Local 710 Gets Central Grocers Driver Back to Work and Made Whole
Teamsters Win Member Reinstatement with Approximately $88,000 in Back Pay
A Teamsters Local 710 Driver at Central Grocers is set to return to work next month after being unjustly terminated on April 27, 2015.
The Union filed a grievance over the member’s termination, and an arbitrator recently ruled in the Union’s favor to reinstate the member and make him whole. The member will receive approximately $88,000 in back pay, plus lost weekly contributions of $192 to his 401(k) plus interest for the last 42 weeks. The member had healthcare bills that were also taken care of.
Local 710 Business Agent Roger Kelley fought hard not only to the member’s individual rights, but to enforce the critical disciplinary protections in Local 710’s contract with Central Grocers, as he has for each of the past 13 years.
It was clear to the Union that the Company’s decision to terminate the member was driven more by an earlier on-duty incident between the member and the Loss Prevention Director than the one in question, an off-duty incident between the member and an independent medical examiner. The Company had previously sought to terminate the member over the earlier incident, but its decision was overturned by the Joint Grievance Committee prior to this arbitration.
This is an important win for Local 710.
This decision strengthens the rights of the Teamsters at Central Grocers and upholds the strength of their contract.
John T. Coli
Trustee of Local 710
Local 710 represents 88 drivers who work out of the distribution center in Joliet, Ill., delivering products to 150 co-op members operating 500 grocery stores throughout the Midwest.
Teamsters Local 710 is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25, America’s premier labor union for Chicago, Illinois and northwest Indiana.