The Teamster rank-and-file movement is spreading worker power and making the most of labor’s movement moment, writes longtime Teamsters for a Democratic Union organizer Ken Paff.
by Ken Paff, Jacobin
Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the forty-seven-year-old rank-and-file organization within one of the country’s largest and most important unions, is having a “movement moment.” TDU, where I worked as an organizer for many years, is helping propel Teamster militancy and a broader labor insurgency.
TDU’s theory of change is that reforms that open up the labor movement to member involvement build worker power. It’s a participatory democracy model that has sometimes been a hard sell both with workers and on the Left. But now this model is spreading.
In 2021, United Auto Worker (UAW) militants took a page from the TDU playbook. In the wake of a major corruption scandal among union leaders, UAW members won the right to vote for their leaders, elected new leadership, and took on the Big Three automakers. UAW president Shawn Fain told the TDU Convention in November 2023, “There is no stand-up strike without TDU.”
Recent Posts
The Terrorists Are Running The U.S. Government
Take Action Now Trump seems like a random spasmodic imbecile, but what we are seeing is an extension of the ongoing, centuries-long shifting of power…
Elon Musk Decimated The Government And Saved Almost Nothing
Take Action Now Elon Musk’s cuts may have “saved” the public less than half a percent of the national debt, but they are already making Americans…
Will Corporate Media Call Out A Constitutional Crisis?
Take Action Now Corporate media is failing to rise to the moment and give an honest accounting of the damage being done to our Democracy.By Ari…
‘We Had To Fight’: Jamaal Bowman And Cori Bush Talk AIPAC
Take Action Now The two former members of Congress pull back the curtain on US politics to discuss lobbying, corruption, and more.By Team Zeteo,…