00:01 - Good morning.

00:02 - Morning.

00:03 - Welcome to Pennsylvania Conference.

00:10 - We have a couple special guests here today also.

00:14 - Besides president O'Brien.

00:16 - Gregory Floyd here.

00:17 - Vice president, International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

00:25 - Thank you for coming in, Greg.

00:27 - Appreciate you.

00:32 - I'll give some welcome remarks in a minute.

00:34 - But first, I want to defer to

00:38 - Ed Thompson.

00:40 - Ed Thompson has been a leader in this state

00:43 - and in Harrisburg and throughout the Eastern Conference.

00:48 - And he has been a really,

00:51 - I don't know how to explain leadership as well as Ed displays it,

00:55 - but he's president of Teamsters Local Union 776, a board member, Pennsylvania

01:01 - Conference of Teamsters and the Executive Board of Joint Council, 53

01:06 - a lifetime of standing the line, fighting for the rank and file,

01:10 - and never backing down when working people needed you most.

01:14 - Your voice, your grit, and

01:15 - your loyalty to the members have strengthened local 776, Joint

01:20 - Council 53 and the entire Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters.

01:24 - You leave behind a legacy built on courage, solidarity,

01:28 - and the unbreakable belief that workers deserve dignity and power.

01:33 - The Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters truly thanks Ed for his support.

01:38 - Why am I saying all this?

01:40 - Because Ed is going to be retiring.

01:43 - Unfortunately, we're going to lose him, but we're not going to lose him.

01:46 - I'm going to keep him active and

01:47 - and and the political ends of things because he's good at that, too.

01:51 - But Ed has led the largest union in this state

01:55 - for a long time, and there's never been a moment,

01:58 - not one, where he wasn't asked to step up

02:02 - to the front of the line and send people and help.

02:05 - And he's always done it.

02:07 - So I would like to invite Ed up right now for his opening

02:12 - remarks as the host local, and present him with this plaque.

02:58 - I wasn't expecting that.

03:07 - That's why I need to retire.

03:08 - I can't see no.

03:13 - Before I get into my welcome address,

03:16 - I want to say thank you to everybody in this room.

03:19 - It's truly been an honor to serve with such great people.

03:22 - I've learned a lot through the years.

03:24 - And, thank you for the Brotherhood.

03:28 - So I appreciate everything that everybody in

03:31 - this room has done for me and for my team in my local.

03:34 - So thank you.

03:35 - I want to thank my wife for putting up with my shit for 38 years.

03:40 - It's been a been a good, a good ride.

03:44 - To the address.

03:46 - Good morning, brothers and sisters.

03:48 - Speakers and guests, welcome, general president O'Brien.

03:53 - Over the past 12 years, me or somebody from my staff

03:56 - has welcomed you to this event.

03:58 - Over those years, I've seen brothers and sisters come and go

04:03 - to the PA conference.

04:05 - Welcome, new officers.

04:07 - Welcome. New faces.

04:08 - We all come to the PA conference to share in the Brotherhood

04:11 - and get a glimpse of the political future of Pennsylvania.

04:15 - Many of us are members of drive,

04:18 - and some of us may have never been asked.

04:20 - I'm asking you to join drive today.

04:23 - And I have a team.

04:24 - Ashley and Josh and Justin.

04:27 - Can you raise your hand?

04:28 - Stand up.

04:31 - They'll be out front here with drive cards.

04:33 - So if you're not a member of drive or you'd like to up your drive donation,

04:37 - please see them and they will make sure they get you signed up.

04:41 - I'd like to thank President Hamilton and entire Executive Board

04:44 - of the PA conference for inviting me to give the host local remarks.

04:48 - Since

04:48 - last year, through the efforts of our organizing department

04:52 - in a merger with local 992 in Hagerstown, Maryland.

04:55 - Our membership has grown by a thousand members.

04:58 - We want elections with the York City Property inspectors.

