November 21, 2012: Hundreds of members from every Teamster industry attended the three-day 2012 TDU Convention in Chicago, October 26-28.

New activists attended workshops on union rights and grievance handling to build union power. Stewards, officers and local reform committees led and participated in sessions on running for office, contract campaigns and defending healthcare and pensions. UPS and freight members met throughout the weekend to lay out plans for winning stronger contracts in 2013.

Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union, headlined the Saturday banquet with a speech on how she helped build a small reform group into a force that won the most significant strike to hit the labor movement in years.

Members and guests were there from Transport Workers Union Local 100, the New York State Nurses Association, Warehouse Workers for Justice, Labor Notes, and the Pension Rights Center.

TDU members voted to adopt an ambitious strategic organizing plan to grow TDU and build Teamster power through local and national contract campaigns, strengthening local TDU Chapters, and educational programs for new activists.

Members Elect New TDU Steering Committee

Those at the Convention elected the TDU Steering Committee for 2013. The International Steering Committee (ISC) is charged with overseeing the work of the organization–everything from legal and educational work to finances and fundraising–between Conventions.

The 2012 Convention elected 15 members and three alternates to the ISC, a diverse group of Teamster leaders and activists from across North America.

We are proud to welcome four new members to the Committee: Claudette Begin, a long-time leader from Local 2010 in California, and a delegate to the 2011 IBT Convention; Kangela Moore, from Local 237, New York, the largest local in the IBT; Leonard Stoehr, a union rep in Oregon Local 206, and a delegate to the 2006 and 2011 IBT conventions; and Nick Williams, a new TDU activist and hospital worker from Rhode Island Local 251.