Local 492 Updates

Trey White, Principal Officer/Secretary-Treasurer- As some of you may already know, I took over the Local as the Principal Officer/Secretary-Treasurer of Local 492 in September of 2021 due to Brother Mike Butler’s planned retirement at the end of this year. Brother Butler is a veteran of the Marine Corps and a third generation Teamster who began his Teamster career at Sysco in 1982 and was then elected Sysco Steward 1986-2004. Mike started as a 492 Business Agent for white paper contracts in February 2004 until January 2005 when he started as the UPS Business Agent. Mike served as Recording Secretary from 2007-June 2011, then Vice-President from 2012 until he was appointed 492 President June 2015, then elected President in December 2017. Upon the retirement of Brother Maestas, Mike began serving as Secretary-Treasurer January 1, 2020 until September 16, 2021. Mike has also served as a 2016 and 2021 IBT Convention 492 Delegate. Brother Butler proudly served on the 2018 UPS Western and UPS National Negotiating Committees. In January of 2020, Mike was appointed Trustee of JC#3. I hope everyone will join me in congratulating Brother Mike on his retirement and thank him for his long service to this Local Union.  

The Executive Board has approved my appointments of Brother Andrew Palmer as President and sister Melissa A. Malcom-Chavez and Brother Travis Keim as 492 Trustees. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about them both: 

Brother Palmer (505-344-1925 ext. 19) is a long time UPSer and has been on the Teamsters Local 492 Executive Board for over 10 years. Union Leadership runs in his family as his Father was the Principal Officer of the IBEW 611 in Albuquerque.  As most of you may already know, in January of 2021, Brother Palmer began serving as the Business Agent for UPS in the Southern part of NM, UPS Aspen/Rio Rancho and also Los Alamos Labs (Triad & N3B). Brother Palmer started his career as a Teamster over 28 years ago as a part timer at the UPS Hub in February of 1993, then a UPS driver in July 2000, then Feeders in 2014. Brother Palmer began serving as a UPS Hub day sort Steward in 1997. From 2006-2014 he served as an Alternate Steward. In June 2011, he was appointed as a 492 Trustee, then elected in December of 2011, then re-elected in 2014 and 2017 and 2020. In 2020, Andrew was elected Steward for the UPS Feeder Drivers. In September of 2021, as Principal Officer/Sec. Treasurer, I appointed Brother Palmer to the open position of President. Brother Palmer also served as a 2021 IBT Convention 492 Delegate. Brother Palmer has picked up a vast knowledge of the UPS contract and local practices over his 28-year career at UPS. Since he has done just about everything at one point or another at UPS, Brother Andrew has knowledge and experience needed to be a great BA. Along with his long tenure on the 492 Executive Board, Brother Palmer will serve the 492 members well now that he has transition from Steward at UPS to Business Agent and President for Teamsters Local 492. 

Sister Melissa A. Malcom-Chavez (505-344-1925 ext. 14) is the BA for the Movie Industry, UPS Gateway, Eldorado Area Water & Sanitation and also ATF. She is also the 492 Political Coordinator and serves on the Boards of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, Sandia Metal Trades, Southwest Multi-Craft Health Care Fund and the NM Building Trades Council. Sister Malcom-Chavez started as a Local 492 Teamster in the Movie Industry in 2004, wrangling horses, driving 18 wheelers, stake beds and even the big movie stars as a Cast Driver and also as a Captain. Sister Malcom-Chavez is the 3rd Generation of 4 Generations of Teamsters in her Family including her Grandfather, Dad, Uncle, child and several cousins. Melissa served as a Union Steward on movie productions and also served on 3 separate committees in 2015-2016 for the movie industry. In June of 2015, Sister Malcom-Chavez was appointed as a Trustee on the Teamsters Local 492 Executive Board. Melissa as the first woman to serve on the Executive Board for Teamsters Local 492. Then in January of 2017, Sister Malcom-Chavez started as the 492 Business Agent for the Movie Industry.  Melissa represented Local 492 at the Teamsters Women's Conference in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In August of 2017, Sister Malcom-Chavez was chosen by the NM Film Commission to serve on the Union Panel at the NM Film & Media Industry Conference. Melissa has served on the panel in 2018 & 2019 as well. On Nov 9, 2019, Sister Malcom-Chavez also served as a Union Panelist for the Film & Television Career Connection at the South Broadway Cultural Center which was sponsored by the ONE Albuquerque Film Office. In July of 2019, she began serving as a Vice-President on the Executive Board for the New Mexico Federation of Labor.  In January of 2020, Melissa began serving as a Delegate for Sandia Metal Trades.  In February of 2020, she began serving as a Labor Trustee on the Board of Trustees for Southwest Multi-Craft Health & Welfare Fund.  In February of 2020, Sister Malcom-Chavez began serving as the 492 Representative for NM Building Trades Council.  In 2021, she began serving as the Chairperson for the ABQ Workers First Measure Finance Committee. In September of 2021, as Principal Officer/Sec. Treasurer, I appointed Melissa to the open position of Trustee and also assigned her as the Office Manager. Sister Malcom-Chavez has an unmatched knowledge of the Movie Industry, she is willing to stick her neck out to fight for NM Movie Jobs, and has proven to be an integral part of Teamsters Local 492. Melissa never turns down any tasks I give her and has dedicated so much of her personal time to get the job done for the members and Local 492. 

