Congratulations to Rich Ewing on his retirement from over 15 years of work and dedication to Teamsters Local 231. Rich is a second generation Teamster as his father was a proud member of Local 231 working in the freight and moving & storage industries.  In 1991, Rich started his Teamster career at Yellow Freight.

The Teamsters Local 231 holiday party was a great success! There were well over 100 members in attendance and over $1,200.00 was raised for the Skagit and Whatcom County food banks. The generous members brought in piles of toys that were distributed to the local toys for tots charity. This year’s party marks the end of an era as Secretary- Treasurer, Rich Ewing announced his retirement at the end of 2025, after serving in that role for over 13 years.  We wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement. The new executive board, listed below, will take office in January.

Executive Board:

Secretary-Treasurer                                                     Heather Ewing

President                                                                    Daron Smith

Vice President                                                             Flo Rose-Banks

Recording Secretary                                                     Kelsey Hover

Trustee                                                                       Russell Hayes

Trustee                                                                       Allen Mason

Trustee                                                                       Gary Moore

Congratulations to all the Leaders and Shop Stewards that attended the Teamsters Local 231 Steward Seminar on October 25, 2025. Topics at the seminar included the role of the Steward, the Rights of the Steward, and Organizing & Moving workers into action. A special thank you to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for sending out Alexandera Topete, Training Coordinator from the IBT Training and Grants Division, and Sai Ellis, IBT Organizer. "Both Alexandra and Sai did such a fantastic job at the Seminar, and we continue to receive positive feedback even weeks later", said Secretary-Treasurer, Rich Ewing. Teamsters Local 231 thanks all the leaders and Stewards who are active participants in the Union on a daily basis. We would not succeed without the solidarity, hard work and commitment of the membership.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Teamsters Local 231 Solidarity Night at the Bellingham Bells game! Teamsters members and their families were treated to Texas Roadhouse catering.

Teamsters Local 231 is now collecting photo submissions from current Union members, Retirees or their family members for the opportunity to be published in our 2027 Union calendar!

Whatcom Museum Employees Join Teamsters Local 231 A group of 21 employees working for the Whatcom Museum Foundation have voted to join Teamsters Local 231.

Community Food Co-Op Employees Represented by Teamsters Local Union 231 Ratify First-Ever Collective Bargaining Agreement. Congratulations to the newest members of Teamsters Local 231.

APP/World Kinect Teamsters here at Local 231 and across the state made history recently as they voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first-ever regional agreement. The regional contract contains strong wage increases. The agreement also contains full family covered healthcare, with no cost to the employees, which was not previously available for Locals 58 and 231.

The Teamsters Local 231 2024 holiday party was a great success with more than 100 people in attendance! Over $900.00 was raised for the Skagit Valley Neighbors in Need and Bellingham food bank. The VERY generous members brought in piles of toys that were distributed to the local Toys for Tots charity. “I am always amazed by the generosity of the Teamster Brothers and Sisters at Local 231.

On Saturday, November 30, 2024, Teamster members at Local 117, 231 and 252 voted and ratified a fully recommended successor agreement. The new 4-year agreement includes significant improvements to language items, including an updated grievance procedure. During the term of this agreement, the hourly wages will be at parity, effectively eliminating a two-tier wage scale.