Number 1 Monday, June 27

2011 IBT Convention, Day 1

IBT CONVENTION NEWS

The Power of Teamster Unity!

Hoffa-Hall Rally Kicks Off IBT Convention

he Hoffa-Hall 2011 Slate kicked off the Teamsters historic 28th Constitutional Convention last night with a rally at Ballys Hotel that emphasized the need for UNITY in our ranks to combat Corporate Americas War on Workers. In the past year, our union led the fight to turn back vicious anti-worker legislation in Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri and other states, declared General President Jim Hoffa to a cheering crowd of over 2,000 delegates and guests. Well come out of this Convention prepared to step up our efforts. Hoffa reminded delegates that the Teamsters have continued to organize thousands of new members, preserve jobs and win contracts despite Right-to-Work (for less) legislation and a landscape of record U.S. unemployment and business closings. What other union has organized over 40,000 new members in recent years? asked Hoffa to loud applause. What other union has the financial strength to mount a strike challenge to big employers?

Fresh New Leadership

President Hoffas running mate for General Secretary-Treasurer, Ken Hall, runs our unions Package Division and leads bargaining with North Americas biggest employer, United Parcel Service (UPS). He delivered a speech backing up Jim Hoffas remarks. The Hoffa administration sent a message to employers when we organized UPS Freight and then won a strong first contract during our last term, Hall declared. We wont stop there I promise well make new organizing history over the next five years. Hall is running to replace the current, great Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters, Tom Keegel. (See Page Two.) Hoffa and Hall are joined by fourteen other members of the Hoffa slate fully half of the slate who are running for the General Executive Board for the first time. Our team combines experience and the strength and enthusiasm of new members, Jim Hoffa told delegates. Weve put together a slate thats ready and willing to do battle for our members and all American workers in the tough times ahead.

Teamster Women Back Hoffa-Hall!

Over 200 women delegates attended a Sunday afternoon rally in support of their General President and his slate.

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The IBTs Next General Secretary-Treasurer

A wave of excitement swept our union when Jim Hoffa announced that Ken Hall would be his running mate for General Secretary-Treasurer in the 2011 Teamster elections. The leader of our unions Package Division, Ken made U.S. labor history as the architect of the 1997 UPS strike that forced the company to create thousands of full-time jobs. Ken then forced UPS to accept card check for employees of UPS Freight, formerly Overnite Transportation, resulting in 12,000 new Teamster members. No other union leader in the U.S. has won a major organizing victory like this in a core industry in the recent period, declares General President Hoffa. Ken is our formidable general for hundreds of thousands of Teamster Package Division members. Ken Hall is a 34-year, second generation Teamster, who served as a shop steward, business agent, and principal officer of Local 175 (Charleston, West Virginia) before winning election as an international Vice-President on the Hoffa slate in 2006. In addition to leading the Package Division, Ken is union chair of a pension fund covering more than 40,000 employees at UPS and Union chair of the UPS 401(k) program, with more than $5 billion in assets.

Meet Ken Hall

Teamsters to Tom Keegel:

Thanks for a Job Well Done.

While all delegates and guests are excited by the beginning of our Convention, were sad to reflect that it will mark the final appearance before the full union of the greatest SecretaryTreasurer in the history of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters C. Thomas Keegel of Minnesota. When Tom Keegel took the helm as SecretaryTreasurer in 1999, our great unions finances were shattered, declares General President Jim Hoffa. He worked tirelessly to take our treasury from $7 million to over $120 million today. He helped rebuild our strike fund. This is a record of service unmatched in Teamster history. Jim Hoffas running mate Ken Hall echoes this praise. Ive got mighty big shoes to fill wherever Tom Keegel went, rank-and-file Teamsters knew they had a great fighter by their side. His record will never be forgotten. All Teamsters join us in saying: Thanks, Brother Tom Keegel, for a job well done.

Our First Days Business

How Well Defeat the War on Workers

The first major resolution to be presented on the first day of our 28th Constitutional Convention addresses the ferocious employer assault on worker rights that has been launched during the current Great Recession. As the resolution notes, the War on Workers is being conducted at every level of American society in the workplace, in the mass media, in City Halls, State Houses and the nations Capitol. The resolution commits the Teamsters to the fight to guarantee basic worker rights including the right to union representation, the right to collective bargaining, the right to a job with a living wage, and the right to health care, strong pensions and retirement security.

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