05:02 - BW Wilson Paper,

05:04 - the Hershey Medical Hemodialysis Techs,

05:08 - the Milton Hershey School Telecommunications,

05:12 - most recently with Hitachi Rail,

05:15 - which is located in Hagerstown, Maryland.

05:18 - That jurisdiction down there has not been organized.

05:21 - There hasn't been any active organizing in that jurisdiction for a long time.

05:25 - So we look to actively organize in that jurisdiction.

05:30 - We have an election scheduled with the Hershey exercise physiologist.

05:35 - If you're not organizing, you're dying a slow death.

05:38 - So I urge you all to, organize what you can.

05:43 - Local 776, with the support of the IBT,

05:46 - sustained a 45 day strike with rise dispensary was the longest strike.

05:51 - So far in the cannabis industry.

05:53 - While we did not get everything we were asking for.

05:55 - We did secure meaningful gains for the members at Rise.

05:58 - So I welcome the Rise members to our great union.

06:03 - PA conference has moved from the second Street

06:05 - building into local 776 through a lease agreement.

06:10 - President Hamilton and Tom police

06:12 - are the best neighbors anybody could ask for.

06:16 - Local 776 is also designated

06:18 - a portion of our new Union Hall as a walk through of Teamsters history,

06:22 - with donations from our members in acquiring of Tom's collection.

06:27 - Everything is displayed and it's really something to see.

06:30 - If anybody would like to see the new PA conference building

06:34 - or our history area, I have Austin O'Brien here.

06:38 - He will take you down.

06:39 - We have, the nine passenger van out there.

06:43 - He will take you down if you want to see it after, you know, in

06:45 - between, in the afternoon or tomorrow if you don't golf.

06:49 - He'll take you down and show you around.

06:52 - And if not, he'll make arrangements to, for you to get there.

06:55 - So if you want to go see Austin

06:58 - on behalf of Teamsters Local

07:00 - 776, my entire executive board and staff, I would like to welcome everybody

07:05 - and wish the PA Conference of Teamsters

07:07 - a very successful and productive 2026 Annual Meeting.

07:11 - If you need any assistance during the conference

07:13 - or in the months or years ahead ahead, please

07:16 - do not hesitate to reach out to me or my staff and we will make it happen.

07:20 - Thank you.

07:24 - Thank you. Mr..

07:44 - Two Dave Young to be retired man.

07:52 - Thank you.

07:53 - My my next speaker really needs no introduction in this room

07:56 - or anywhere else in the United States of America.

08:00 - Sean O'Brien has

08:03 - paved his way to,

08:06 - I'm going to say, the upper echelon of the labor leaders

08:09 - that have ever crossed the borders of Washington, DC.

08:15 - He's special.

08:16 - He does things that no one ever thought about before.

08:20 - And I'm going to take a moment and give you an example

08:24 - of the benefactors that

08:29 - just take pride in what he has accomplished,

08:34 - and people don't pay attention to the minutia that happens.

08:39 - For instance, during the last,

08:43 - conference.

08:43 - I mean, we, we we actually spoke through,

08:47 - changes in the Constitution.

08:50 - Nobody would really bear the fruits of that labor

08:54 - and realize how important some of it was until much later.

08:59 - And I'll give you a good, for instance, me being an old guy

09:03 - and been through the washing machine a few times

09:06 - and a lot of negotiations.

09:10 - We had DHL

09:11 - national negotiations we just went through,

09:15 - and previously when we did negotiations, we went with the smaller

09:19 - committee of union leaders and got things done,

09:25 - took time, took a lot of effort.

09:29 - Came out of it sometimes even at the end.

09:32 - Not sure if we got everything.

09:34 - Not sure if we captured all the ideas that the members wanted,

09:40 - but something changed.

09:41 - You see, Sean told me,

09:44 - I want all these people on these committees.

09:47 - I want stewards.

09:49 - I want members, I want business

09:52 - agents, but I want members members, members.

09:56 - So we did that, and we brought in members

09:58 - from virtually every city that was represented.