On November 18th, 2021, I appointed Brother Travis Keim to begin serving as Trustee on the Teamsters Local 492 Executive Board.  Brother Keim first became a Teamster Member in 1998 working for UPS at the Comanche Hub as a Part-timer on Twilight. Brother Keim then transferred to the Aspen facility and accepted a driver position in Feb 2006. Brother Keim has a family history of union members including his Grandpa and Mother and his uncle was a Teamster. Travis is one of those guys that always volunteers to help before I even know we needed help. He comes up with innovative ideas to help and communicate with fellow Teamsters that I may not have ever thought of it wasn’t for his input. He will make a great addition to the Executive Board and I look forward to see his impact on the local now that he is a Trustee.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Brother Palmer, Sister Malcom-Chavez and Brother Travis Keim on their new positions on the 492 Executive Board. 

General Membership Union Meeting Schedules

As the new Principal Officer/Secretary-Treasurer of Local 492, I will be working on the General Membership Union Meeting schedule for 2022 and will hopefully be sending it out before the end of the year to your Union Stewards and Alternate Stewards for posting in your work locations. I plan on scheduling the General Membership Union Meeting at staggered times/days in an attempt to accommodate everybody's different work schedules. We will have a few Saturday meetings for those of you who work Monday through Friday as well. So, make sure to look in your Union bulletin boards or on the Teamsters492.org website for the latest information on General Membership Union Meeting schedules. 

New Mobile Phone 492 Application

A new form of communication is now available! We have created a new Mobile Phone 492 Application that is available for download on the Google Play and Apple App Store. This mobile app has direct “push” notifications that go straight to you phone. No more spam! If you download the app to your phone, you will always get our communications. It takes the same username and password as your teamster492.org login info. Once you login in, you never have to login again because it keeps your info stored. We highly encourage you to download the 492 mobile app today!

You may have noticed we don’t send out many emails anymore. The reason is spam. The major email companies will flag any “bulk” email of 100 addresses or more as potential spam. The more we send out, the more likely our domain address (@teamsters492.org) will get flagged as spam. We have been trying to limit the bulk emails sent to avoid this issue. There are a lot of things we have been doing to combat this including educating the members to look in the spam folder and mark “not spam,” which improves our spam rating with the major 3 email companies; Gmail, Microsoft (Outlook/Live/Hotmail/MSN) and Yahoo/AOL. We have also been in contact with “the big 3”, which helps for a while but is not a permanent solution. So, download the 492 mobile app and avoid the spam!

New 492 Bookkeeper

I would like to take this time to introduce to you, our new 492 bookkeeper, Sister Monique Montoya. Monique is incredibly smart, hardworking and has impressively picked up the very complex job quite quickly. Sister Montoya was trained by the IBT and has made a lot of positive changes to old style bookkeeping practices to become more efficient.

Last year, due to the increased number of members that have Joined Local 492, we have been experiencing, we had to bring on a second bookkeeper to help out our long-serving bookkeeper. After the departure of the long-term bookkeeper, in January of this year, we hired Sister Montoya, who started working for the Local in February of 2021. She has been a lifesaver at this Local as we have been going through the transition from the two prior bookkeepers that were working last year. Due to some efficiencies/changes we have made at the Local and our new talented bookkeeper, we have been able to save your Union dues by only having one bookkeeper again.  Monique can be reached at 505-344-1925 extension 12. Please welcome her into the Teamster family.

New 492 UPS & OMI/Jacobs Business Agent

Finally, I would also like to introduce you to our newest Business Agent, David Trujillo. Brother Trujillo (505-344-1925 ext. 20) is currently in training to be the Business Agent for UPS in Northern NM & the Pre-loaders and Drivers in the UPS Comanche Center (8710) and also OMI/Jacobs in Rio Rancho.  Brother Trujillo started working at UPS in 1994 as a loader, then Package Car Driver and then Feeder Driver. In September of 2021, Dave began serving as a Business Agent for Teamsters Local 492. David will be taking over Mike Butler's territory which includes UPS Comanche drivers, and all of the UPSers in the northern part of New Mexico. He will also be handling the Teamster members working at OMI/Jacobs in Rio Rancho. David is highly motivated and is willing to put in the long hours that this job requires to help the members of this Local. Brother Trujillo has already shown over the last few months that he has what it takes to handle the high-pressure Business Agent job. Please make sure you thank him for taking on this challenging position the next time you talk to him. Brother David makes an excellent addition to the 492 Team and I look forward to working with him over the coming years.

New T-Shirts, hats and other 492 Items Ordered

I am currently in the process of restocking and ordering new 492 merchandise that you, the members have been requesting. We plan on having several T-Shirt options and also other popular items that will be available soon. Check the teamsters492.org for up-to-date available items.

Finally, I hope all of you have a great holiday season and you are able to enjoy some time with your loved ones. Please be safe out there, take some extra time on those dangerous roads and take care of yourselves and your family. This is a rough time of year for some of your fellow Teamsters, so please be kind to one another and remember to take a deep breath when you are feeling anxious. We are all Brothers & Sisters of this great Union, we are all Teamsters!!!