Denver, CO — On Tuesday, February 10, over 50 Denver community members showed their public support for the Denver Art Museum Workers United (DAMWU) as they prepare for another round of negotiations with the company later this month. Contract negotiations have continued for the past year and a half since the initial vote for union recognition.

Supporting DAMWU were Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), Denver Public Libraries Workers United (DPLWU), and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

DAMWU won their union election in March of 2024 and since then has made great strides in achieving better working conditions for museum employees.

The fight, however, is not over and negotiations surrounding livable wages, health and safety standards, and immigration protection are still ongoing.

Sarah Darlene, an artist and union supporter, spoke at the event about the importance of union presence saying, “When workers are paid well, admissions go up, and the quality of the museum increases.”

Many Denver Art Museum employees hold two or more jobs despite working 40 hours a week providing a valuable public service in spreading awareness and knowledge through access to art.

Health and safety issues are also of critical importance to the union. The museum has refused to allow their gallery attendants to sit without a doctor’s note during their eight-hour shifts. One union member mentioned her father’s lifelong career as a construction worker, saying “One thing management never required of him was standing for the sake of standing.” Along with this basic request are demands for an extension of maternity leave and additional annual sick time.

Denver citizens showed their support through chants like, “Exploitation ain’t the way, workers gotta get their pay,” and “When livable wage is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” Denver workers and community members feel the cost of living weighing down on them, and they will fight to earn a livable wage.

DAMWU will return to the table on Thursday, February 26 to continue negotiating their first contract. Whether the company will agree to come to a resolution remains to be seen.

#DenverCO #CO #Labor #DAMWU #TDU #Teamsters #DPLWU #FRSO

Sylvester and Teamsters United Slate VP candidate Fred Zuckerman, have been the main opponents of Hoffa’s concessionary contract with its largest employer, United Parcel Service (UPS). While UPS made $3.92 billion in profits last year, the Hoffa Team negotiated a national master contract with major givebacks. Despite strong opposition from rank and file workers across the country, “Hoffa rammed it down our throats in repeated votes,” said Local 344 UPS Feeder Driver Andrew May. Some local supplemental agreements still have not been ratified by the Teamster members, but Hoffa signed that sellout agreement anyway. “After the contract was forced onto the last three remaining locals, I knew it was time for change,” May said. “That is why I am supporting Tim Sylvester and the Teamsters United Slate. Hoffa and the current leaders are not fighting for what Teamsters want.”

In New York, Tim Sylvester negotiated the Local 804 supplemental agreement. He led his members in a struggle that resulted in the best UPS contract in the country. This included a $400 pension increase, more full-time jobs and grievance procedure reform. In Louisville, Fred Zuckerman mobilized Local 89 members to vote against contract givebacks at UPS, UPS Freight and elsewhere in the freight industry.

Tim Sylvester and Fred Zuckerman represent the unity of two different opposition slates that both ran against Hoffa in 2011. Sylvester is seen as part the reform movement that includes the influential group Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). TDU fought for, and in 1991 won, the right of Teamster members to directly elect their International President and International Executive Board. TDU endorsed and help elect Ron Carey in the first such election. Sylvester has been a regular speaker at recent TDU conventions.

Sylvester and Carey were both elected president of the same Teamsters Local 804 in Queens, New York. As a UPS driver, Sylvester supported Carey, who led the historic 1997 nationwide strike against UPS. Carey was reelected when he ran against Hoffa in 1996. After the strike the federal government removed Carey from office, paving the way for Hoffa to be elected in 1999.

Zuckerman, in contrast, was a former Hoffa supporter. He served as the Carhaul Division Director under Hoffa, but broke with Hoffa in the last election to run for VP along with other former Hoffa supporters.

Gina Alvarez thinks that the Sylvester/Zuckerman Teamster United Slate is the best chance that working Teamsters have had to take control of their union in almost 20 years, since Ron Carey was General President. “We have strong candidates, but more importantly, we have the organization and enthusiasm to defeat the Hoffa machine.”

Alvarez should know. She has been involved with the Teamsters for more than 35 years. “I started working at the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund in 1980. That is how I became a member of Teamsters Local 743.” She rose to become Secretary Treasurer of the 13,000 member local union. Presumably because she was a strong voice for rank-and-file power in the Teamsters, she was forced out of office by Hoffa and his executive board in 2010. Since then she has served on the International Steering Committee of TDU.

“It is not just UPS. Under Hoffa’s watch, hardworking Teamsters in manufacturing, freight and other industries have seen their wages and benefits shrink or disappear without a fight,” said Alvarez. “Hoffa sees himself as a deal maker. His deals keep taking us backwards. Tim Sylvester understands that we need to mobilize the rank-and-file workers to fight for better wages, health insurance, pensions and working conditions. That is the legacy of Ron Carey that he enthusiastically embraces.”

The signatures that Sylvester and Zuckerman turned in are just the start of their difficult journey to unseat an incumbent Teamster General President. They need to elect at least 5% of the delegates to the Teamster Convention next summer. If successful, they will then need to get a majority of the votes cast in the autumn 2016 election. The Hoffa slate promises to be well financed. Teamsters United will need to respond with people power. All Teamsters are eligible to vote.