10:03 - And we brought business agents in from every city that was represented.

10:07 - But the members were there at the table during the negotiations.

10:12 - No bullshit.

10:14 - Nothing. Nothing hidden.

10:16 - No hidden agenda.

10:18 - And we encourage them and I encourage them to be involved.

10:22 - Speak.

10:23 - We need your input.

10:26 - What I found out,

10:27 - it was rather startling because we

10:30 - we really take our union stewards and members for granted.

10:35 - They're the ones that know what they need.

10:39 - They're the ones that know what's wrong

10:42 - inside the walls of that company.

10:45 - And they're the ones that know what they want out of a contract.

10:49 - More than any of us anticipate.

10:53 - It was rather refreshing, but it was also rather startling

10:57 - that they were that well versed and what they wanted.

11:02 - And it was it was sort of funny in a way, because I'm a little mule had it,

11:07 - and I have a set mind of how much I want and a contract.

11:12 - And we did get what we wanted.

11:14 - It was a fabulous contract, but having the ability

11:19 - to sit in a room with the company across from you and you, y'all have done it.

11:24 - I know, and the company telling you bullshit

11:27 - and telling you no, no, that's not the way it is here.

11:30 - And we have the ability to turn around to a steward

11:34 - or a member and go, is that the way it is in there?

11:38 - No, that's not what happens.

11:39 - Here's what happens.

11:41 - And the have the candor in the room that those young men

11:47 - portrayed to the company totally took the company off guard.

11:51 - They did not know how to respond.

11:54 - They caucus more times than I ever seen them caucus before,

11:57 - because every time an issue came up that they'd dispute it.

12:01 - What what happened there?

12:02 - What happened in your place?

12:04 - What happened in Dallas?

12:05 - What happened in Seattle?

12:07 - Tell me what happened.

12:08 - What happened in Oakland?

12:09 - What happened in Miami?

12:11 - And they they were like

12:15 - they were beaten group the company at the end of it

12:18 - because they had no answers, because they're abuse of the system.

12:23 - And the grievance machinery and everything that goes with it.

12:26 - And what contract was laid bare on the floor.

12:30 - And they had to fix it all. And they did.

12:33 - They fixed it all because they had no choice.

12:37 - Those guys and ladies and gentlemen, we're not letting them off the hook.

12:42 - And that's because of his leadership.

12:44 - His leadership has enabled us to rewrite contracts,

12:49 - to do things we never thought possible.

12:52 - And a short period of time.

12:54 - And it was a short period of time, and it got done quick

12:56 - because of his leadership and his ability to read into the future

13:01 - and see how things should be generated

13:04 - through the members, by the members, for the members.

13:07 - Let me tell you something.

13:09 - He means what he says, and he says what he means, and he gets it done.

13:13 - And he enabled me to use force.

13:16 - I never thought I had to get the best contract I ever did at DHL National.

13:20 - Thank you. Sean.

13:24 - All right.

13:30 - Thank you very much.

13:35 - Thank you.

13:36 - Thank you.

13:39 - It's an honor and a privilege to be here once again.

13:41 - I've been coming here for decades.

13:45 - And it's great

13:46 - to see, you know, the enthusiasm of Pennsylvania.

13:49 - I want to highlight your leader here, Bill Hamilton.

13:52 - He was very kind, in his words, describing,

13:56 - you know, what we've been accomplishing at the event.

13:59 - And, I appreciate the personal comments as well.

14:02 - Bill is very near and dear to me.

14:04 - He always has been.

14:06 - He's been a mentor.

14:08 - He's been the voice of reason when you don't want to hear reason.

14:12 - And the one thing he does better than anybody is

14:14 - he finds solutions to problems.

14:16 - So thank you for being you, Billy, I appreciate it.

14:19 - I also want to recognize.

14:25 - I also want to recognize Brother Thompson.

14:28 - I mean, there's not

14:30 - anything other to say about this person than loyalty.

