Teamsters Joint Council 7 is the regional joint council for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union in California and western Nevada, overseeing 18 local Teamsters unions. It is one of the largest and most politically powerful labor unions in California. ¹

Joint Council 7 uses its influence with state and municipal elected officials to gain passage of laws and regulations that support efforts to protect and grow union membership, such as California’s AB 5 law that makes it easier for the Teamsters to unionize ridesharing drivers and semi-truck owner-operators who had previously been independent contractors. ² Joint Council 7 also lobbies for legal and regulatory barriers to the spread of new technologies that could threaten the jobs of Teamsters union members, such as autonomous or driverless vehicles. ^{3 4}

In the 2024 general election, while the national Teamsters union remained neutral in the presidential race, Teamsters Joint Council 7 endorsed the election of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. ⁵

Background

Teamsters Joint Council 7 is the regional joint council for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union in California and western Nevada. In 2022, it reported 87,286 dues-paying members. ⁶

Joint Council 7 took on its current form in 2010 by merging with Teamsters Joint Council 38, which had covered Northern California, California’s Central Valley, and the Reno, Nevada, region. ¹

The president of Joint Council 7 is Peter Finn, who was selected for that role by the union’s executive board in February 2024. ⁷ Finn is also the western region vice president for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Executive Board, the division director of the Teamsters’ Food Processing Division, and a board trustee for the Western Conference of the Teamsters Pension Trust Fund. ⁷

Union Corruption

In 2017, a report by a retired federal judge serving as an Independent Review Officer for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters found that then-Teamsters Joint Council 7 president Rome Aloise had violated union bylaws, and potentially federal law – by accepting bribes from employers with whom he was negotiating on behalf of Teamsters union members. ⁸ According to the report, Aloise sought out and accepted an invitation to a Playboy Super Bowl party, a job for a relative at a Teamsters employer, and other perks while in his Joint Council 7 role. ⁸

The report also alleged that Aloise had violated union bylaws by interfering in a local union election on behalf of an ally, in “a pattern of disregard for the rules that were established to safeguard the democratic process in union elections.” ⁸  Aloise received a two-year ban from Teamsters union leadership positions due to these offenses. ⁹

However, Joint Council 7 and Teamsters Local 853 defied the order of the Independent Review Officer, whose office was created by an agreement between the Teamsters and the federal government to provide a mechanism for combatting corruption and organized crime within the union. ¹⁰ According to an Independent Review Board investigation, at least 13 Teamsters officials were complicit in refusing to remove Aloise from power as ordered. ¹⁰

Aloise later received a lifetime ban from the Teamsters. ¹¹ Aloise’s replacement as Joint Council 7 president, Jason Rabinowitz, was one of the Teamsters officials identified in the report; he resigned that post in February 2024. ¹²

Advocacy and Issues

Proposition 32

In 2012, Joint Council 7 was the most active union in the coalition opposing Proposition 32, which would have banned unions and businesses from using funds gathered from payroll dues deductions for political purposes, including using dues for donations to political candidates or parties. ^{13 1} The ballot measure was defeated by a 57-43 percent margin. ¹

Independent Contracting

For years, Joint Council 7’s primary legislative priority in California was changing the legal tests that determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. ² The union hoped that by reclassifying more workers, especially owner-operator truckers and “gig economy” drivers for companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Doordash as employees of larger companies, the Teamsters could unionize those companies and force formerly independent drivers into becoming dues-paying Teamsters members. ^{2 14}

In 2019, California passed Assembly Bill (AB) 5, which created a new, broader test that required workers to be “free from the control or direction” of the company for whom they are working, and that their work be “outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business” to be eligible for independent contractor status. ¹⁵

AB5 was strongly opposed by many independent owner-operator truckers, especially those that haul freight at California’s ports, for threatening their business models. ¹⁵ Some opponents estimated that AB5 could impact as many as 70,000 of the state’s truckers. ¹⁶ In July 2022, independent truckers staged demonstrations across Los Angeles against the implementation of the law. ¹⁵

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an appeals court decision upholding AB5’s constitutionality. ² That same year, companies that relied on independent contractor drivers dispatched via online apps such as Uber, Lyft, and Doordash led a coalition to pass Proposition 22, which exempted certain app-based drivers from AB5’s regulations. ¹⁷ With app-based companies on one side and unions including Joint Council 7 on the other, ¹⁸ a total of $224,271,800 in regulated funds was spent either for or against the measure, which passed by a 59-41 percent margin. ¹⁸ Uber and Lyft, among other companies, had warned that they would not be able to do business in California under AB5’s reclassification of their drivers. ¹⁹

Pro-union plaintiffs sued to overturn Proposition 22, and while part of the ballot measure was overturned by the California Court of Appeals, the core measures that allowed app-based drivers to remain independent contractors were upheld by the appeals court in 2023. ²⁰

After AB5 went into effect, Joint Council 7 union locals were able to force union elections at companies that had previously been exempt from union membership because their drivers had previously been regulated as independent contractors and not employees. ^{21 14}

Opposition to Driverless Vehicles

Joint Council 7 lobbies state and local elected officials to ban or heavily regulate driverless vehicles. ^{3 4} It is widely considered to be attempting to protect the jobs of unionized Teamster drivers. ^{22 3}

It supports a state law in California that would require a company using driverless vehicles to obtain the advance permission of every municipality in which those vehicles would operate. ²³

It also supports the passage of a law that would require a human operator behind the wheel of any commercial vehicle over 10,000 pounds in gross vehicle weight, which would encompass most delivery trucks and heavier commercial vehicles. ²⁴ The California Legislature passed such a law in 2023, but it was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). ²⁴