“Hoffa thinks this is his union that he inherited from his father. He runs off to capitol hill and makes deals that are in the interests of his friends,” said Teamster Local 705 activist Benjamin Cline, “but this is our union. We are the Teamsters! Sylvester and Zuckerman are not our saviors, we are our saviors. After we elect the Teamster United Slate we are going to hold them accountable.”

It promises to be an interesting year in the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters!

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters #TDU #RonCarey #TeamstersForADemocraticUnion #TimSylvester #JamesHoffa

Do I remember when I met Pete Camarata? Yeah, I remember. It was in Pittsburgh in the late 1980s before the national convention of our reform caucus, Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). All the Teamster reformers were there.

We were excited because we had just won the right for rank-and-file Teamster members to elect the top national officers of our union. Many TDU leaders were busy trying to build a consensus around Ron Carey’s candidacy for General President of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (IBT). But Pete Camarata had some tough questions that needed answering before he would support Carey or anyone else.

Pete Camarata was always the guy in the Teamsters with the tough questions. If this guy Carey is really a reformer why isn’t he in TDU? How do we know that he won’t turn into the same as the rest of our so called leaders? He is a UPS [United Parcel Service] guy, what’s he going to do to stop the erosion of the Master Freight Agreement? Is he going to put TDU members on his slate? What about those who have been excluded from leadership like Blacks, Latinos or women? Eventually the questions got answered and in 1991 Ron Carey was elected with Pete’s support, the only reform International President in Teamster history.

Pete always had the tough questions, whether it was in the TDU caucus, his local union or just hanging out. Everyone at the convention knew Pete. How could you not know him? Pete was a founding member and one the co-chairs of TDU. He saw the need for a strong national caucus that could challenge the mob controlled IBT that was selling out its members. And the night before the TDU convention his hotel room was always buzzing with debate.

As a young Teamster I looked up to Pete. In 1976, as the lone reform delegate at the Las Vegas Teamster convention he spoke out against preposterously high salaries for officers. Pete was the lone voice from the convention floor objecting to the election of International President Frank Fitzimmons by unanimous consent. He then went on to remind the delegates of the mob hit on Jimmy Hoffa less than one year earlier. Trying to run him out of Las Vegas, the mob beat him up and left him for dead.

Pete had the courage of ten thousand Teamsters. Unafraid, after the 1976 convention he testified about mob control in the Teamsters before the U.S. Senate. He then ran for president of the IBT at their next convention in 1981.

Like most Teamsters, Pete was a worker. He worked on the dock and then later he drove a truck. He also worked as staff at Teamsters Local 722 and my old Local 743. But unlike most, he could talk to any worker like he grew up next door to them. He was a real leader.

Once I asked Pete if he could talk to some of my coworkers about TDU. The housekeepers and food service workers from the University of Chicago Hospitals, overwhelmingly African American, at first wondered about the big Italian American truck driver from Detroit. But, in no time Pete had them discussing plans for petitions, rallies and other activities to fight their oppression on the job.

Pete was always there when you needed him. He didn’t care what neighborhood or what time of day. If there were workers fighting the boss, Pete wanted to be there.

Peter Camarata was a great friend, but also he inspired me to fight for justice. Pete understood that unions are the organizations of the working class. His life continues to be an example for those who believe in class struggle unionism.

Pete was this year’s recipient of the Big Bill Haywood Award at Fight Back!’s annual People’s Thanksgiving in Chicago.

Richard Berg is the past President of Teamsters Local 743 and currently works as a staff representative for AFSCME Council 31.

#ChicagoIL #Remembrances #Teamsters #TDU #TeamstersForADemocraticUnion #PeterCamarata

Why do they do it? Why do they sacrifice their bodies year after year in a job that most don’t like? The answer is simple. The benefit package the Teamsters have won in past years is pretty good. For a working class parent it is hard to beat the Teamster benefit package at UPS. When you are broken down at the end of your career, there was always a decent pension plan to retire.

But UPS didn’t become one of the world’s richest corporations and the Teamsters’ single largest employer by giving away benefits. In fact, UPS has aggressively been trying to erode Teamster power for many years.

First they changed the loaders from full time to part time. Then they cut the wages and benefits of the part-time workers, who used to get paid the same as full-time workers. Starting pay for part-time workers has only increased once in the 25 years since 1982 and has been frozen since Jimmy Hoffa was elected president of the Teamsters.

Now that UPS has marginalized and pushed this group of workers down, they have set their sights on full-time workers. Particularly, UPS has announced that they want to pull out of the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. UPS is willing to pay the multi-employer fund $4 billion in penalties because they know they could make it up in the long run by reducing the benefits to its full-time employees.

UPS launched a major propaganda campaign among its employees with mixed results. “UPS won’t even let us go to the bathroom without a struggle. Now they tell us that they know what’s good for us. They say, ‘don’t worry we will take care of your pension.’ I don’t think so!” said Joe Balkis, a 19-year UPS Teamster in Harvey, Illinois.

