This spring, 2,000 workers at the San Diego Zoo tamed management with a rank-and-file campaign that won a better contract. Now, members have elected the activists who organized the San Diego Zoo contract campaign to lead the 4,000-member Local 481.

Erin Borgardt and the 481 Solidarity Slate won the election by a two-to-one margin. 

"481 Solidarity is about more than any one leader or one election. This is about members taking control of our union and opening it up," Borgardt said. "The power of our union lives in the rank-and-file. It comes from all of us.

"We will be ready to hit the ground running on day one to inform, involve, unite and represent every member, no matter where they work or who they voted for," Borgardt said. 

From Concessions to Change

Four years ago, management and Teamster officials in San Diego pushed through a concessionary contract that eliminated the pension of 2,000 Teamsters at the San Diego Zoo.

Members knew things had to be different and they organized for change. They didn’t complain from the sidelines. They rolled up their sleeves and got to work. 

They built a rank-and-network called Zoo Solidarity that mobilized members to vote down a weak contract offer by 76%. They didn’t win everything, but they came away with wage increases of more than 20% over four years.

The contract fight ended but the movement continued. Zoo Solidarity became the 481 Solidarity Slate. 

They teamed up with Teamsters for a Democratic Union to learn from other Teamsters how to build union power from the bottom up. 

"Working with TDU gave us the skills and confidence we needed to organize for change and to win — from our contract campaign to running for local union office," said Erin Borgardt, Local 481’s new principal officer.