Teamsters Local 695
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 695 is a Wisconsin labor union affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), one of the nation’s largest largely private-sector labor unions which mostly represents employees in the trucking, railway, manufacturing, and airline industries. The IBT has over 1.2 million members and Local 695 has approximately 3,800 members at private sector locations throughout Wisconsin primarily representing food and beverage manufacturing employees.
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In 2024, Teamsters Local 695 announced plans to merge with Minnesota-based Teamsters Local 120. The union’s membership has declined since the enactment of various labor-regulation laws in Wisconsin and was among many unions in Wisconsin that in 2024 sued seeking to overturn portions of Wisconsin’s Act 10, a state government-worker labor-relations regulation passed in 2011 under then-Governor Scott Walker (R). 1
Background and History
Teamsters Local 695 is a local union under the umbrella of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), one of the nation’s largest largely private-sector labor unions which mostly represents employees in a variety of blue-collar professions. The Teamsters union is known for its history of corruption and involvement with organized crime and is led at the national level by James P. Hoffa, son of mob-tied former Teamsters General President James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa, who infamously disappeared under suspicious circumstances in 1975. 2 3
In 1957, Teamsters Local 695 was involved in a U.S. Supreme Court case, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 695 v. Vogt, Inc., in which state courts in Wisconsin blocked picketing activities at an ununionized gravel pit operation. Teamsters Local 695, citing free speech concerns, appealed the ruling unsuccessfully to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and, after losing, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the court upheld the lower court’s ruling. 4
Proposed Merger
In 2024, Teamsters Local 695 announced plans for a member vote on a proposed merger with Minnesota-based Teamsters Local 120, which represents 11,500 members in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota. One group, Rebuild Teamsters Local 695, which formed to promote a slate to oust the current union leadership, opposed the merger citing higher dues and a dilution of member voting power. 5
Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Act 10
Teamsters Local 695 was involved in a 2024 lawsuit that led to a judge overturning large portions of Wisconsin’s 2011 law that changed government-worker collective bargaining laws in the state. The Judge who issued the ruling had signed a petition to recall then-Governor Scott Walker (R), leading to criticism from the right against “activist judges” who engage in “legislating from the bench.” 1
Local 695 was the only private-sector union involved in the suit, which largely centered around public-sector bargaining, and argued that the 2011 law violated equal protection guarantees in the Wisconsin Constitution by dividing public employees into “general” and “public safety” employees with public safety employees being exempt from the collective bargaining limitations imposed on “general” public employees. 1