[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 121 (Friday, September 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S11156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S11156]]
                  100TH ANNIVERSARY OF TEAMSTERS UNION

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a special honor to take this 
opportunity to congratulate the Teamsters Union on the 100th 
anniversary of their formation. On that historic occasion a century 
ago, the merger of two smaller unions of local delivery men using 
vehicles drawn by teams of horses launched the extraordinary union we 
know today as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
  In those early days, such workers were often fired for union 
activity, and some were even killed. But the Teamsters persevered and 
began to thrive. By the 1930s, inter-city truck drivers had become the 
predominant members of the union, and they fought hard for legal 
protections, especially the National Labor Relations Act and basic laws 
setting minimum wages and maximum work hours for their work.
  In World War II, the Teamsters were a key part of the war effort. 
They served with great courage in the armed forces. They vigorously 
promoted war bonds and the collection of scrap metal and rubber.
  When the war was won, they came home and took up the great cause of 
social justice in communities across the land, fighting for civil 
rights and striving to see that America's workers received their fair 
share of the Nation's amazing post-war prosperity.
  Now, on this remarkable centennial, the Teamsters are one of the 
Nation's largest, most vital and most effective unions. They are at the 
forefront of ongoing major battles for the fundamental rights and 
dignity of all workers, especially on key issues such as jobs, civil 
rights, and worker health and safety. I am proud to have worked with 
them on so many of these important issues. I congratulate them on this 
very auspicious centennial, and I look forward to working with them in 
the years ahead as they begin their new century.

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