LRS truck drivers in Chicago area vote to join Teamsters

Workers at Rosemont, Illinois-based LRS have voted to join Teamsters Local 371, based in Rock Island, Illinois.

“The group of residential and roll-off drivers, as well as driver assistants, voted to become Teamsters to secure safer working conditions, fair workloads, improved benefits and better wages," the International Brotherhood of Teamsters says of the recent vote.

Australia-based Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) is a majority owner of LRS, and the union says in the summer, the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division secured a verbal agreement that Macquarie would not interfere in its workers’ choice to join a union.

“The working conditions at LRS require significant improvement,” Hendi Valdez, a residential driver and a new member of Local 371 says. “We contacted the Teamsters and organized our workplace to secure representation that will help us with these unsafe work conditions.”

According to the union, the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division is in the process of obtaining a written agreement with the company.

“We are thrilled to welcome this group of workers to our local union and I congratulate them on becoming Teamsters,” Local 371 President Mike Kensinger says. “We look forward to securing a strong first contract that rewards these members for the essential work they provide our community.”

Teamsters Local 371 represents workers in several industries, including construction, waste, public services and transportation.

LRS has been investing to boost its presence in the hauling and recycling sectors, including its opening of The Exchange material recovery facility (MRF) in Chicago. That $50 million greenfield MRF has been designed to sort and prepare up to 35 tons per hour (52,000 to 72,800 tons per year) of postconsumer materials for recycling.