UPS went after their workers’ pensions in 1997 when Ron Carey was president of the Teamsters. Carey said for the profitable UPS to reduce Teamster benefits was a strike issue. He mobilized the members, winning the biggest strike in Teamster history. Teamsters under Carey’s leadership not only preserved Teamster benefits, they won more full-time jobs. The slogan, “Part-time America just won’t work,” galvanized not only Teamsters, but millions of workers and people of conscience across the country.

After the strike, the federal government, led by Newt Gingrich and House Republicans, went after Carey. They removed him from office, giving their ally, Jimmy Hoffa, an easy path to the presidency of the Teamsters.

Since then Hoffa negotiated a disastrous contract with UPS in 2002. Hoffa failed to negotiate sufficient employer contributions to maintain the good Teamster benefits. Then he lied to the members about what he had done. He called it, “The best contract ever.” Then the boom hit. Teamster pension benefits across the country were cut as the funds that distribute them ran into financial trouble. Hoffa’s lie had cost members real dollars.

At the 2006 Teamster convention, Hoffa promised to restore Teamster benefits by starting early negotiations with UPS. After Hoffa was reelected Teamster president, UPS asked to be taken out the Teamsters Central States Pension fund covering over 42,000 workers. Unlike his predecessor Ron Carey, Hoffa said that this is a serious proposal. He has not mobilized the Teamsters around any counter-proposal. In fact he has not even outlined the Teamster proposal to his own members.

Though Ron Carey is gone, the reform movement he once led is alive and well. Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) has helped to found “Make UPS Deliver.” TDU is organizing, educating and mobilizing UPS Teamsters across the country to preserve their benefits. TDU is doing the work the Teamster officials should be doing, but rarely do.

TDU will be holding its annual convention in Chicago Nov. 2-4.

For more information: www.tdu.org

#UnitedStates #News #Teamsters #TDU #UPS #TeamstersCentralStatesPensionFund

Leedham relied an a network of activists led by Teamsters for a Democratic Union. “These activists are the future of this union,” said Richard Berg, Central Region Vice Presidential Candidate on the Tom Leedham Slate, “without them there is no union. They have the vision to fight for something better and not just accept the crumbs that the boss throws us.”

Hoffa successfully strong-armed virtually all the union officers to support him. The Leedham campaign contrasted this by reaching out to new activists. “They woke me up,” said Local 743 member Larry Davis, “I’ve been a Teamster for more than 30 years and now I realize that only we, the rank-and-file members can make this union great again. Worker involvement – two words, but two powerful words – that is the only way forward for our union.”

Davis is an example of what needs to happen throughout the labor movement. After the national teamster election he ran and won a spot on the union contract negotiating committee at his workplace. He got together with his coworkers at the Central States Pension Fund and demanded union steward elections. The elections swept out some old- guard dealmakers and brought new life to the union at his workplace.

“Now we go back to doing what we do best,” said TDU International Steering Committee member Joe Sexauer, “We organize our coworkers to fight for better contracts. We demand dignity and respect on the job. We fight corruption in our union. When union officials don’t stand up for the members like they should we get in their face.”

The Teamsters union faces many challenges. They are in contract negotiations with their largest employer, United Parcel Service (UPS). UPS has just added a huge nonunion freight division that threatens Teamster job security and weakens Teamster power in its core industry. Teamsters need to organize the nonunion competition in freight, at DHL and FEDEX, as well as in health care, education and every Teamster industry.

#UnitedStates #News #Teamsters #TDU #TomLeedham

At the October convention of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) Leedham said that because the Teamsters haul this country’s freight, “We are situated at the chokepoints of the U.S. economy.” Leedham urged that we use this power to turn around the Teamsters. As he stated, “We can change the labor movement. We can make history.”

Hoffa’s famous name gave him an initial advantage, but his record of failure tempered this. Hoffa failed to negotiate sufficient employer contributions for UPS, the major trucking companies and other employers to maintain current Teamster benefits. But then he lied to members, telling them that he had done the job. In the case of UPS he had the nerve to call it the, “best contract ever.”

Hoffa is also responsible for the largest dues increase in Teamster history. He claimed that he was going to use the money to increase Teamster power, but the facts indicate otherwise. A TDU study shows that Hoffa and key allies each pay themselves over a quarter million dollars a year. When Hoffa first took office, 16 Teamster officials paid themselves with multiple salaries. Now, 150 Teamster officials receive multiple salaries.

The race is shaping up to be a battle between old-guard officials and rank-and-file reformers. Hoffa’s threat of International intervention into local unions, along with the carrot of buying off local officials with Teamster dues money, has successfully cowed the vast majority of local union officials. But many rank-and-file workers, led by TDU, are seeing through this.

“We are sick of the corruption; our officials take our money and do nothing. We need to take control of our union before it’s too late, before we become just a company union. That is why I got involved in the Tom Leedham campaign and TDU,” said Chicago Teamster Joe Sexauer.

No matter who wins this election, the battle between rank-and-file reformers and old-guard officials will continue on the local level as corrupt officials try to protect their lifestyle and workers try to build a fighting union. The struggle goes on.

