By now, you may have heard that Teamsters members kicked off the Take Back Our Union Campaign this past weekend with successful meetings in New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. At the meetings, we got a lot of questions from members who want to know how International Union elections work—and what it will take to win the next one in 2016. Let me break it down to you, like we broke it down at the Take Back Our Union meetings. To win in 2016, it will take about 200,000 votes and a grassroots army of Teamster volunteers to inform other members and get out the vote. The first big test is the Accreditation Petition Drive that starts less than one year from today. We will need to collect 50,000 signatures to officially “accredit” a slate of candidates. Accredited candidates get a copy of the Teamster membership list. That allows us to do mailings and reach out to members in the Convention Delegate races. Many Teamsters don’t know that candidates can ONLY get on the ballot to run against Hoffa if they are nominated by 5% or more of the delegates at the next Teamster Convention in 2016. This time around, we are building a coalition effort. Whoever the top candidate is, we want a full slate with candidates in every region. That means we need at least 5% of the delegates in every region. That’s the minimum—we want more that. We want enough to be a force at the Convention. To put a full slate on the ballot against Hoffa, members need to run for Convention Delegate in local unions where the officers are supporting Hoffa. We can show you the ropes but you’ve got to help make it happen. These are a few of the key steps. Now here’s the Big Question: Do you want change enough in our Union to help make it happen? Then we need to hear from you. get in touch, send us a message and let us know you want to be involved in Take Back Our Union. In solidarity, P.S. If you’re still reading this, you must be interested! Help Take Back Our Union
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 20:23:04 +0000