CLEVELAND, February 9 — In today’s world everyone is extremely busy, but it’s important for all of us to remember, “Teamsters are people helping people.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has valuable resources to assist the membership, but many times the needs are not met because there has not been a system in place to field memberships questions or concerns.
The Teamsters’ Human Rights Commission can do that for you, and the BLET is asking each BLET Division to appoint a local representative (or representatives) to the Teamsters Human Rights Commission.
The Human Rights Commission Representative will network with the leaders and members in your area on Human Rights issues, making sure they know about Teamster programs that provide assistance to the membership.
For example, the Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund, the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, IBT Community Service, and the Helmets to Hardhats programs all fall under the umbrella of the Human Rights Commission.
Margo Storsteen, a Locomotive Engineer and member of BLET Division 57 in Boston, serves as the BLET’s National Representative on the Human Rights Commission, while Bill Walpert, BLET National Secretary-Treasurer, is Human Rights Director for the BLET.
In early December, Sister Storsteen and BLET National President Ed Rodzwicz sent a Human Rights Commission packet to each BLET Division, which explains the program in much more details. Also included in the packet is a letter requesting that each Division appoint a representative to the Human Rights Commission.
“The Commission was established to be an educational arm for the IBT to ensure that affiliated Teamster leaders have programs available to assist them with human rights issues,” Walpert said. “The Representative from each Division will be the backbone for several initiatives we have planned.”
Sister Storsteen will network with each local representative appointed by BLET Divisions and will coordinate all BLET programs with those individuals.
“We are at the beginning of this process and in much need of volunteers,” Sister Storsteen said.
Anyone with questions should contact Sister Storsteen at (781) 883-3443, or email: Margoblet57@comcast.net.