#ChicagoIL #News #Teamsters #TDU #TomLeedham

Instead, Hoffa failed to negotiate even enough from employers to maintain the pensions of workers covered by the Teamster’s pension plan. The lies about a dues increase and the sudden cutbacks in Teamster pensions have led to an explosion of anti-Hoffa sentiment across the union.

While Hoffa’s huge PR machine still dazzles the corporate media, Teamsters across the country are looking for alternatives to their famous president who prefers the company of mobsters, bosses and republican politicians to the workers who are fighting to maintain their standard of living. Teamsters in Georgia recently voted out Hoffa allies in favor of reformers who promised to organize workers to fight in their own interests. Rather than stand with the new leaders, Hoffa’s allies on Joint Council 75 ordered a second election to give his cronies another chance. The workers saw through this sham and again voted for the reformers who were running on the Members First Slate.

Hoffa ally Robert Walston, in Chicago’s Local 743, didn’t even bother to include the joint council in the decision to stop an election he was losing. He just called for a ‘do over.’ Hoffa upheld the right of his crony in Local 743 to block the election of the reform 743 New Leadership Slate. Not surprisingly, the second election was fraught with irregularities.

Since this ‘election,’ Walston’s connections to the Chicago underworld have surfaced. Walston has run a video poker business and associated with known mobsters. In a dying confession, former Local 743 President Chester Glanton told a Teamster anti-corruption committee about how Walston had made deals to give free health insurance to the relatives and friends of mob businesses. Walston has also had secret meetings with former Local 743 boss Robert Simpson at the mob-run Russian Turkish Bathhouse.

Hoffa has had troubles closer to home. Hoffa was forced to fire his top assistant, Carlow Scalf. Scalf had embezzled $69,000 in housing funds to which he was not entitled. Hoffa first suspended him, but was later forced to fire him when Teamsters for a Democratic Union protested the mere slap on the wrist.

Mounting corruption while workers’ standard of living continues to fall has led local Teamster leaders to form the New Leadership Committee. The committee is exploring what it will take to defeat Jimmy Hoffa in next year’s election.

The Teamsters for a Democratic Union website (tdu.org) quotes Jack Reardon, vice president of Local 170 in Massachusetts, “Right now, we’re at the stage of reaching out and building the alliances and campaign infrastructure we’ll need, not just to win this election but to successfully lead this union on a new course. Our job is to build a grassroots army for change.”

Local Teamster officials are sick of Hoffa’s patronage army that does nothing to assist them when the boss asks for even more concessions. Worse yet, when the International Union does show up, it is usually to punish reformers for putting the members’ interests before those of the Hoffa machine.

This was the case in Pasco, Washington, where Tyson Foods was able to use Teamster documents to end its relationship with Local 556 and its militant Latina leader Maria Martinez. “Maria Martinez was an inspiration to all immigrant Teamsters,” said Chicago Teamster Tony Caldera, “she organized the workers, she used militant contract campaigns to fight for dignity and respect for all workers. That is why the company went after her and that is why Hoffa went after her.”

Hoffa has also failed miserably at organizing new members. This is especially important to the Teamsters working in the delivery of freight, which is where the union got its historic truck driving strength. Reformers, under the leadership of Ron Carey, organized almost half of the freight industry’s largest non-union trucking company, Overnight. When Hoffa took office, rather than finish the job, he ordered them out on a disastrous, ill-conceived strike. The strike failed miserably, destroying the livelihoods of many courageous Overnight workers and ending the Teamster’s last serious attempt to organize the freight industry.

Now Hoffa wants to join with the leaders of SEIU, UNITE HERE, the Carpenters Union and others – but not to rebuild the labor movement. Under the Hoffa Plan, he would be able to keep a larger portion of the union dues. “I was at the last Teamster convention,” said Local 743 delegate Esmerelda Cuevas, “Hoffa just wants the money for himself and his patronage army.”

“Teamsters are ready for a change,” said TDU International Steering Committee member Richard Berg, “The Hoffa name has not done anything but divert us from fighting for better wages and benefits. We are ready to focus on the future. We can leave Hoffa and his failed legacy in the past.”

#UnitedStates #News #Teamsters #Hoffa #TDU #theMob

When workers and students started to organize together in support of a just contract for Teamsters working at the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH), the administration did not hesitate to crack down.

University of Chicago students from the Anti-Sweatshop Coalition (ASC) contacted workers from the Teamsters 743 New Leadership Slate (743 NLS) to conduct a joint program. Activists in the 743 New Leadership Slate at the University of Chicago were sick and tired of being sold out by sweetheart agreements between the university and corrupt union officials.

The Anti-Sweatshop Coalition and the 743 New Leadership Slate decided to bring in a speaker from the Teamsters for a Democratic Union for a talk called, 'How to get a good contract, even if your union is soft.' “The university did not like that,” said Davis, “we were exposing their partners in crime.”

The University reacted quickly. They ordered security to rip down all fliers of the event that second shift workers had posted in the UCH. Then they stationed a university police squad car outside the event to monitor who went in and out. Finally, they sent a university police sergeant into the event to check it out.

“I couldn't believe it,” said ASC student activist Dan Lichenstein, “they sent an armed university police officer to check out our educational event. It was clear that they were worried about our alliance with university workers.”

