At Southland Box in Vernon, Calif., workers never felt like the Printing Packaging & Production Workers Union (PPPWU) was doing anything for them. The sham union never delivered when it mattered most –– whether it was bargaining contracts or showing up to important events.

Eventually, this group of more than 60 workers had enough. They wanted real union representation, and they knew exactly where to turn: the Teamsters Union. In November 2023, they nearly unanimously unionized with Local 572, and since then, they voted by huge margins for a lucrative labor agreement.

Thanks to their militancy and unity, Southland workers secured a five-year agreement with big raises every year as well as better health and welfare benefits.

“The PPPWU never showed up for us. It was only when they learned that we wanted to join the Teamsters that they pretended to care about us,” said Javier Chavez, a six-year worker at Southland. “With our Teamsters contract, we’re getting a lot more money in our pockets. You can tell this union truly cares about us. That’s something we absolutely could not say about the PPPWU.”