TDU honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who fought for racial and economic justice for all.

King, an honorary Teamster member, said that in American history “the labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” He was assassinated while standing with striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn.

TDU members honor Dr. King’s life and legacy by continuing his fight for social and economic justice for all workers. 

TDU & the Fight for the MLK Day Holiday

TDU and the TDU Black Caucus organized for years to make employers recognize MLK Day as a paid holiday. 

In 2018, we launched the “Deliver on the Dream” campaign to demand that UPS honor the holiday. We didn’t win that year, but members rallied, petitioned, and made the demand an issue in our union. 

In 2021, we supported a resolution at the Teamsters Convention to fight to win Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday in all Teamster contracts.

In the 2023 contract campaign at UPS won MLK Day as a paid union holiday for the first time.

Since then, Teamster members have won MLK Day as a paid union holiday at ABF and T-Force and in many local contracts.

MLK’s legacy is about more than a holiday. It is about organizing for a society with racial, economic and social justice. The struggle continues.