Teamsters Local 710 met Friday, December 18 with Classic Party Rental to discuss the wrongful termination of 35 employees. Local 710 has filed a grievance to have those members reinstated.

Classic Party required members to verify their employment eligibility but did not allow adequate time for them to do so. This resulted in the termination of nearly 30 percent of their workforce of 120 employees.

In December, the union put in an information request to the employer to get additional details on the matter, and is currently reviewing the employer’s response. In the meantime, Local 710 will advance to the next step of the grievance procedure. The grievance filed will be heard at the Joint Grievance Committee Panel on Thursday, January 14 at 10 a.m.

Negotiations Tentatively Scheduled to Begin Jan. 18

Negotiations for the new Classic Party Rental contract are tentatively scheduled to begin the week of January 18. The current five-year agreement is set to expire in February 2016.

This will be the second contract that Teamsters Local 710 will negotiate for Classic Party Rental. The current original agreement was ratified at the end of May 2011. Local 710 will be conducting a contract proposal meeting ahead of the upcoming negotiations.

The bargaining committee will consist of Union Steward Jesus Popoca, Business Agent Roger Kelley, in-house attorney Rupa Baskaran and outside counsel from Illinois Advocates and Willig, Williams and Davidson.

Local 710 Welcomes Eduardo Farrera

Teamster since 1990, Organizer at Joint Council 25

Farrera began his Teamster career as a member of Local 727 working in the parking industry. He was employed as the manager of a parking complex before joining the team at Local 727 as an agent. He currently works at the Joint Council as an Organizer.

Farrera will be assisting Local 710 in the upcoming contract negotiations as acting agent and bilingual liaison to report back to the membership as negotiations progress.

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