2024 Elections

In the 2024 general election, while the national Teamsters union remained neutral in the presidential race, Teamsters Joint Council 7 endorsed the election of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. The union also endorsed several other Democrats for Congress, the U.S. Senate, and other offices in California and Nevada. ⁵

1. Bloch, Doug. “History.” Teamsters Joint Council 7, January 2018. https://teamstersjc7.org/who-we-are/history.
2. McQuaid, Matthew. “Teamsters Campaign Pays off to Uphold Misclassification Law Protecting Drivers.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, June 30, 2022. https://teamster.org/2022/06/teamsters-campaign-pays-off-to-uphold-misclassification-law-protecting-drivers/.
3. Williams, Zach, and Andrew Oxford. “Teamsters’ Autonomous Vehicles Fight Spreads across Statehouses.” Bloomberg Government, February 22, 2024. https://news.bgov.com/states-of-play/teamsters-autonomous-vehicles-fight-spreads-across-statehouses.
4. “Teamsters Fight Back against Dangerous Driverless Vehicles on Multiple Fronts.” Teamsters Joint Council 7, January 26, 2024. https://teamstersjc7.org/news-press/teamster-news/teamsters-fight-back-against-dangerous-driverless-vehicles-on-multiple-fronts.
5. “2024 JC7 November General Endorsements.” Teamsters Joint Council 7. Accessed December 13, 2024. https://teamstersjc7.org/endorsements.
6.  “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT.” United States Department of Labor, March 30, 2023. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=864308&rptForm=LM2Form.
7. “New Leadership at Teamsters Joint Council 7.” Teamsters Joint Council 7, February 6, 2024. https://teamstersjc7.org/news-press/new-leadership-at-teamsters-joint-council-7.
8. Jones, Barbara S. In the Matter of Rome Aloise: Opinion of the Independent Review Officer, October 24, 2017. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/teamstersforademocraticunion/pages/10467/attachments/original/1508943789/Aloise.De.Novo.Hearing.Opinion.FINAL.pdf?1508943789.
9.  Jones, Barbara S. “In the Matter of Rome Aloise.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, December 22, 2017. https://teamster.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/1318aloisedecision.pdf.
10. Luskin, Robert D. “MEMORANDUM to the IBT GENERAL PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD .” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, July 18, 2023. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/teamstersforademocraticunion/pages/12946/attachments/original/1689871406/NORCAL_CHARGES.pdf?1689871406.
11. Wallender, Andrew. “Teamsters Vice President Permanently Barred from Union.” Bloomberg Law, December 13, 2021. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/teamsters-vice-president-permanently-barred-from-union.
12. “Update on Corruption Charges: Scearcy, Rabinowitz and Other Officials in the West.” Teamsters for a Democratic Union, March 8, 2023. https://www.tdu.org/corruption-tv312.
13. “Proposition 32 | Official Voter Information Guide.” California Secretary of State, 2012. https://vigarchive.sos.ca.gov/2012/general/propositions/32/.
14. Pino, Dominic. “California’s A.B. 5 Is Working Well – for the Teamsters.” National Review, September 1, 2022. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/californias-a-b-5-is-working-well-for-the-teamsters/.
15.  Navarro, Heather. “What Is Ab5? The Bill behind LA’s Trucker Protest.” NBC Los Angeles, July 16, 2022. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/no-ab5-protest-trucker-strike-los-angeles-la-port/2939138/.
16. Lennane, Alex. “Concerns Mount over California’s AB5 Trucker Classification Law.” The Loadstar, July 12, 2022. https://theloadstar.com/concerns-mount-over-californias-ab5-trucker-classification-law/.
17. Probasco, Jim. “California Proposition 22 (Prop 22): What It Means, How It Works.” Investopedia, March 14, 2023. https://www.investopedia.com/california-proposition-22-prop-22-5085852.
18. Menezes, Ryan, Maloy Moore, and Phi Do. “Billions Have Been Spent on California’s  Ballot Measure Battles. But This Year Is  Unlike Any Other.” Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2020. https://www.latimes.com/projects/props-california-2020-election-money/.
19. “Teamsters Statement on Uber and Lyft’s California Shutdown Threats.” https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teamsters-statement-on-uber-and-lyfts-california-shutdown-threats-301115216.html, August 19, 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teamsters-statement-on-uber-and-lyfts-california-shutdown-threats-301115216.html.
20. Moon, Mariella. “Court Rules That Uber and Lyft Can Keep Treating Drivers as Contractors in California.” Engadget, March 14, 2023. https://www.engadget.com/court-rules-uber-lyft-keep-contractors-classification-drivers-california-054040457.html.
21. Kingston, John. “Ab5 Law at Heart of Universal-Teamsters Labor Deal in Southern California.” FreightWaves, August 31, 2022. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ab5-law-at-heart-of-universal-teamsters-labor-deal-in-southern-california.
22. “Elected Officials Join Forces with Teamsters Union for Good Jobs, Safe Streets.” Teamsters Joint Council 7, March 1, 2024. https://teamstersjc7.org/news-press/elected-officials-join-forces-with-teamsters-union-for-good-jobs-safe-streets.
23. “Calif.. Teamsters Demand Lawmakers Pass AV Local Control Bill SB 915.” Teamsters Joint Council 7, February 5, 2024. https://teamstersjc7.org/news-press/california-teamsters-demand-lawmakers-pass-av-local-control-bill-sb-915.
24. “California Teamsters, Elected Officials Announce Reintroduction of AV Human Operator Bill.” Teamsters Joint Council 7, February 13, 2024. https://teamstersjc7.org/news-press/california-teamsters-elected-officials-announce-reintroduction-of-av-human-operator-bill.