Bob Kokx works at Coca-Cola as a lab tech in quality assurance. He also lives in a state where unemployment stands at 15.2 percent and workers have faced hard times. Kokx sat down with Teamster Magazine to share why he believes in the value of organizing and what his thoughts are on the future of labor.

 As Teamsters, you already know the importance of a union contract, a grievance procedure, seniority and a number of other things that most American workers must do without.

Now you can help nonunion workers who want Teamster representation by joining the Mighty Army of Teamster member organizers who are fighting to rebuild the middle class and raise standards for working families.

March 25 — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said late Wednesday FedEx Corp. intends to “blackmail Congress” by threatening to cancel a multi-billion dollar airplane contract order if its FedEx Express workers are allowed an easier path to unionization.

March 10 —Twenty miles south of downtown, the Port of Los Angeles spreads over 7,500 acres of San Pedro Bay and its shoreline. It’s the busiest container port in the United States, and when combined with the neighboring Port of Long Beach is the fifth busiest in the world. Each day more than half a billion dollars in goods - primarily furniture, apparel, and auto parts from Asia - are loaded into hundreds of big-rig trucks. Half set out for destinations east of the Rockies.