The former Teamsters Local 832 merged into Local 237 on March 1, adding about 500 members to the extensive list of public employees represented by our union. The new members include supervisors and managers of lunch rooms in New York City public schools, laundry supervisors at Health and Hospitals Corporation facilities, and commissary employees at the Department of Corrections.

“We are proud to welcome you to our Local 237 family, where you will reap the benefits we have struggled to secure in the past half century,” President Gregory Floyd told the former Local 832 members at an open house held March 3 at union headquarters. “We look forward to your contributions to our strong tradition of activism and solidarity as we fight to gain new ground for our members.”

An overwhelming majority of former Local 832 members voted 198-64 (75 percent in favor) to merge into Local 237. Mal Patterson, director of grievances and hearings, will serve as the business agent for the new members, now in the Citywide Division. The majority of new members work for the Department of Education as food service administrators. Others work for HHC and Corrections. Local 237 will represent several new titles including, laundry supervisor, baker, institutional-trades instructor and supervisor of motor transport.

For the past 30 years, Teamsters Local 832 was a separate public-sector local based in New York City. Its small size, however, made it financially untenable. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was compelled to put the local into trusteeship. Ballots were mailed to Local 832 members on Jan. 7 and were tabulated Feb. 19 by Election Services Inc., an independent firm.