(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, August 10, 2016)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 300 members, delegates and guests met on the first day of the 41st Annual Conference of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) in Independence, Ohio.
Antonio Christian, Executive Director, opened up the morning session and thanked everyone for attending. He talked about the importance of making the TNBC known to all Teamsters.
Greg Floyd, International Vice President and President of Local 237 in New York, greeted the audience and acknowledged the accomplishments of Ferline Buie, who became the new Vice Chair of the TNBC, and LaMont Byrd, Director of the Teamsters Safety and Health Department. He also spoke on the importance of voting and participating in every election, not just presidential elections.
Attendees were also greeted by TNBC Central Region Vice Chairman Darrick Jordan of Local 200 in Milwaukee. He encouraged everyone in the room to focus on how to make TNBC better. Jordan also talked about financial planning, saving money, retirement instruments and estate planning.
“We need to learn the value of all the opportunity available to us,” Jordan said.
He also talked about the educational nature of the TNBC and how the members share resources with each other.
A big focus of the conference was organizing. Those in attendance heard from: Jeff Farmer, Director of the Teamsters Organizing Department; Felicia Walker, a Durham school bus driver; Allen Henry, a New York sanitation worker; James Curbeam, international organizer; and others.
Christian closed the conference speaking about the Black Lives Matter movement: “We must act like black lives matter, not only speaking about the problems, but actually doing something about the issues surrounding black lives…Now is a great opportunity to learn about what’s going on, and how to get involved.”