The administration felt a threat, a threat to their power. Recent unity between workers and students at other universities like Harvard have produced large wage increases for workers, a reduction in the use of non-union temporary or subcontracted workers and a 'living wage' policy.

At Yale, with the support of student activists, the union workers went out on strike. The strike gained massive support from the Black community and religious leaders, as well as many of the university's renowned professors.

University of Chicago student activists were not scared off by the administration's actions. They reported the event to the student newspaper, The Maroon. The paper investigated and found that, in addition to using its police to intimidate, the administration had also sent a letter to Teamster union steward and 743 NLS activist, Richard Berg. In the letter, Berg was instructed that he could not use the union bulletin board or pass out literature to workers without management approval.

The Maroon ran the article on its front page. Then something mysterious happened. All of the student newspapers disappeared from UCH. UCH management denies this obvious act of censorship.

The student activists did not stop tere. They held a university worker-student solidarity day outside UCH. Hundreds of workers participated. Hospital workers were encouraged to fill out report cards for UCH management. The workers gave mostly grades of F and a few D's to UCH on such issues as wages, delivery of patient care, respect and health insurance benefits for UCH workers.

The report cards were posted on a large sculpture for everyone walking by to see. UCH vice president Mark Urquhart was visibly upset as he viewed the event from nearby. UCH Teamster Romona Wilkins said, “The students allowed us to express ourselves in a way that the University prohibits. If we tried to do this without the students, management would fire us.”

“It's all about money and power,” said Dan Davis, “the Teamster contract with the University expires on July 12, the nurses contract expires in the fall and then the [non-hospital] campus Teamsters' early next year. These students are destroying the U of C image, and in the process, their ability to exploit us.”

Union officials did not participate in the student-worker solidarity day. In fact, they were just as upset as the university that workers were organizing with students. The union officials' collusion with the university goes back years.

Teamster Local President Bob Walston wrote a letter condemning the Maroon article. The university allowed it to be passed out at the time clock and posted on the union bulletin board. “Apparently if I did that, I would be fired,” said Richard Berg.

“This is all about negotiating our union contract. We expect the wage proposals to be better because we haven't had a decent raise in more than five years. I think the real issues are going to be the unequal treatment of clerical workers, the cost of health insurance, trying to get a adequate pension, limiting the use of non-union temporary workers and the use of electronic devices [cameras] to discipline workers,” Berg said.

The UCH now times how long it takes workers to transport a patient: for example, from a treatment back to their room. Hospital workers have been fired for not moving patients fast enough in their wheel chairs. Similarly, workers in housekeeping are being timed on how fast they clean a room after a patient has checked out. This raises the issue of what quality of patient care is being provided at UCH.

“Do they want us to wheel patients down the hall in a jog? Do we want to put family members in a room that has not been adequately cleaned? This is especially important in the days of AIDS, SARS and other infectious diseases,” said UCH Transportation worker Stephen Aldridge.

The UCH has also installed scores of cameras to spy on workers. The cameras are being used to keep track what workers do every second of every day. Some workers have speculated how management would feel workers could view every moment in their offices.

The student and worker alliance threatens these repressive management actions. Students at the University of Chicago and around the country are becoming active along side with workers. This alliance is good for the student movement and good for the working class.

#ChicagoIL #News #Teamsters #TDU #TeamstersLocal743 #NewLeadershipSlate #AntiSweatshopCoalition

Leedham is the Teamster reform movement's candidate for General President. The reform movement, lead by Teamster for a Democratic Union (TDU), is looking to energize rank-and-file Teamsters to overthrow the current corrupt leadership.

“The Teamsters belongs to the members. We can't allow union officials that only care about their big salaries and personal power to dominate our union,” Leedham told Adelante (TDU's Spanish language newspaper), “By standing together, we can win better contracts for the members and a better future for our families.”

Teamster activists recently finished a petition drive in support of Tom Leedham and his Rank & File Power Slate. 35,000 signatures were needed to give the reform slate official recognition. Leedham supporters collected over 60,000 signatures. This accomplishment allows Leedham free space in the October issue of Teamster Magazine, which is mailed to all Teamsters.

The incumbent slate, headed by the infamous Jimmy Hoffa Jr., was found guilty of using resources paid for with union members' dues money. “This sort of corruption is common with these old-guard officials,” said Chicago Local 743 activist Maimi Burrell, “they think nothing of rigging an election for steward, delegate or local officers. In this case they cheated on gathering signatures. They are crooked, and that's why we are going to get rid of them.”

The Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters ruled that Hoffa would have to start his petition drive over.

The next important battleground will be the election of delegates to the union's International Convention to be held in June 2001. At the convention, candidates will be nominated. Then the race is on, with the final vote in the fall of 2001.

“Are you with the workers, or are you with the bosses? The difference between us and them is that striking,” said Chicago Leedham supporter Richard Berg, “2001 will be a big year for us in the Teamsters. We need to work hard now to put this great union in the hands of the workers.”

Many reformers will be attending the TDU convention November 3-5 in Cleveland, Ohio.

