Woo-hoo! Another Teamster organizing victory in MI

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Please welcome our 23 new brothers and sisters who deliver soft drinks for  American Bottling Co. in Holland.  Despite a vicious union-busting campaign by the company, they voted to become Teamsters with Local 406 in Grand Rapids on Feb. 15

The drivers fought for union representation because they want respect on the job and fair pay.

American Bottling Co. brought in professional union busters from across the country to conduct bi-weekly captive audience meetings.

Driver Robert Marlink said company managers were relentless in trying to persuade them to vote 'No."

We stayed our course and won the election. This was a lot of work and it took a tremendous amount of courage for us to stand up to American Bottling Co.

Ron Holzgen, secretary-treasurer of Local 406, applauded the organizing effort:

We are proud of these workers for standing strong in the face of employer intimidation. Joint Council 43 Organizer Marian Novak and our own Organizer Jim Chase, did a great job keeping the workers focused on their desire to become Teamsters and ignoring the threats from management.

 Congratulations and welcome to our great union!