Teamsters Local 355

Local and National Union News

Reminder: Deadline to apply for Local 355 scholarships is Friday, May 1st

Zoo workers reject insulting offer from employer, prepare to strike
Apr. 29, 2026 | More than 200 members of Teamsters Local 727 at the Chicago Zoological Society (CZS), doing business as the Brookfield Zoo Chicago, have rejected their employer’s last, best, and final offer and voted to authorize a strike. The hundreds of animal care specialists, groundskeepers, patrol officers, seasonals, aides, and custodians are demanding a contract that includes wage increases and staffing guarantees. Learn more

Teamsters picket Amazon facilities on both coasts over illegal firings
Apr. 24, 2026 | Amazon Teamsters at DAX7 in Los Angeles have extended the picket lines from their unfair labor practice (ULP) strike to the company’s DBK4 location in Queens, New York. DAX7 drivers joined Teamsters Local 396 to fight for better pay and safer working conditions last month. This week, Amazon illegally retaliated against them by cancelling the contract with their Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Next Stop. Learn more

Teamsters join legislators to advance Faster Labor Contracts Act
Apr. 20, 2026 | Today, Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien and rank-and-file Teamsters from Amazon and Corewell Health East joined lawmakers urging U.S. House members to sign onto a discharge petition for the Faster Labor Contracts Act. The legislation would require employers to meet with workers at the bargaining table within 10 days of a successful vote to join a union. Tell your member of Congress to “sign the discharge petition” and bring the Faster Labor Contracts Act up for a vote.

Applications for the 2026 Local 355 Scholarships
Apr. 14, 2026 | Applications are now available for our 52nd Annual Scholarships, to be awarded at the May 2026 regular monthly membership meeting. Eligibility requirements: You must have been in continuous good standing with Local 355 for 12 consecutive months before May 2026, and your student must be a graduating senior this year. There are no tests and no lengthy application process. Download instructions and the application form here.

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Elsewhere in the News

May Day Protests in Maryland, DC, and Virginia

May 1, 2026 | INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY | May Day protests are expected across Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia on May 1 as organizers call for protests, rallies, marches, and walkouts tied to labor and immigration rights. May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, commemorates the efforts made to improve workers' rights. It's a date historically linked to labor movements and protests around the world, though it's not a federal holiday in the United States. May 1 protests — and some May 2 protests and on May 3 — are the latest nationwide movements following recent "No Kings" protests, with organizers including 50501 and Indivisible encouraging supporters to skip work, school, and shopping as part of a coordinated effort nationwide, though turnout, timing, and themes are expected to vary by location. Delaware Online

With Teamsters Support, Maryland Bans Mandatory Captive Audience Meetings

Apr. 30, 2026 | WORKERS’ RIGHTS | (Click image to view.) Maryland Teamsters are celebrating the passage of SB 417/HB 45, legislation authored by Delegate Joe Vogel (D – Gaithersburg), which bans mandatory attendance for workers at captive audience meetings. These meetings are employer-sponsored propaganda sessions designed to discourage workers from organizing. “We started fighting for this bill three years ago because banning this undemocratic practice is a moral imperative — not just for the labor movement, but for everyone in our state who cares about economic justice,” said Sean Cedenio, President of Teamsters Joint Council 62 in Baltimore. Maryland is the 14th state to ban mandatory captive audience meetings. Teamsters

‘It Feels Like a Betrayal’: Anger as Apple Closes 1st Unionized Store in US

Apr. 29, 2026 | UNION BUSTING | Workers at the first Apple store to unionize in the US are pushing back against the company’s decision to shut it down by June, alleging that Apple’s decision is rooted in “a cynical attempt to bust the union”. On Monday, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Apple, alleging that unionized employees at the store in Towson, Maryland, are being denied transfer rights and other rights compared with workers at non-unionized stores. The union is also alleging retaliation for being unionized. The Guardian

Every 104 Minutes Corporate Neglect Kills Another Worker

Apr. 28, 2026 | WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY | A worker dies from corporate negligence every 104 minutes. The suppliers of auto parts for Hyundai and Kia cars. The Subway restaurant chain. The nation’s biggest homebuilder, which let Donald Trump’s vicious and violent ICE agents raid its job sites. A snack food company that puts migrants’ children into hazardous factory jobs… [Amazon], the monster retailer and warehouse firm, which employs one-third of all U.S. warehouse workers but accounts for almost half of the workplace injuries in that industry, had such a bad job safety record for so long that NACOSH put it last year into a special category of permanent violators. Amazon and its multibillionaire majority owner, Jeff Bezos, a Trump pal, is also virulently anti-union. Peoples' World