For more information contact TDU: (313) 842-2600

#ChicagoIL #News #Teamsters #TDU #TomLeedham #TeamstersLocal743 #TonyCaldera

With rank and file power and very little money, Tom Leedham pulled close in the final months of the campaign, but time ran out. Junior Hoffa campaigned for 4 years, had the famous family name and 6 million dollars. Leedham was unknown to most members and entered the race only last spring. He beat Hoffa Jr., in Minnesota.

Junior Hoffa won largely because of the support of old-guard, hack union leaders, many of them earning over $100,000 per year. They have far more in common with the bosses than the members.

Hoffa is a millionaire lawyer who has never held an elected office or a real job, he does not know how to fight even if he wanted to. Much of his vote totals came from lop-sided turnouts in large locals where his cronies were able to mobilize paid union staff to turn out votes for him.

Tom Leedham's campaign suffered a couple of major hits. First, Leedham was abandoned by so-called allies in the Teamster reform movement. Many officials who were the first to suck up to Ron Carey and the reform movement when it was in power, showed their true colors when the chips where down and refused to lift a finger for the Leedham campaign. For example, Sue Maurn and the other misleaders of Minnesota's Local 320.

On top of that, many Teamsters who voted for Carey just did not vote this time, apparently disgusted with the whole process. Overall, nearly one million ballots were never sent in.

The loss points to the need for the reform movement to get back to the basics of organizing to build the grassroots movement that it will take to truly reform the Teamsters union.

Much of Hoffa Junior's campaign beat the drum for unity and pride. His record shows that these cliches will mean little more than repressing the call from union members who are fighting to the end against the entrenched business unionism that has suffocated the Teamsters for decades now.

It will be key to watch how Junior relates to the AFL-CIO leadership, many of whom supported Ron Carey in the 1996 election. Hoffa's conservative influence will likely hold back the changes that AFL-CIO leader, John Sweeney, has promoted to move the labor movement in a more progressive direction.

Leedham and TDU have pledged to hold Junior Hoffa's feet to the fire, forcing him to live up to campaign promises to fight for good contracts, promote a militant Teamsters union, and preserve union democracy. Teamster reformers have been very successful in pushing Hoffa to talk the reform talk. He has even promised to cut the salaries of his lackeys. Now all Teamsters can push Hoffa Junior to walk the walk.

The results of this election deliver one clear message: the tasks of the reform movement in the Teamsters are more important than ever. The lesson of this election is that only a large, active, well-organized reform movement can defeat old-guard Teamsters and rebuild a strong, democratic and militant Teamsters union. The fight goes on

#UnitedStates #News #Teamsters #Hoffa #TDU #TomLeedham

St. Paul, MN – Matt Conbere, a working class fighter in the Twin Cities, a union man and a friend to many, tragically died Sunday, Sept. 15, 2002. Matt worked at Alliant Foods as a driver. He worked difficult shifts with strenuous routes. People describe Matt as a very giving, thoughtful and kind man. He was an inspiration to all who knew him.

First in Matt's mind was his sense of justice. He saw the need for a strong union where he worked. Talking about change was not good enough; he needed to be involved with it. Matt participated in his union, Teamsters Local 120, actively helping fellow sisters and brothers who were on strike or had a problem at work. The union officials were never that excited about Matt's passion for rank-and-file member involvement, but that didn't stop Matt from working in the trenches to build the class struggle.

Matt was deeply involved in Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a rank-and-file organization fighting to reform the Teamsters. He worked with the Minnesota chapter of TDU and was on the executive board.

Matt deeply desired that the American working class would see a better day, and as one of the speakers at celebration of International Workers Day – May Day, 2001 – he expressed that hope.

It is with great sadness that we see our friend and brother Matt leave us. He will be missed greatly by his family and friends.

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #News #Teamsters #TDU

Christine Royster ran for vice president of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (IBT) last year on the Tom Leedham Rank & File Power Slate. Unfortunately, she lost, denying the Teamsters their first African American woman vice president. Royster, running as a rank-and-file member, would have been a dynamic addition to the Teamsters national executive board.

Royster recently retired from Blue Cross/Blue Shield where she worked for 28 years as a clerical employee. She also served IBT Local 743 members as union steward and business agent.

In 1998, Royster ran for recording secretary of Local 743 on the 743 New Leadership Slate. She is active in the Teamsters National Black Caucus. She recently joined and became involved in Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) the primary reform organization in the Teamsters.

Fight Back!: Why did you become involved in your union?

Royster: I did not like or have confidence in the people that were representing us. We were not getting the proper service at Blue Cross for the dues that we were paying. Clerical workers, nursing home and hospital workers also were not being treated right by the Teamsters and I wanted to do something about it.

To tell the truth, at first I did not see the big picture. Later, I was elected as a delegate to the 1991 Teamster convention. I saw future IBT president Ron Carey was nominated by an energetic group of rank-and-file activists. Then I saw the government remove him after he led the historic strike at United Parcel Service (UPS).

Fight Back!: Do you think African Americans are treated differently from other members in the Teamsters?

Royster: Sure I do! Hoffa and his cronies don't acknowledge us as leaders. We make up a huge section of this union, yet we are ignored, or, worse yet, treated as tokens. Women get this treatment too. Sometimes I think being ignored by Hoffa is worse than his negative treatment.

