Saturday, November 7, 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of Teamsters Local 853’s Annual Membership Appreciation Meeting. Ten years ago, 200 members attended. This year, there were over 700.

Obviously, anytime 700 Teamsters show up for a union meeting, something special is about to happen. But, then again, Local 853 isn’t your typical local and the Annual Membership Appreciation Meeting isn’t your typical union meeting.

Over 200 Northern California Teamsters packed Local 287’s San Jose hall on Saturday, October 10, 2009 for a full day of instruction at the Teamsters Organizer Bootcamp. The Bootcamp, led by some of the IBT’s top organizers, is a traveling classroom dedicated to bringing 1,000 volunteers into Teamster organizing campaigns by the end of the year.

Not surprisingly, the attendance at Joint Council 7’s spirited Bootcamp was double that of any other Bootcamp held so far across the country. And if the enthusiasm and interest of the rank-and-filers assembled in San Jose is any indication of the success of the Bootcamp, it would appear that a whole bunch of Northern California’s non-union workers will soon become proud members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.