I've worked on and off with Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) for 10 years now, starting when I got to do creative organizing with them at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters convention in Vegas in 2001. TDU is the the rank and file reform movement within the Teamsters, made up of truck drivers, flight attendants, dock workers, warehouse workers, clerical workers -- every kind of Teamster -- who want to build a more powerful union.
What does this really mean? It means that these are the people working to save pensions, health insurance, and stop production harassment (harassing workers to work so fast that it becomes unsafe and untenable) -- through grassroots organizing, membership education, and by electing reformers into local and national leadership positions. Reformer Ron Carey served as President of the IBT from 1991 to 1997 -- the first Teamster General President to be elected by general membership. Reformer Tom Leedham ran three times for General President, coming very close to defeating Jimmy Hoffa Jr. more than once. And now, for the first time ever, a woman is running for Teamster General President: Sandy Pope. And Brett Blake and I are making her campaign video.
I am often struck by the mundanity of the tasks of even the most exciting projects. I'm making the campaign video for the first woman to ever run for General President of one of the most powerful unions in our country! And what does that entail? Waking up at 4:30 AM, putting tea in a thermos, printing up Google directions, making sure I have all my sound equipment and enough batteries, packing rain gear, shlepping equipment to the car, picking up a young camerawoman, driving to Long Island, stopping at Dunkin Donuts to pee, and eventually arriving at a huge parking lot of a UPS facility, where there is a inflatable rat squeezing the neck of a UPS worker. One of the men I interviewed said something to me like, "I don't have much to say. I'm just a common man." And I, shivering and sleepy, just said, "Aren't we all?" Because really, what's the difference between one person and another? We all, as they say, put our pants on one leg at a time.
We were all there because Sandy was stumping at a rally for Workers Memorial Day -- and it was our chance to film her speaking to a crowd of supporters. She's good. She used to be a truck driver and now she is the President of her local, so she knows what she's talking about. The Teamsters are a mixed bunch -- some of them the most thoughtful, brave, tough, and brilliant people I've ever known, and some of them more, well, let's just say, tough. It's extremely moving to see these guys -- and they are mostly, but not exclusively guys -- come out to support a woman to take the highest leadership in their union. And I am honored to be hired to help her.
The post should really end there, except that I have too many Teamsters stories to resist telling at least one. When I was at the IBT convention in 2001, a man (sorry, I forget who) addressed the crowd in the casino hall. He looked out at the room and started, "Brothers." Then, knowing that wasn't quite right, he looked around the room again before adding, "And ... lady brothers."
Oh how I wish I had the funding to make a documentary about Sandy's campaign. I would, of course, call it Lady Brother.
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