Rudy carried his first Union card at the age of 18 as a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. After serving as a shop steward, he volunteered as a member organizer and learned to campaign in the South, where he saw firsthand the struggle that workers face when they attempt to unionize under hostile conditions.
Informed by his Catholic upbringing's social justice doctrine and motivated by a sense of stewardship instilled by his father’s lifelong career as a firefighter, he found purpose in building power for workers.
In 2008, he was hired as a full-time Business Representative and Organizer for Teamsters 856. He negotiated private and public sector contracts in Northern California, rising to the rank of Director, and was elected twice as Vice President. During his time at 856, he led organizing campaigns that nearly doubled the size and strength of the local union, which now boasts 17,000 members.
In May of 2018, Rudy was selected by his peers on the SFLC Executive Committee to assist the Council as Interim Executive Director. In August of 2018, Rudy was nominated and elected unanimously by the Council delegates to a two-year term, becoming the first person of color and youngest person elected in the 125-year history of the SFLC.
At the Labor Council, Rudy lead the staff team to assist affiliated unions with political mobilization, contract campaigns, and strategic organizing. Under his leadership, the Council shored up its finances, hired the first-ever Campaign Director, and revamped the political and affiliate support apparatus. Rudy is most proud of the recently-launched Labor in the Schools program, which will bring labor curriculum and union awareness to a new generation of San Franciscans.
He enjoys spending his off time with his family in Oakland, where he resides with his wife, Sarah, and their three children, Zoe (12), Jules (10), Isaac (3), and their English bulldog, Oliver.
For years, Infrastructure Week has been regarded with skepticism and disappointment, if not outright disdain and ridicule.
By the time you read this, Workers’ Memorial Day, observed annually on April 28, will already be in the rear-view — but it shouldn’t be.
We had a strong start to March. This is Women’s History Month, and the first week is designated as Women in Construction week.
It’s an old saying that still rings true: As goes California, so goes the nation. A popular addendum to that rule — at least among those of us living in the Bay Area (and for those living in the rest of California, should they care to admit it) — is that as goes San Francisco, so goes California.
Happy New Year to all. As we dive headlong into 2023, this council remains committed to seeing San Francisco’s recovery continue throughout this new year and into the next.
It’s high time for a fundamental change in U.S. labor law. We need meaningful labor legislation that truly protects workers, or at least gives them a fair shake and a basic sense of dignity. We need laws that treat workers with the same reverence currently reserved exclusively for those who own the companies rather than those who do the heavy lifting to generate the vast majority of those companies’ profits.
As I write this column, National Apprenticeship Week is wrapping. Over the course of the week, I was honored to welcome the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) contingent to San Francisco to show off some of our biggest and best projects.
National Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM), which is celebrated annually from September 15 through October 15, is wrapping up as I write this column.
We don’t have to look far to see the impacts of the housing crisis in San Francisco.
Everyone’s been talking about it lately: It’s that magical time of year when the kids head back for another year of school.
