Welcome to Teamsters Local 17 Website

John Jackson believes elections change lives. Jackson, a YRC member with Local 17 in Denver, believes so strongly in electing the candidates who support working people that he contributes to DRIVE, the Teamsters' political action committee.

"One legislative bill can eliminate 10 years or more of hard negotiations. It's your livelihood. It's about getting involved," said Jackson, who increased his contributions to DRIVE this year.

"We now have a labor-friendly Denver city and county government. Without our members' DRIVE contributions, this would not have been possible," said Mike Simeone, Local 17 Secretary-Treasurer.

Labor-Friendly Government

In Colorado, thanks to Local 17 volunteers and their DRIVE contributions, several pro-labor candidates were recently elected to Denver city and county government. Democrat Michael Hancock was elected mayor of Denver, in part due to the backing of Local 17, the only labor organization to support the candidate.

"We were looking for a candidate based in reality, not just pitching the union song and dance and afterwards forgetting about us. We believe in Michael Hancock and we made the decision to support him early on," said Ed Bagwell, Recording Secretary and Public Services Director for Local 17.

"One of his opponents promised collective bargaining, which is impossible because a voter referendum is required. Hancock was honest in saying he couldn't get collective bargaining with the current climate, but would work with us and help in any way he could in the future," Simeone said.

Local 17 was impressed with Hancock who, as the former president of the City Council, met with Local 17 in the past to discuss improving working conditions for city and county workers. Local 17 also endorsed City Council candidates Robin Kniech and Susan Shepherd, in addition to Auditor Dennis Gallagher who was also recently elected to office.

Nearly 1,000 Denver city and county workers are represented by Local 17. Colorado is also one of the few states in the West that is not right-to-work and Teamsters are working to keep it that way.

"It's absolutely crucial to contribute to DRIVE because without it, we couldn't have done what we did in Denver, and we may have ended up with another Wisconsin or Ohio," Simeone said.