Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
rank and file organization whose goal is to reform the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
(IBT), or Teamsters Union. The organization has chapters nationwide in the United States and Canada.
History
TDU was started in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, in the 1970s after the federal government exposed extensive corruption in the union, which included leadership raiding union-held pension funds, collusion with organized crime, and collusive collective bargaining between union officials and employers at the expense of union members.
TDU Influential Activists
*
Ron Carey
*
Ken Paff
Kenneth T. Paff (born May 16, 1946 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania) is one of the founders and current National Organizer of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a rank-and-file union democracy movement organizing to reform the International Brotherhoo ...
*
Pete Camarata
Pete Camarata (born September 7, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan) was a Teamster labor activist and one of the founders of Teamsters for a Democratic Union a rank-and-file union democracy movement organizing to reform the International Brotherhood o ...
*
Thomas Geoghegan
Thomas Geoghegan (; born January 22, 1949 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American labor lawyer and author based in Chicago.
He has represented several unions and union groups, and written six books on labor unions, law, politics and his personal ex ...
Endorsements
In November 2019, TDU members voted to endorse the Teamsters United O'Brien/Zuckerman slate for International President and Secretary/Treasurer.
References
Further reading
* Rank-and-File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union by
Dan La Botz
Daniel H. La Botz (born August 9, 1945) is an American labor union activist, academic, journalist, and author. He was a co-founder of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) and has written extensively on worker rights in the United Sta ...
,
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House.
On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...
, 1992
* Rebel Rank and File, Edited by Aaron Brenner,
Robert Brenner
Robert Paul Brenner (; born November 28, 1943) is a professor emeritus of history and director of the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History at UCLA, editor of the socialist journal ''Against the Current'', and editorial committee member ...
, and Cal Winslow,
Verso Books
Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a left-wing publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of ''New Left Review''.
Renaming, new brand and logo
Verso Books was originally known as New Left Books. The ...
, 2010
External links
Teamsters for a Democratic Union HomepageInternational Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Homepage
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Organizations established in 1976
Organizations based in Detroit
Trade union reform movements
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