This Labor Day, I will be relaxing with my family and friends. But I’ll also be thinking about what it will take to move our union in the right direction.

Our union, our jobs, and our benefits are under attack. Hoffa is missing in action.

This fall we have a chance to change leadership and change direction.

That’s what TDU is all about. And that’s why we’re supporting Sandy Pope’s Campaign.

If you’re not a TDU member, find out what we’re about, and join.

If you already are a TDU member, thank you for all that you do.

Together I know that we can rebuild our union.

Happy Labor Day!

Ken Paff TDU National Organizer

PS … TDU is gearing up for our annual convention, Friday, Sept. 30 – Sunday, Oct. 2 in Cleveland. Sandy Pope will be a guest speaker and it will feature great classes. If you agree with TDU’s mission, we hope to see you at our convention.

Are you coming to the TDU Convention? Register by Sept. 1 to get $25 off your registration.

From Friday, Sept. 30 to Sunday, Oct. 2, the TDU Convention will feature over a dozen educational classes and talks from some of the best leaders in our union. Sandy Pope will deliver the keynote address.

Find out what’s in store at the TDU Convention.

Register now and and get the discounted rate.

The ballots to elect the next Teamster General President will go out just weeks after the TDU Convention.

The TDU Convention will be a critical stop on the road to victory.

• Meet Teamsters from across our union.

• Ask the experts in over a dozen workshops.

• Get ready for the final push to Dump Hoffa and elect the strong leadership we deserve.

Click here to register today.

I'll Be There!

“I’ll be in Cleveland to work with other members to elect Sandy Pope.

“Women Teamsters and public sector Teamsters believe in Sandy, and her energy and commitment help keep us going.”

Laverna Wharam Inver Grove Heights School Local 320, Minnesota

“Carhaulers are worried about what will happen down the road.

"We need to change the old way of thinking and get Sandy elected.

“I’ll be in Cleveland and I hope to bring along a few others with me.”

Mike Kindellan, Allied Local 449, Buffalo

“We’ve got to get out there to support Sandy Pope, and the TDU Convention is where we’ll plan the final push to win.

“I was so encouraged to meet all the great Teamsters at my first Convention last year. I’ll see you in Cleveland.”

Curtiss Zeolla, ABF Local 710, Chicago

Click here to Register today.

Since the founding of Teamsters for a Democratic Union in 1976, TDU fought to win the Right to Vote for delegates to Teamster Conventions. In 1991, we secured that right.

Prior to that time, local officials were automatically the delegates. But for the first time in 1991, delegates were elected. And it made an immediate difference.

At the 1991 Teamster Convention in Orlando, Florida, there were a number of reform delegates, and TDU had armed them with knowledge about how the Convention would operate and what their rights were.

They were a minority of the Convention, but outspoken, and with the Right to Vote for International officers coming up months later that same year, the Old Guard became nervous. As a result:

• The Convention adopted an amendment (prepared by TDU) to the Teamster Constitution, giving members the Right to Vote on supplements and riders to national contract. TDU delegates used a political split among old guard officials to good advantage.

• The Convention adopted a Resolution to sell off the union’s corporate jets, which were used to fly top officials around, including to golf outings.

• The Convention delegates nominated Ron Carey for run for General President. He got 15 percent of the delegate vote, but later in 1991 took 50 percent of the rank-and-file vote to easily win against two old-guard opponents.

The old guard hated this new democracy. Their leaders, such as Rome Aloise (currently an International vice president) and John Williams (currently the IBT Warehouse Director) spoke to the Convention to denounce the Right to Vote for delegates and moved to get rid of it, but it was protected by the Consent Order.

The 1991 Convention was one of those turning points in Teamster history which TDU members are justly proud of.

In 2011, TDU is celebrating 35 years of fighting for a stronger union.

We’ll highlight different moments in TDU’s history in upcoming issues of Teamster Voice.

TDU recruitment makes everything we do possible. Imagine what we could do with even more members. Can you help make it happen?

Recruit five new members* to TDU by Oct. 1 and we’ll waive your registration fee to the TDU Convention.

“Without TDU we wouldn’t have won many of the rights and reforms that are important to building a stronger union. And the backbone of TDU is recruitment and a growing membership.

“I’ve taken up the recruitment challenge and already signed up one new member. I urge my TDU brothers and sisters to take the challenge with me.”

David Kremer, Local 320 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Download the form here.

