WHEREAS, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters maintains a political action committee named “DRIVE” for Democrat, Republican and Independent Voter Education, and as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers maintains a PAC called BLET PAC; and

WHEREAS, DRIVE is funded entirely through voluntary contributions from Teamster members; and

WHEREAS, General Treasury funds may not be used for contributions to candidates for federal office and most candidates for state and local office; and

WHEREAS, DRIVE is the only permissible source available to the Teamsters union for most campaign contributions; and

WHEREAS, big business, billionaires and anti-worker super PACs have virtually unlimited funds to spend on politics; and

WHEREAS, United States Supreme Court decisions such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission have opened the door to unlimited, unaccountable corporate spending to influence elections; and

WHEREAS, the cost of winning elections is growing ever higher; and

WHEREAS, legislative threats to American workers and the right to collectively bargain have never been greater; and

WHEREAS, threats to Teamster members, working families and America’s labor movement are now appearing at all levels of government; and

WHEREAS, it is imperative that all Teamster Joint Councils and Local Unions participate vigorously and in a coordinated effort with each other and with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ DRIVE program in order to protect members’ rights and interests; and

WHEREAS, the staff of DRIVE field representatives are most effective when working with Local Unions that are committed to the DRIVE program; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED at this 29th International Convention that every Joint Council and Local Union commit to increasing member participation in DRIVE; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Local Unions will work with DRIVE field representatives to increase average weekly DRIVE contributions from Teamster members to reflect the increasing cost of elections; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Local Unions commit to engaging their officers, agents, stewards and staff in DRIVE campaigns when a field representative is working in the Local; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Local Unions will make every effort to negotiate DRIVE payroll deduction language into every contract; and

FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED that this commitment will ensure that the voices of Teamster members will continue to be heard in the political arena no matter how hard anti-worker politicians try to silence us.