Todd has been married to Beth Walters since 1987 and has two grown sons. He started working at Ralphs Grocery in 1986 and quickly moved up to meat cutter/manager. He worked various stores in North San Diego County and was with Ralphs for 19 years. During the grocery strike of 2003-2004 he became an activist and worked closely with Grant Tom and German Ramirez. They exposed Ralphs Grocery for hiring locked out workers with false identities. Working with a local newspaper, the story was closely followed and ultimately Ralphs paid about $70 million in fines and restitution as a result.
Todd started working at Local 135 as a Union Rep in May 2005 and covered most of the stores in North County. In February 2016 he was promoted to Grievance Director. In that position, among other things, he oversaw the Union Representatives, negotiated settlements with all employers, attended arbitrations, mediations, contract negotiations and high level meetings regarding contracts, met with leaders of all the Southern California Local Unions to discuss bargaining strategies. During his tenure as Grievance Director he recovered about $418,000 and reinstated about 178 members back to work.
“Our new team will work full time to plan, strategize and represent you. We will not be distracted by egotistical political and community battles. We are here to fight battles to benefit members, not a game of showmanship!”
Todd is committed to the future of this union:
“Retirees depend on future contracts for their benefits, yet currently they have no voice in the fight to protect those benefits. The Taking Back Local 135 Slate will create a system where retirees will be involved in the contract negotiations process and help protect the benefits that we have all worked so hard to get.”