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A Christmas Message from Local 464

Well, that wasn’t fun, was it?

2020 entered onto the scene with bright hopes for what was to come and some visible challenges that we’d have to overcome, with plans in place to address those challenges.

However, a curveball was thrown in the form of some of the most significant challenges we’ve faced as a society in our lifetimes.

Climate Change continues to cause terrifying effects across the globe, from the devastating fires in Australia and the US west coast to the record storms smashing into the east coast of the US.  From Tiger King to Murder Hornets, nothing captured our attention quite like the Coronavirus pandemic.

Nothing in recent memory has driven more immediate change in our lives, workplaces and household finances.  Although the pandemic continues to rage on, our membership has continued to get the job done for the rest of the Province.

Local 464’s members in Dairy and Bakery, and the drivers to transport the goods, continued to keep products on the shelves of our local supermarkets, more than meeting the needs of a concerned populace.  As Institutional customers slowed down, mothers and fathers stayed at home with their children and helped pass on the seldom-used knowledge of “how to”, reigniting the long-missing desire to bake and cook gourmet meals, purchasing our products to aid in the creation process.

This Christmas Season, this is what I will be thinking about:  how the members of this little Local Union shrugged off the challenges before us and continued to provide sustenance for the rest of us, making the product, getting it to the store shelves and into the hands of the customer.

As 2021 nears, I wish for a speedy end of this pandemic life, but hope for the renewed eye on worker safety to remain in our workplaces, protecting our members and their families for years to come.

To our front-line workers, on behalf of myself, the Executive Board, Officers and staff of Teamsters Local 464, I wish you all a safe and Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2021.  We couldn’t be prouder of you all!

 

Paul Barton

Secretary-Treasurer

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For 35 years I have been a Teamster and a Dairyworker, I was a young kid needing a job in tough economic times. I found a place to work and make a living, I learned to work together with others having varying and different backgrounds than my own.

Much has changed for me personally and professionally, I got married to my beautiful wife of almost 25 years and we have raised two amazing children, both of whom are presently studying abroad. Both of my children were recipients of Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Funding.

So much of my success I can credit to having a well paying union job. The Teamsters have been a great union for me, negotiating strong collective agreements that held good wage and benefit packages as well as the cornerstone beliefs of seniority and workers’ rights. The Teamsters gave me a good wage and a voice.

I have always been an active Teamster, and now I sit on Local 464's Executive Board.

There can be a great degree of personal feelings when the word union is mentioned, but so often I look at professional associations and realize the name may be different, but the thought is the same...strength in numbers.

As I get toward the end of my career, I look forward to the thought of receiving the Teamsters Canada Pension Plan, and I am so grateful for the belief others had before me that Teamsters deserved a good and decent retirement...thank you.

Drew


- Drew Speirs

"I was employed for many years at a Teamster company that was shut down due to the economy. Because of my age, I was worried about starting over. Bobby, Bob and Paul not only negotiated a much better severance package than was in the contract, but they also went the extra mile and got me on at one of their other companies with an even better contract.They continued to help me even though it wasn't their job to."

- Armando Borean

“I look after a lot of members in a very big plant. For years I had to fight for them by myself with no help at all from any of the Union’s representatives or Officers. This changed completely once Bobby, Bob and Paul were in office. Now I have access to my reps 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  They’re always there to back me up.” 

- Darrell Lawres – Chief Shop Steward. Saputo, Sperling