The 2012 Teamsters Unity Conference kicked off Sunday, May 6, in Las Vegas with a large gathering of Teamster principal officers, business agents, organizers and rank-and-file Teamsters, meeting in the spirit of solidarity. View photos from the first day of the Unity Conference, here.

The event began with an introduction of the newly elected General Executive Board. For the first time on stage, newly elected Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall introduced Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. 

With workers facing attacks by corporations and anti-worker politicians in statehouses across the country, the war on workers was the primary topic addressed at first day of the annual conference.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa called on the more than 1,000 Teamsters in attendance to fight this war on workers to ensure the future of the middle class.

“We have a tremendous battle on our hands. From Wisconsin to Ohio to Michigan, make no mistake about it; there’s a war on workers. In 2012, we need to energize every member, every local, every Joint Council and Conference to mobilize to make sure we win this battle and take back America for working people,” Hoffa said.

Teamster Activism

Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, addressed the crowd about his bureau’s work to ensure that working people are protected.

“No one paid the price of the financial meltdown more than working people. We are doing everything in our power to prevent the financial collapse we experienced from ever happening again. We are here to stand up for Teamster members and all Americans,” Cordray said.

Val Demings, the former Orlando Police Chief and current candidate for Florida’s District 10 congressional seat, energized the Teamster audience, telling the story of her union roots.

“I was a member of two unions in the Orlando Police Department. I have a son in the firefighters’ union and a brother with the postal workers’ union, but I am most proud of my oldest brother who spent 32 years as a UPS Teamster,” Demings said to a boisterous round of applause. “The attack on public employees is unprecedented. It’s an attack on the backbone of this country—the firefighters, police officers and teachers.”

Ken Wood, International  Vice President and President of Joint Council 75 in Florida, spoke about the organizing win for 20,000 Florida correctional, probation and parole officers who are now members of Local 2011, and the battle against privatization that they recently won in the Florida Senate.

“We gave the FDOC workers the opportunity to have a real union and they stepped up to the plate to become involved and have a voice. We worked together to successfully beat back privatization, which would have cost 5,000 officer jobs in the state of Florida,” Wood said.

Bob Bouvier, International Vice President and President of Teamsters Canada, spoke about how the war on workers has spread to Canada.

“For 50 years we’ve had the best labor laws in Canada, but in the past year we’ve had a government that wants to turn the dial back,” Bouvier said. “We have to motivate our members to have pride and say, ‘I’m a union member; I fight for my rights, and if you don’t like it, too bad.  If we all band together, there is no corporation that can stand up to us because we have the numbers on our side.”

Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, talked about equal rights and justice under the law, comparing his work standing up for the poor and disenfranchised with the struggles of the labor movement.

“We need the labor movement to be willing to speak, to not be pushed back. Your work and activism is critically needed. We can win this battle,” Stevenson said. 

The 2012 Teamsters Unity Conference will continue on Monday with an address from General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall.

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