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     Current Issue Highlights Highlights Archive             Get to know your Business Agent today!  Find out how the union makes a difference on the job. |
Newsline: March 2002 IBT Sets Out to Build Teamster Power The Teamsters Union will hold a one-day Special Convention April 30 in Las Vegas to consider the forthcoming recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Union Finances. "Our ability to prevail at the bargaining table is directly linked to our resources, both financial and human," said C. Thomas Keegel, Teamsters general secretary-treasurer. "We need the means to organize new members -- which can top $1,000 a worker -- to build our ranks and command respect. Similarly, we need a strike fund sufficiently strong to make any strike threat we pose credible -- particularly as we head into UPS and Freight negotiations." The commission, which was established at the 26th International Convention in June 2001 to address the financial condition of the union, is composed of elected officers and rank-and-fi1e members from every region and a wide range of job classifications. The panel met throughout February and will issue a final report on March 1. Demands Grow on IBT "The Teamsters union cannot survive on income that has not changed since 1983," said commission member Rome Aloise of Local 853 in San Leandro, California. "The demands on our union to represent our members, both at the International and local levels, have grown as employer power has grown and as a our resources have dramatically diminished." The International union has taken numerous steps to cut expenses, such as cutting perks, eliminating housing, cutting administrative expenses on benefit plans, reducing health benefits costs and cutting staff by nearly 20 percent since 1996. "But it's not enough," Terry Stewart, a Local 237 member and rank-and-file commission member. The union's net assets fell from more than $150 million when the previous administration took over to just over $5 million today. There is no strike fund, minimal resources for organizing and no reserves for unanticipated and costly contract and political battles. "The numbers we have seen are shocking," said Aloise. "For every dollar the union had available for services in 1979, today it has only 46 cents. That includes money that could -- and should -- be directed to organizing new members and protecting those out on strike. We need to restore our finances and do it now before it's too late." To read the latest on the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission, visit www.teamster.org and click the button marked "Building Teamster Power." |
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Terry Stewart, Local 237 member and rank-and-file member of the IBT Blue Ribbon Commission on Union Finances, addressing a recent commission meeting. |
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