Warehouse workers represented by Teamsters Local 955 at Sysco/SYGMA in Kansas City were forced to strike over the company’s unfair labor practices and failure to present an acceptable collective bargaining agreement.
SYGMA is a subsidiary of Sysco that provides food and other items to chain restaurants. Some of the company’s largest customers in the Kansas City area include Wendy’s, Panera Bread, and Papa Murphy’s. The SYGMA warehouse is located in Kansas City, MO’s Northland at 11400 N Congress Ave.
“Our members are fighting to hold the greedy executives at Sysco/SYGMA accountable and to put a stop to the company’s unacceptable unfair labor practices,” said Jerry D. Wood, President of Local 955, when the union went out on strike. “This company thinks they can push us around but make no mistake that we will stay out as long as necessary until our members secure the dignity and respect they have earned.”
Nationwide, the Teamsters represent more than 10,000 workers at Sysco and its subsidiaries. Last year, Sysco forced Teamsters in Indianapolis and Louisville to strike after failing to present a fair contract. The strike saw picket lines extended to over 1,000 Sysco Teamsters nationwide and ended in record-breaking contracts.
“Sysco is an abusive, morally bankrupt employer that does not care about its workers and is driven solely by the bottom line,” said Tom Erickson, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division and Central Region International Vice President. “We’ve already shown this company what happens when you challenge the Teamsters to a fight, and we’re ready to show them again. Sysco and its subsidiaries will be held accountable. We are fully prepared to fight until these workers get the fair treatment and working conditions they rightfully deserve.”
Within hours of Local 955 setting up a picketline outside the warehouse, SYGMA broke down and proposed a new contract that the union members voted on and approved that same night—unanimously.
Local 955 members at SYGMA won a 13% wage increase the first year, with a 22.2% wage increase over the four year life of the contract. Workers who work nights or who work in the freezer had their hourly pay premium doubled. The union won more paid holidays and a number of other significant improvements, including:
- Vacation accrual starts at at their anniversary date instead of waiting until the next January 1st
- Vacation accrual now starts at 60 days instead of 6 months
- Improvements to seniority, bidding on equipment, and clarified lead duties
- Weekly pay instead of bi-weekly
- Workers who work a 10-hour day, four-day-week (known as “4/10’s”) schedule will receive their full 10 hours of pay for holidays instead of just 8 hours
- Personal days can be used with just one day of notice instead of two weeks
- Boot allowance raised to $200 a year from $125.
- Retro pay going back to expiration of the old contract on September 28th, 2024
- Improved contract language and strengthened picket line language
Perhaps most significantly, were new changes to mandatory overtime. Workers had been forced to work up to 18 hours at a time under the previous contract under typical overtime pay. The biggest win of the contract is likely a fix that gives workers double time for any hours worked over 12 hours, something that is somewhat common in this type of warehouse work.
Local 955’s strike clearly caught SYGMA flat-footed, earning these members one of the most fastest strike-turned-contract offer in recent Kansas City-memory.
“We made it clear to the company that we were prepared to fight for what we rightfully deserve,” said Neil Thirstrup, a 21-year SYGMA worker and Local 955 shop steward. “We reached a fair agreement for everyone, but this fight could have been avoided if the company had taken our demands seriously from the start.”
“It’s unfortunate that Sysco chose to play hardball with our members, but in the end, we prevailed,” said President Wood. “This is a strong contract that will have a life-changing impact for these workers and their families.”
“Sysco’s upper management needs to understand that you don’t win when you take on the Teamsters,” said Tom Erickson, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division and Central Region Vice President. “We prefer to resolve issues at the bargaining table, and the company had ample time to do so. But we won’t be pushed around. If necessary, we will strike to get what we deserve.”
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
