Teamsters Host International Summit of Unions in Package Delivery Industry

Teamsters Host International Summit of Unions in Package Delivery Industry

Global Union Solidarity Necessary To Grow U.S. Labor Movement

November 1, 2005

(Washington, D.C.) — The Teamsters Union this week will host union leaders from around the world who represent workers at the Big Four global package delivery and logistics companies, called integrators—UPS, DHL, FedEx and TNT.

Officials attending the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) meeting are discussing ways their unions can work together to convert common interests into power in organizing and at the bargaining table of the Big Four global integrators.

“In this global economy, labor unions must see, think and plan beyond borders if we are to help gain strength and power for workers,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “The Teamsters are dedicated to this mission.”

The Teamsters Union has created a new Office of Global Strategies to focus resources on building alliances with workers around the world as its dominance grows in the integrator industry.

The integrators’ meeting includes union leaders from Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Australia, India, China, South Africa, Canada, Belgium and Spain. The ITF represents 624 transport unions with 4.5 million transport workers from 142 countries. The Teamsters Union is the largest ITF affiliate in North America.

“Our members from these international unions are linked by the actions of corporations whose global executives make decisions that affect workers around the world,” said C. Thomas Keegel, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer. “These multinational corporations have a global strategy. We must build a global strategy as well.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking women and men throughout the United States and Canada.