Seventeen employees of Cornell’s Department of Environmental Health and Safety voted to be represented by Teamster Local 317 — a union based in Syracuse — Thursday.
Starting next week, the union will officially represent all of the University’s emergency service and fire protection specialists.
Teamster is a union that negotiates labor contracts on behalf of employees that it represents, said Mark May, secretary treasurer and principal executive officer of Teamster Local 317.
“Once a labor contract is negotiated and approved by the affected members, the Union enforces its terms and conditions,” May said. “Labor contracts set forth the pay, benefits, hours of work, vacation and many other conditions associated with a member’s employment with the employer.”
Teamster Local 317 has collective bargaining relationship with other educational entities, May said. However, the union currently does not represent any other Cornell employees, according to Politico New York.
The University declined to comment on the vote.