One of the most blatant examples happened at the IBT 2001 Convention in Las Vegas. Hoffa had started a scholarship fund in his usual self-promoting way. He named it the James R. Hoffa Scholarship after his father.

At the convention, they flashed the pictures of those Teamster children who had won the $10,000 scholarships. The first ten kids were all white. The next ten kids were all white. We could not believe it! When they were finished, zero African American and zero Latino children received a $10,000 scholarship from the James R. Hoffa fund.

Of course, our 743 New Leadership Slate delegation, led by Debra Simmons, rushed to the microphones to protest. When we got there, they turned off the microphones. They refused to acknowledge us. Dozens of Hoffa thugs were sent to surround and to try to intimidate Debra. They then turned out the lights and started to show us a video about trucks that we had already seen.

I guess this was Hoffa's response to affirmative action demands.

Fight Back!: How can working Teamsters turn their union into one that fights in their interest?

Royster: Solidarity is the only way. We cannot wait for someone else to do it for us. To transform our union into an organization that fights for workers, everyone has to get involved. Sometimes it looks like a David and Goliath battle. Solidarity, worker involvement and organizations like Teamsters for a Democratic Union and the 743 New Leadership Slate are our sling shot. And, as I remember, David won that battle.

#ChicagoIL #Interview #AfricanAmerican #Teamsters #TDU #HoffaJr #ChristineRoyster #TeamstersLocal743

Members of Local 743, like other Teamsters across the country, have struggled to turn the union around. This year, I was honored to be asked to join Tom Leedham as one of the regional vice-presidential candidates on the Rank and File Power Slate. Together with the New Leadership Slate in Local 743, it was a rank and file slate committed to ending the graft of the old-guard, hiring more union representatives, mobilizing the members, and cutting union officials' huge salaries and perks.

As you may know from reading Fight Back!, Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., succeeded in buying his re-election – using money from his backers, the management in companies whose employees he represents, and from those corrupt hacks in locals around the country. And as you probably know, in Local 743, the president, Bob Walston, stole the election from the New Leadership Slate. The 743 New Leadership Slate has filed charges with the Teamsters Joint Council and is preparing to go to the Department of Labor and to the courts. So, it's not over in 743.

For now, we have Jimmy Hoffa back as our international president. But the struggle continues in the International as well.

For myself, I am honored to report that I received 40,663 votes for regional vice president, which was the highest vote of any regional vice presidential candidate on our slate. When we campaigned, I said that too many Black and Latino workers are ignored and treated like second-class union members in the Teamsters. The Tom Leedham Rank and File Power Slate was dedicated to changing all that.

For example, what I saw at the Teamsters convention last spring was obscene! 30 scholarships, $10,000 each, were passed out to children of Teamsters. All of the recipients were white. Now the membership of the union is close to 50% Black and Latino.

Here's the latest news: after lying during his campaign, saying he had no plan to raise dues, Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. has called for an emergency national convention with only one issue: to raise dues. The members are fighting mad about this. We know that we get lousy representation, and we know how our dues are getting used. We have to go back to Las Vegas and confront the sell-outs and the gangsters – we don't want one more dime to go into their pockets, supporting their millionaire lifestyles, while they sell us down the drain.

We also have to get ready to support our brothers and sisters at UPS. The great strike in 1997 was fought with the demands that thousands of part-time workers be made permanent, with all of the benefits and pay that full timers receive. Many of these part-timers are Black. UPS has made only a small number permanent. We should be gearing up for a fight for the jobs that they agreed to in the last contract. We should again “Shut down big brown.” But Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. is preparing to sell us out even further.

So we have a fight on two fronts – against our bosses, and against the sell-outs in our unions. If we have the strength that comes from the vision for a real union, a class struggle union, we know that we will win.

#ChicagoIL #News #Teamsters #Hoffa #TDU #HoffaJr #ChristineRoyster #TeamstersLocal743

Hoffa made this proposal through a hand-picked “blue ribbon committee” right after he was elected to a five-year term. Before the election, the hypocrite Hoffa Jr. accused his opponents inside the union of wanting to increase dues. He campaigned on a pledge to hold dues down. In his first two elections, he went so far as to name his electoral slate the “Hoffa No Dues Increase Slate.”

Hoffa's lies came as no surprise to the reform movement within the Teamsters. At the 2001 Teamsters convention, the reform candidate for International President, Tom Leedham, told Hoffa from the floor, “Be honest with the members. You have a secret plan. If you are lucky enough to win this election, your secret plan is to convene another convention and raise dues.”

As he was making those charges, Leedham was shoved away from the microphone by pro-Hoffa Jr. thugs. Now it is evident that Leedham and the reform movement were right when they charged that Hoffa was lying to working Teamsters.

The reform movement, led by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (T.D.U.), is demanding no dues increase without a vote of the members. They have launched a petition drive and are coordinating the national campaign.

As Leedham predicted, Hoffa Jr. is calling a special convention in Las Vegas to vote for the dues increase. While there will be some reform rank-and-file delegates there, the convention will be dominated by union bureaucrats. The special convention is to be held in conjunction with two golf tournaments where Teamster officials will be golfing with Teamster employers.

