Local 89 was chartered on December 27th, 1933. In its formative years, Local 89 quickly made a name for itself as a strong, no-nonsense union that was respected and feared throughout our jurisdiction. Ninety years later, we are proud to continue that tradition as one of the largest, most powerful, and militant Local Unions in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
A Brief History of Teamsters Local 89
Our first Principal Officer was Pat Ansboury, an Irish immigrant who put Local 89 on the map both literally and figuratively. Through aggressive organizing, Ansboury expanded Local 89 from only 26 members to over 7,000 at the time of his tragic death by heart attack in 1952.
President Paul Priddy, a long-time friend and fellow officer, took the reins in 1952. He continued Local 89’s militant growth, and commissioned the construction of a new union hall which we still use to this day. He was still in office when he passed away in 1976 and remains our longest serving Principal Officer. During his time in office, Priddy also became the very first President of the Kentucky Conference of Teamsters and was highly respected by his peers in the labor movement.
From 1977 to 1990 our Local would be led by Marion Winstead. During his time as President Local 89 would become home to the world’s very first UPS Air Hub. Over the next decade that small air hub would exponentially grow to become the heart of the UPS Air operation.
The 1990s saw a rapid succession of Local 89 Presidents with Norman Hug from 1990-1992, Lon Fields from 1992-1999, and Robert Winstead in 1999.
Fred Zuckerman would serve as Local 89’s President from 2000-2022. Under Zuckerman’s leadership, our Local expanded and rededicated itself to the militant, no-nonsense labor style of our formative years. During Zuckerman’s term Local 89 would see the UPS Air Hub evolve into UPS Worldport, the largest and most important UPS operation in the United States. With the expansion at UPS and a renewed focus on organizing, Local 89 grew to over 17,000 members during Zuckerman’s term, becoming one of the ten largest Local Unions in the Teamsters. In 2021, Zuckerman ran with Sean O’Brien and won the position of Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer. In March 2022, Zuckerman was sworn into his new office and resigned his position at Local 89.
Since March 2022, Local 89 has been led by President Avral Thompson. Thompson, who is also a two-term Central Region Vice President and the Carhaul Director for our International, has continued the stellar growth and militant attitude that Local 89 is known for. In his short time in office, he has made Local 89 more financially secure than any other point in our history and has overseen an aggressive, breakneck pace of organizing that has helped us reach 18,000 members and that number continues to rise. Thompson’s calm and friendly demeanor has quickly endeared him to everyone in Local 89, while his fiery tactics and demand for strong contracts and member participation has rapidly garnered respect for both him and our Local Union.
