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Season 6, Episode 7

Teamsters Local 8 secured historic gains at Penn State University

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Guest Name:


Jonathan Light

Guest Website:


Teamsters Local 8 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

Supportive Documents:


Jonathan Light, President and Business Agent of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 8, joined America's Work Force Union Podcast to share insights into the contract negotiations between Penn State University and Local 8 members.

Since being elected as President and Business Agent in 2006, Light has represented 2,500 members across Penn State's campuses.

The recent contract negotiations at Penn State marked a historic achievement for Teamsters Local 8. Light and his team adopted an approach based on engaging members directly to try to foster a sense of unity and collective strength. This strategy included distributing shirts with the slogan "We Are Ready" —a play on Penn State’s “We Are Penn State” cheer—to create a buzz and maintain pressure on the university.

Initially, Penn State offered minimal raises, but after a strategic strike vote and external pressure, the university agreed to a 20 percent increase over four years, with 7 percent upfront. This contract is the most favorable in the Local's history, Light said. He added that this result serves as an example of the power of organized labor and member engagement.

With the new contract secured, Light is turning his attention to organizing the unorganized staff at Penn State. He believes the time is ripe for expanding union representation, as many unorganized workers express a desire for a stronger voice in their workplace. Light is optimistic about the potential for growth, aiming to empower more workers to stand up for their rights and secure better working conditions.

To learn more about Jonathan Light's efforts and the future of Teamsters Local 8, listen to the full episode of America's Workforce Union Podcast.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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