An interview with TDU Steering Committee member Carlos Silva on how TDU is building Teamster power and how all of us can get involved.

How did you get involved in the union?

I became a Teamster, working the Twilight shift in 1998 after the successful 1997 UPS strike. At first I was just looking to put myself through graphic design school, but I became a cover driver and then a full-time package driver after a few years. I was on the truck for 18 years, and when a combo job opened up, I grabbed it.

For years, I was just trying to get along, keep my head low, and do my job. But I learned that at UPS—and really anywhere—you can’t keep your head low if you want to protect your job and win better conditions. That’s not how it works.

I got tired of the harassment. I started seeking out people who wanted to enforce our rights. Pretty soon, we had a little group of fighters at our center.

How did you get involved in TDU?

I began speaking up at union meetings. Frank Halstead, a veteran TDU leader, noticed us and said that if we want to learn how to organize and build a stronger union, we should go with him to the TDU Convention. I attended my first Convention in 2016.

It was amazing to see so many Teamsters like us, getting informed and learning how to take on the boss and take back our union. TDU is like a community too, giving support to union activists and encouraging us to keep learning and working together.

I was a little timid at first and didn’t trust that I could become a leader like the people I met at the TDU Convention. But my TDU brothers and sisters kept encouraging me. That kind of support is what TDU is all about.

We’ve brought those lessons home to LA, and things are changing. From parking lot meetings, the Vote No movement at UPS, to organizing hundreds of members to come out to practice picketing last year.

We’ve organized educational workshops and to bring members together from different buildings and industries and locals to learn and make plans together.

What is TDU’s role now that members have elected new International Union leadership?

There’s definitely more opportunities to organize. Members are less afraid and more willing to take the next step and get involved.

But new leadership at the top doesn’t change everything. Many of our locals are stuck in the past, and some local officials haven’t changed a bit from their old ways. They think being a union leader is about having a title, putting up a notice on the bulletin board, or calling a meeting nobody goes to.

Through TDU, we learn organizing is more about being in conversation with members, meeting our coworkers where they’re at. You’ve got to be willing to put in time, build relationships with people, and work together to solve problems.

TDU is there on the ground, getting into the nitty-gritty with members to make us stronger in our shops and locals.

What are your organizing goals for 2025?

I want to help develop new leaders. More members are getting involved in our building.

Through TDU, we reach out to Teamsters in all industries, grocery, school bus, food distribution, rail and others. UPS might grab the headlines, but every Teamster deserves a strong union.

I also want to bring a bigger group from my local to the TDU Convention this year. Last year we had 15 members, our most ever. But if we start now and get early commitments, we can get a bigger group this November.

What role does the TDU Steering Committee play, and how did you become a part of it?

The Steering Committee is elected every year by members at the TDU Convention. We meet four times a year and work to make sure the organizing priorities that TDU members vote on at the Convention become a reality.

When I was first encouraged to run for ISC, I didn’t feel like I was ready. But I stayed involved, learned to organize more effectively, and became more confident in myself. I’ve really been transformed through TDU, and being on the ISC has helped me learn too.

What’s the #1 thing you would like members to understand about TDU?

TDU is run by Teamsters like us. It’s really a democratic, member-run organization. I’d like to help more Teamsters see that TDU is not some kind of outside service, but a group of regular, committed Teamsters.

I’d also like members to know more about TDU’s history and how much TDU members have won and shaped what we have today. We won the right to vote for Teamster officers, won majority rule on contracts, saved pensions and changed laws. Nobody can take that away. We’re proud of our past accomplishments, and we have a bright future.

What’s your advice for members who want to be involved?

Take that next new step. If we want change, we’ve got to commit, even if it’s just a little at first, to learn and step outside our comfort zone a bit. I was nervous going to my first TDU Convention and had no idea what I was getting into. But I knew that not taking that step, leaving things as they were, was going to be worse.

Making change takes work and it requires sacrifice. But you’ll make friends and find an army of brothers and sisters who are standing with you too.

Carlos Silva is a Local 572 shop steward at UPS in Gardena, Calif., and an elected member of the TDU International Steering Committee.