The fifth annual Teamster Organizers Conference kicked off in downtown Memphis, Tennessee with an energetic gathering of nearly 400 International Union and local union organizers from across the United States and Canada.

The four-day event will provide Teamster organizers with the skills and knowledge to effectively organize and increase Teamster power through a series of meetings, discussions and workshops.

The conference will culminate with the largest organizing blitz in the history of the union, as hundreds of Teamster members hit the streets to visit thousands of FedEx Express mechanics in the Memphis area.



organizing conference lobbyMighty Army of Organizers

The first day of the Organizers Conference, OrgCon-V, featured an energetic welcome to the attendees by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.

"It's great to be here, to see the might army. We have a might army of organizers!", Hoffa said to the energetic crowd. "We are bigger, we are faster and we are stronger, having organized 50,000 workers in 18 months. It's thanks to your great work.”

Jeff Farmer, Director of the Teamsters Organizing Department, also thanked the organizers for their efforts in the past year.

"This has been a banner year for the Teamsters," Farmer said. "Every day Teamster organizers are changing people's lives. We look forward to focusing on core industries, mobilizing, planning and talking here about organizing on a massive scale.”

The day’s presentations focused on current and future Teamster organizing campaigns, Teamster industries and how politics in this election year will shape the future of the labor movement.

Organizers learned about how to prepare for the positive potential implications that the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would have on organizing and the future of the union.

Special Guest Speakers at the conference included Leo Deaner, Special Assistant to General President Hoffa; Christy Bailey, Director of the Department of Field Action; and Tom Woodruff, Director of the Strategic Organizing Center of Change to Win.

Workshops featured in-depth information on organizing strategies in specific industries and campaigns, such as aviation and transit.

"It’s good to be here to share ideas with other organizers," said Vangie Moreno, a five-year International Union organizer who has worked on the DHL, AirTran, America West and school bus campaigns. “Every campaign has its different challenges and results, so there’s a lot we can learn here.”

"I can feel the energy, the pulse of the Teamsters now," said Detric Cathey, an International Union organizer on the Solid Waste campaign. "You come here for information and to get fired up about the job you're doing.”

Barbara Stewart, a school bus driver from Little Rock, Arkansas and Teamster organizer, knows already that she will leave OrgCon-V a better organizer.

"I’m in love with being a Teamster because I get to bring people to a better life, to lift them up," Stewart said. "Being here with my brothers and sisters is great because we're all in this together."