The IBT Warehouse Division Director talks with Teamster Voice about winning with militancy and smart tactics.

Teamster Voice: What has you most excited about the direction of the IBT in general and the Warehouse Division in particular?

Erickson: I’ve been a Teamster for 42 years, since I started working at SuperValu, and I can honestly say this is the most excited I’ve ever been to be a Teamster. 

Under the last administration, every action or campaign was road blocked. There was always an excuse to put off taking action. We were afraid to take any risks. 

I can’t tell you how many times I heard, “We can’t do that. What if we get sued.” It sucked the life out of our union. 

President Sean O’Brien and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman have set a totally different tone. It’s about taking militant action and fighting back for the members. 

When there’s a fight, their message is, “Let’s f***ing go! Get the members involved and let’s do this.” 

We can go after it—and when we do, the members come pouring out. When members have an opportunity, they want to be a part of it. We’re winning as a result, and that’s energizing. 

Teamster Voice: Tens of thousands of Teamsters in the grocery and food distribution industry work for national employers like Kroger, Albertsons, Sysco and US Foods. But they are covered under separate local contracts. What challenges does that create at the bargaining table—and what opportunities?

Erickson: Great question. National contracts bring everyone up to the same union standard and create career jobs that allow members to make a good union wage and retire with dignity. 

They level the playing field so that companies aren’t undercutting each other on wages or benefits. 

But we can still coordinate even if we don’t have a national contract, and we are. 

One weapon we’ve got is our ability to extend picket lines. We can strike a company at one location where we’re in negotiations and shut down the company’s operations elsewhere by extending picket lines.

Teamsters at Sysco have used coordinated bargaining and coordinated strikes to win strong contracts. 

We’ve done this at Sysco. When members went on strike in Boston and Syracuse, we extended picket lines all the way to Arizona, Los Angeles and Washington State.  

When Sysco provoked strikes in Indianapolis and Louisville, we extended picket lines to more than 1,000 Teamsters nationwide. These strikes led to huge wins for our members, including wage increases and relief on overtime. 

US Foods is another example. When the company dug in against Chicago Local 705, we extended picket lines around the country and brought the company to their knees. 

US Foods Teamsters from Chicago Local 705 extended picket lines to dozens of centers and won major contract gains.

Teamster Voice: Extending picket lines is a powerful tactic. But in the past the IBT has been reluctant to use it. What would you say to an officer who says, “My members are not going to strike when their contract isn’t even up”?

Erickson: Good question, because you know this comes up. My answer is always, ”How do you know? We need to talk to the rank and file and assess the strength of the group.” 

When you talk to Teamsters, they know they’ve been sold short in this economy and they are sick and tired of it.  Members have been waiting for a chance to fight back with a good strategy and win. 

You have to be smart. Extending picket lines for two or three days is not going to cripple a household. But it’s going to cause chaos for the company. They don’t know where the next work stoppage is coming. They can’t operate that way.

Increasing strike benefits to $1,000 a week in these fights has been huge in making this strategy successful.

I’ll be honest. When we first did this, I dropped the ball. Some locals didn’t get enough of a heads up. If we’re extending a picket line, we’ve learned that we have to make sure clear communication is in place. 

Albertsons drivers in Texas just won a contract with higher wages, a Teamster pension and healthcare for the first time, as well as protections against autonomous trucks. Thousands of Albertsons Teamsters pledged to honor the picket line if there was a strike. 

We have to be strategic. You can get agreements done without a strike or a picket line extension. But when we need the heavy weaponry, we’ve got it and we’re not afraid to use it.

I hear the talk about how we should have a national strike. That's a false promise. I get tired of people running their mouths about shit that's not going to happen. 

The Teamsters prioritize winning contract language that gives our members the right to honor picket lines. We use that leverage to shut shit down. That's leadership. That's power. That's what the labor movement needs.

Teamster Voice: What other strategies are Teamsters using to build their bargaining leverage?

Erickson: The UPS contract campaign victory sent a message to companies and to our own members—Militancy is back. The contract campaign model works and we can use it in any industry. 

In grocery, leafleting and handbilling the stores have been huge for us. Talking to the customers, letting the public know, getting the members involved. Practice picketing is another one. 

It sends a message to management and it’s a tool to build and test the membership’s willingness to strike. 

Members get a taste of taking union action. They find out the public supports us. It builds members’ commitment to our union. We find new rank-and-file leaders, and we build our power.

How does this fit into organizing the unorganized? 

Workers are sick of employers walking all over them. The only way to change that is by organizing and fighting back. 

I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening at UNFI (United Natural Foods). 

We have won 19 straight elections at UNFI, the latest ones being in Georgia, Pompano Beach, Florida, and Texas. 

We won $7 wage increases, Teamcare health benefits which saves members hundreds of dollars in premiums, and a Teamster Western Conference pension in six of seven locations. These are life-changing improvements.

When we win an organizing drive, the IBT organizer stays involved during the contract campaign. This has helped us to stay coordinated and united, and win strong contracts.

In Houston, members at Sysco won Teamcare health benefits which saves them $600/month. They also won the right to honor picket lines.  

Our organizers are killing it at Sysco. We were under 40% organized. Now, we are knocking at the door of 70%, including Sygma which was purchased by Sysco. 

We’ve also organized Kroger fulfillment centers in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Michigan. 

Over 2,500 UNFI workers been organized with the Teamsters since 2022.

Teamster Voice: Automated warehouse technology is spreading. How do we protect Teamster jobs? 

Erickson: When the SuperValu/UNFI facility at my local was automated, we pushed back on the company and bargained to capture all the automated jobs.  

We are bargaining language in our contracts that if a company decides to automate, the Teamsters will be trained to operate and maintain the equipment. As a union, we haven’t prioritized winning this language in over 20 years. Now it is expected. 

Teamster Voice: Is there anything else I should have asked you about or any other message you have for Teamsters? 

Erickson: What I’ve seen time and again is that members are starving to come together. They want to work together to win something better for themselves and their families.  

Under the new Teamsters administration, members are showing they can have debates and air their differences and still come together as a united front to take on employers.

I believe in coming together. I don’t care who belongs to what organization or who someone supported in the last election. I really don’t. You can see who’s in the fight and who has integrity. That’s what matters to me. 

We’re all brothers and sisters in arms. Our focus is on how to get more out of the hands of the 1% who control this country and into the hands of the working people who make it run.

The rank and file built this union, and it’s the rank and file that the union belongs to. 

We’ve regained our purpose, and we’re fighting back and winning. We’re doing the right thing—and I love it.