16 general membership meeting, as was President Gary Watson, also re-elected for another three years.

"Like our members, we weathered some tough times during the extended recession, but the union has been on a very sound financial footing for the past three years," Calkins reported at the meeting.

"We have been able to pay off our Gentry Way building in Reno, further strengthening our financial position," she added.

Before election to the top post, Calkins worked as a feeder driver at UPS. She has been a Teamsters member for 23 years and served as a shop steward for 22 years. Calkins, her husband and a son reside in Sparks.

Watson has been employed by UPS and Luce & Sons in his 17 years as a Teamsters member, during 13 of which he served as a shop steward.

Business Agent and Organizer Michael Sealy, Sr., was elected vice-president. He first joined the union in 1973.

John Patterson, who works at Reno Tahoe International Airport, was elected recording secretary. Dana Elwell, a longtime employee of Model Dairy, was re-elected to another term as one of three trustees.

Daleen Smothers, a dispatcher for MV Transportation, the contractor operating the Washoe County Regional Transportation System, was elected as a new trustee, as was Tim Renshaw, an employee of Chugach (support services) at Naval Air Station-Fallon.

Elwell, Patterson, Renshaw and Smothers all serve as shop stewards at their crafts.

Oakland, Calif., Teamsters Local 70 Secretary-Treasurer Marty Frates swore in the new slate as he did in 2011.

Chartered in northern Nevada in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 averages about 2,000 members in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout northern Nevada, eastern California and the Tahoe basin.

Among others, Local 533 represents workers at the following:
ABF (freight)
Alsco Linen
Aramark
Associated General Contractors
Benefit Plan Administrators
Bimbo Bakeries
Cemex
Chugach (Naval Air Station-Fallon)
City of Fallon
EP Minerals
Farmer Brothers Coffee
First Transit (RTC Access formerly CitiLift formerly Elderport)
Keolis Transportation
Lanier Brugh
Model Dairy
MV Transportation (RTC/Citifare)
Reno Tahoe Airport Authority
Rillite Aggregrates
Sara Lee
Sheldons Pest
Sikorsky Aircraft
Southern Wine and Spirits
Sysco Foods
UPS and UPS Freight
US Foodservice
Waste Management
Wirtz Beverage


 



NevadaLabor.com/TEAMSTERS LOCAL 533 ARCHIVES

NevadaLabor.com Teamsters 533 home page

Teamsters 2011-2013 ARCHIVE

Teamsters 2010

Teamsters 2009

2008-09 Teamsters RTC/Ride negotiations
Links to 16-year Teamsters 533 news-photo-strike archives starting with the 1997 UPS strike

Teamsters 2008

Teamsters 2006

Teamsters 2005

Teamsters 2004 Strike Archive

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