International Brotherhood of Teamsters

The mission and purpose of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is to educate and organize workers with the goal of improving their quality of life. This is accomplished through four main core tasks: organization, education, involvement, and negotiations. The Brotherhood of Teamsters organizes workers to give them a voice in the workplace, educates workers on their rights, involves workers in the political process of addressing issues important to the worker, and negotiates and enforces contracts with employers to ensure that all workers are treated fairly and with dignity.

Benefits which Teamster union members share include increases in average pay, medical coverage, and retirement pensions. Statistically, women in unions earn an average of $9,000 more a year, African Americans earn an average of $8,000 more a year, and Latinos in unions earn an average of $11,650 more a year. Benefits of union membership in regards to medical coverage is also far better than jobs which do not offer union representation. 88% of union jobs over job related health insurance, 66% of union jobs offer dental coverage, 50% of union jobs offer vision coverage, 85% of union jobs offer prescription drug coverage and union represented workers pay an average of only 8% of monthly premiums. Non union jobs offer considerably less medical coverage with workers paying 20% of monthly premiums. Pension benefits are also more abundant in union represented jobs. 72% of union represented workers have defined pension plans compared to 15% of non union workers.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters boasts a current membership of 1.4 million with approximately 500,000 retirees. The Teamsters represent and organize workers in virtually every occupation, both professional and non-professional. The Teamsters claim that one out of every ten union members in the workforce is a Teamster.

The organization of the Teamsters is established through a hierarchy of local chapters to an international headquarters. Local union chapters are those which organize the workers in their area and negotiate contracts on behalf of the workers. These are the foot soldiers. Above the local chapters are joint counsels, which exist in areas where three or more local unions are established. Trade divisions and conferences exist above the joint counsels to aid Teamster leaders who share common interests and problems. The headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters oversees all of the above mentioned activities while working for union workers at the national level. The headquarters allows local union chapters a great deal of Independence when dealing with issues specific to those chapters but provides oversight and resources when necessary. The headquarters is based in Washington D.C.

The current General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is Jim Hoffa, son of the famous James R. Hoffa, who brought the Teamsters organization to the forefront of the labor union struggle.

Sources:

About Us. International Brotherhood of Teamsters.