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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2017)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | BUY UNION September 15, 2017 | PAGE 11 UNION ORGANIZING Safeway.com drivers in Tukwila join Teamsters Local 174 Morel Ink: Owners change, union remains Morel Ink, a union print shop and mail house, is under new owner- ship. In July, longtime owners Bill Dickey and Matt Witham sold the business to longtime em- ployees Scott Ballo and Alli Wood and their spouses Shauna Ballo and Ben Wood. Dickey will continue on as an employee. Morel Ink, named for the wild mushroom Dickey learned to pick growing up in Oregon, employs 19 members of Teamsters Local 747-M. They earn wages of about $26 an hour on average, plus health and retirement benefits. Local 747-M is part of the Team- sters’ Graphic Communications Conference. Morel specializes in political direct mail for union-friendly po- litical candidates and organiza- tions. It also produces union mail- ing, banners and signs, including picket signs. Production takes place at its main facility at 4824 NE 42nd Avenue in Portland and at its subsidiary, ADCO Commer- cial Printing & Graphics in Van- couver. Morel Ink also mails the NW Labor Press. Scott Ballo, at Morel since 2009, formerly worked for union-backed political groups and politicians like former Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski. His wife Shauna Ballo was formerly a communications director for SEIU Local 49 and for Basic Rights Oregon. Alli Wood has worked as Morel’s bookkeeper since 2004. Almost 70 delivery drivers at Safeway.com voted Sept 6 to join Teamsters Local 174, a historic victory with poten- tially wide-ranging effects, as these are the first Safeway.com delivery drivers in the nation to vote to join a union. Voting was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. “This is huge for us. Every- one at this company was a union member except for us,” said Safeway.com driver and lead organizing committee member Dan Oliver. “And it was clear from our compensa- tion, benefits, and the way we were treated at work that not being union was hurting us. All of that is going to change now.” “I am so proud of these guys for standing up for their rights,” said Local 174 Organ- izer Meaza Ogbe. “It takes courage to stand up to your employer and demand re- spect, and these guys had courage to spare.” The organizing victory comes at a critical moment in the home grocery delivery in- dustry, as Seattle-based prod- uct delivery juggernaut Ama- zon has recently purchased the upscale grocery chain Whole Foods. “This is not just a big win for these Safeway.com driv- ers, but this is a foot in the door for other organizing op- portunities in this same indus- try in the future,” said Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “Home grocery deliv- ery is a growing industry, and from this day forward, it is go- ing to be an industry that in- cludes the Teamsters Union.” Teamsters Local 174 repre- sents Safeway distribution center drivers who operate out of facilities in Auburn and Bellevue delivering groceries to stores across the state. The drivers and warehousemen re- cently ratified the richest con- tract in their history. The next step is for the union and the company to sit together and negotiate a first contract for the drivers, who deliver customers’ grocery or- ders from Safeway stores di- rectly to their homes, on a strict timeline to preserve the groceries’ freshness. “This just-in-time, right-to- your-home delivery system is not just the next step for the grocery industry — it’s the next step for the entire pack- age delivery industry,” said Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “This is the fu- ture, and it is a future in which Teamsters Local 174 will be an active participant.” Teamsters Local 174 repre- sents approximately 7,200 workers in the Seattle area.
