In Memoriam

Phil Feaster, retired President of Washington, D.C.’s Local 639 and former board member of the Teamsters National Black Caucus, died on Sunday, March 7. He was 70.

Feaster became a member of the union in 1965 when employed at the Kane Transfer Company. He was elected as the shop steward shortly thereafter and dedicated himself to serving the needs of his fellow workers for the next 12 years.

Feaster was elected as a business agent for the local in 1977 and focused his considerable energy on members in the freight, moving and storage, rigging and hauling, wholesale furniture and liquor industries. In 1983 Feaster was elected President of Local 639, a position he held for the next 17 years. Feaster was proud of the fact that his members trusted him to such a degree that he ran unopposed in three elections.

Feaster was active outside of his local as well, serving on the National Master Freight Negotiating Committee and the Moving and Storage Grievance Committee. He was also the principal organizer of more than 2,000 employees of the D.C. Public School System who joined the union in 1985.

He was active in the community, serving on the Washington Metropolitan Labor Council and the Maryland State Athletic Commission. He served as the co-chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. D.C. Support Group for 13 years and was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year Award at the 1995 Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner.

Feaster took the ideals of the labor movement to heart and was tireless in trying to bring about change in the lives of working families. He was an ardent supporter of DRIVE and donated much time and effort to ensure that labor friendly candidates were elected to office in the region. He also served as a Maryland delegate at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

Even in retirement Feaster remained active. He served as the President of the Local 639 Retirees Club and was always promoting educational programs in the community.

Feaster had a lively sense of humor and loved to tell stories about his days in the union. He believed the union had given him a good life and wanted others to understand it would do the same for them. He cared about his members and wanted them to know they played a vital role in the union and the country as a whole. Even as he stepped down into retirement he could not resist one last pep talk for the members:

“You are the salt of the earth. Your work ethic, your support of your union, your dedication to your fellow workers and your efforts to bring the less fortunate under the union umbrella are the things which have made this nation great. If I leave you with one word of advice, it is to think highly of yourself. You are of good citizenship and that really is one of the highest attainments of a human being.

“Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for the honor you have bestowed on me, giving me the opportunity to lead a great local union, and the opportunity to leave wishing you the very best of everything.”