LAS VEGAS — Democratically-elected delegates to the International Brotherhood of Teamster Special Convention approved a new funding structure that will provide financial security for decades to come, according to a report on the Teamsters website.
“We will show UPS and the freight companies that we mean business,” Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President, told delegates. “Our members will have a union that will be there during a strike. That will build its ranks. That will be financially secure for many, many years.”
Delegates to the 26th International Convention last June approved the creation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on Teamster Finances. The Commission recommended several changes that will allow the International Union to create a dedicated strike fund, fund new organizing campaigns and rebuild the union’s net assets.
Special Convention delegates approved the recommendations by a wide-margin, with more than 1,675 out of 1,748 voting to build Teamster power.
“Today we show UPS that we mean business,” said Jack Cipriani, International Vice President from Greensboro, North Carolina. “We will fight to preserve the dignity of our members. We will fight to protect Teamster jobs. We will fight to get the wages and benefits our members deserve.”
The approved proposals will result in an increase of about five cents per hour, per member – less than $2 per week.
“This gives us the warchest that we need to take on the big employers,” Hoffa added. “We will not back down. Anti-union employers should beware, the Teamsters are back.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States and Canada.