*Recruit five members at the normal rate, or 10 part-timers. Be sure to write your name as the sponsor on each new membership card. Return the filled-out cards and dues payments to: TDU, P.O. Box 10128, Detroit, Mich. 48210.

TDU membership is kept confidential. TDU solicits and accepts membership applications and donations only from Teamsters, retired Teamsters and spouses who are not employers.

Teamsters from across the country are making their plans to be at TDU’s 35th annual convention, Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 at the Cleveland Airport Sheraton.

Save the date and make your plans to be there.

Elect Sandy Pope

The ballots to elect the next Teamster General President will go out just weeks after the TDU Convention.

Join us for critical strategy sessions for the final push to Dump Hoffa and elect Sandy Pope.

Teamster Education

Taught by union experts and grounded in real-life experience, the workshops at the TDU Convention arm you with knowledge you can use: winning grievances, pension rights, bargaining, running for office, legal rights, and much more.

I’ll Be There

“At my first convention, I met Teamsters from across our union who are working together for a stronger union.

“I’ll be there. If you think our union needs a new direction and a new president, you should be there too.”

Curtiss Zeolla, ABF Local 710, Chicago

Imagine what TDU could do with even more members. Can you help make it happen?

Recruit five new members to TDU by Oct. 1 and we’ll waive your registration fee to the TDU Convention. (Recruit five members at the normal rate, or 10 part-timers.)

Click here to download a form you can start using today to sign up new members.

Return the filled-out form and dues payments to: TDU, P.O. Box 10128, Detroit, Mich. 48210.

TDU membership is kept confidential. TDU solicits and accepts membership applications and donations only from Teamsters, retired Teamsters and spouses who are not employers.

March 17, 2011: Working from the inside, Ken Paff has brought about reforms that give Teamster members more say in the running of their union. Now, he's working to eject the old guard and bring in new leadership.

Anyone affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters knows not to expect a neutral reaction when Ken Paff's name is mentioned.

March 10, 2011: The attack on public employee unions in the Midwest is about more than collective bargaining rights. It’s a corporate attack on democracy itself.

WisconsinUnion members and concerned citizens are fighting back. TDU stands with Wisconsin and working people everywhere who are mobilizing to defend our union rights and our democracy.

Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate have voted to strip most public employees of their collective bargaining rights. They rammed through this anti-union legislation while every Democratic Senator was out of the state—violating Wisconsin’s Public Meetings laws in the process.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did not run on a platform of gutting union members’ rights. Walker launched this crusade only after he was elected and has no democratic mandate for his radical measures. In fact, 60 to 70 percent of Wisconsin residents oppose the measure.

MichiganTeamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a nonpartisan organization. We do not endorse Democrats, Republicans or any political party.

But TDU very much involves itself in working people’s struggles to have economic justice and a voice in our democracy. These are the very ideals under attack in Wisconsin—and across the Midwest.

On the same day, that Wisconsin politicians voted to strip public employees of their union rights, the Michigan State Senate passed an anti-union bill that goes even further.

OhioThe Michigan bill allows the governor to name emergency financial managers that would be allowed to break union contracts, dismiss elected officials, and even un-incorporate entire municipalities.

That’s right: unelected emergency financial managers would be allowed to remove elected political leaders and put local government under the privatized control of an appointed corporate manager.

Anti-union forces are pushing bills and ballot measures to limit workers’ rights from Maine to Washington. Eighteen states have bills pending to shackle public sector workers.

The real goal is not tackling budget deficits. If it was, states would be going after the Wall Street bankers and CEO’s whose reckless schemes caused the economic collapse.

No, the real goal is corporate control—not just of our jobs, but of our democracy.

Union members and the public are flooding state Capitols and fighting back. These struggles show what the labor movement can be.

Corporate politicians are trying to pit workers against each other—union vs. nonunion, public sector vs. private sector. Instead, they’re bringing us together.

Look at the pictures from Madison and Michigan. This is what a powerful labor movement looks like. This is what democracy looks like.

This is what corporate America is afraid of.

The full power of our Teamsters Union needs to be put behind these struggles.

Let’s give Corporate America a reason to be afraid.

The 2011 TDU Convention will be held the weekend of Sept 30 - Oct 1-2 at the Cleveland Airport Sheraton, a recently remodeled hotel conveniently near the Cleveland Airport.

Make your plans now to be there!

The Convention will be approximately three weeks before the ballots are mailed in the International Union election.