“The biggest problem is the gross waste of the money that they are getting now,” said reform delegate Richard Berg. Berg, a union steward and housekeeper at the University of Chicago Hospitals, pointed out, “Over 200 union officers currently make over $100,000 a year. That's our money, and now they want more.”

Berg continued, “In the 1990's the reform movement forced old-guard Teamster officials to sell their private airplanes and give up the most blatant perks. Now these fat cats want them all back. At the last convention in 2001, they increased their daily meal allowance to $75 a day. They want us, working Teamsters, to pay for their corruption.”

#UnitedStates #News #Teamsters #TDU #TomLeedham #HoffaJr #duesIncrease

Hoffa, Jr. Fails

A key topic at the convention was how do we grade Junior Hoffa as Teamster president? The answers were telling. He earned an “F” at Anheuser-Busch after disarming the workers and shutting down the unions corporate campaign. To top it off, he then rammed a sub-par contract down their throats.

At Northwest Airlines he tried the same thing, but so far, a rank and file network of activists have rebuffed his pro-management efforts. At United Parcel Service (UPS), he allowed the employer to renege on providing the fulltime jobs won in the historic strike of 1996.

Highlighted at the convention was the largest wildcat strike since the 1970s, against Iowa Beef Products (IBP), an international meat packing company. The strike in Pasco, Washington, lead by Latina/o workers, was an example of true rank and file struggle against the bosses.

In response to this upsurge, Junior Hoffa had the IBP local put into trusteeship, in fear that the old guard leadership would lose the upcoming election to the new leaders. “Our eyes have been opened, and we won't stop fighting,” said a convention participant.

“In short order, Hoffa has made it his priority to undermine rank and file power,” said another convention attendee.

The 1998 TDU-endorsed candidate for International President of the Teamsters, Tom Leedham, summed it up: “The Hoffa people do the same thing over and over again. First they talk tough...then they settle short...and finally they declare victory.” And their sellout of the workers is complete.

Leedham's own history, as a union leader who will fight all-out on behalf of workers, stands in stark contrast to Hoffa's pro-boss tactics. Because of this, TDU members view Tom Leedham as one of their own. Many at the convention were encouraging Leedham to run against Hoffa in 2001.

Vital Role of TDU

Like a magnet, TDU has drawn the best fighters from the rank and file of this important union for the past 25 years.

At the TDU convention, organizing techniques are learned and networks of union activists are formed. New strategies are hatched, debated, and implemented by workers demanding justice from their employers. TDU is always at the center of the class struggle. This convention was no different in that respect.

TDU does not just complain and run candidates. Convention workshops taught Teamsters how to organize their co-workers and fight attacks from the boss as well as the sellouts in the union. Rank and file Teamsters discussed and debated what a reform union should look like.

Showdown Ahead

The next big struggle will be at the union's International Convention, in 2001. The fight to elect reform delegates will occur in every local union of the Teamsters. “This will be an important chance to elect rank and file members instead of fat cats,” said Mike Turnure, TDU activist.

Most people at the TDU convention are convinced that Hoffa is in the process of trying to take away the Rank and File Teamster's right to vote for International Union President and Executive Board. This, no doubt, will be a major fight at the International Convention.

The International Convention will also nominate officers for International President and the Executive Board. The convention can make sweeping changes in the constitution. This could move us forward, or take away gains that have taken decades to win.

The TDU convention voted to initiate delegate campaigns with a reform platform that includes giving local unions the right to change their bylaws to allow elected business agents.

The TDU convention was successful, a rank and file gathering of nearly 500 teamster activists. Any teamster member who wants to fight for a strong and democratic union should plan on attending next year.

#ClevelandOH #News #Teamsters #TDU #HoffaJr #UPS #IowaBeefProducts

This year's convention focused on the election of top, international officers of the union. TDU had endorsed the Tom Leedham Rank and File Power Slate, and nearly the whole Rank and File Power Slate was there. Convention participants talked about getting Leedham elected, how to move more Teamsters to vote, measured up the forces of the opposing candidate, Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., and exchanged views about why this election is important.

The highlight of the convention was a speech by Tom Leedham, expressing the principles of TDU and the differences between his slate and Hoffa's: “We believe in bringing out the best in people. They appeal to the worst... We spend our time with other members in union halls and breakrooms and on picket lines. They're most comfortable on a golf course with management. We believe that democracy is the way to prevent corruption and weak leadership. They believe that the union belongs to the top officers and that membership involvement is a threat to their comfortable lifestyles.”

TDU supported the previous Teamsters president, Ron Carey, but many criticize Carey for not going far enough to eliminate do-nothing, old-guard leaders. The whole convention stood and cheered when Leedham said, “I want to make it plain as day. When we win this election, we're dropping the curtain on the old guard. Local union officers will either stand with the rank and file or we'll run them out!”

Kathy Kleckner is former president of AFSCME Local 3800.

#MilwaukeeWI #News #Teamsters #TDU #RankAndFilePowerSlate #TomLeedham