Federal agency issues pro-union ruling for 80 Sarasota grocery drivers

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled to allow a union to represent dozens of Sarasota workers, despite a protest from their employer. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 79 asked the board, an independent federal agency, to represent 80 drivers in Sarasota and one in Miami who work for wholesale grocery distributor United Natural Foods and Albert's Organics (UNFI).

UNFI sought to quash the efforts of its workers to join the Teamsters Local 79 in Tampa because, it contended, the company planned to outsource its transportation services to transportation and logistics company J.B. Hunt as of June 2.

"I was in tears when I got the news that we were going to be able to keep our jobs and move forward with our election,” Patricia Morris, a seven-year driver at UNFI in Sarasota, says in a statement issued Wednesday from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. "As a former UPSer, I know the value of being a Teamster firsthand and how beneficial representation will be for us at UNFI. We're already seeing results. Without the Teamsters, we could have lost our jobs."