14:34 - I got the opportunity to meet, Ed a long time ago.

14:37 - I think it was in 2006 at a vote count, and I'll never forget it.

14:42 - He was supporting his guy, and his guy had no chance of winning.

14:47 - His guy was up against it.

14:50 - And when I met and spoke to add,

14:53 - one thing was clear that he is one loyal soldier

14:57 - and he has integrity and he's never going to leave the person he came in with.

15:02 - That always stuck in my mind.

15:04 - And through the years, getting to know him, work with him,

15:09 - he has

15:10 - done what we all say we want to do before we leave.

15:14 - We want to leave this organization better than we found it for the next generation.

15:19 - And I had the opportunity to talk to at this morning.

15:22 - And his lovely wife, who is looking forward

15:25 - to spending a lot of time with him, but that's probably going to get old, right.

15:29 - So we did say if there's an opportunity that needs to come back to work

15:32 - will gladly take him.

15:34 - And I mean this with all sincerity.

15:36 - We had a great conversation.

15:38 - And I think sometimes in the teams,

15:40 - the world and a lot of other, arenas, you know, some people want to stay

15:46 - too long, some people, you know, feel that they have to be here.

15:51 - What Ed is doing is a

15:53 - pure example

15:55 - of knowing personally when it's time

15:59 - getting out to enjoy that great pension

16:03 - that, you know, people thought decades upon, decades upon decades.

16:09 - And I just want to wish you and your family

16:12 - all the health and prosperity moving forward.

16:16 - Our loss is going to be a tremendous gain to your family.

16:19 - So thank you very much.

16:27 - Now, behind every great number one man,

16:32 - there's always someone pulling up the rear that does a lot of the work.

16:36 - That doesn't sometimes get recognized for all their hard work.

16:40 - And there's another person leaving seven, seven, six

16:43 - who I've singlehandedly watched fight at panels

16:47 - and defend members and take positions that man up in popular leadership.

16:52 - But it was in the best interest

16:54 - of the most important people in this organization.

16:57 - The rank and file.

16:58 - We've got another retiree from seven, seven, six, Ron Hicks.

17:09 - So quick story about Ron Hicks.

17:12 - When we organize U.P.S.

17:13 - freight, I think you guys recently became new leadership of seven, seven, six.

17:19 - And, you know, it's like anything else, we were scheduling

17:22 - all the panels in Boston because it was convenient for me.

17:25 - And Ron Heard is back.

17:29 - And so he was like laid up for like two days.

17:33 - And I had one of my business agents.

17:34 - So you got to take him to the hospital.

17:35 - He goes there from like Kentucky all day and I'm like, no, it's from Pennsylvania.

17:41 - Way up, though.

17:41 - It's kind of like Kentucky goes,

17:43 - should I take him the doctor's or should I take him to a veterinarian?

17:46 - Do you remember that?

17:47 - But great.

17:48 - I hope you enjoy your retirement as well.

17:52 - You've certainly earned it.

17:54 - And again, health and prosperity, you and your family.

17:57 - But look, it's great to be here again.

18:01 - I want to talk about where we were, where we are,

18:04 - and where we need to go as an international union.

18:08 - As Billy talked about earlier, we've made some great,

18:13 - great strides and gains in this international union.

18:16 - When we took over in 2022,

18:19 - you know, we took over an organization

18:22 - that was stagnant,

18:24 - didn't invest in organizing,

18:28 - didn't put the right people in place to go talk to the unorganized.

18:33 - And we realized when we took over that 1.4

18:36 - million member narrative was not true at all.

18:40 - It was like hovering around 1.1.

18:44 - Almost 1.2 million members.

18:47 - And that was with significant growth from our largest employer, up 100% growth.

18:53 - It was also in light of

18:55 - two major mergers with the rail unions led TBM,

19:00 - which brought about 60,000 to 70,000 new members.

19:06 - So we should be well above where we were.

19:10 - So when we took over, Fred Zuckerman and I and our team, like

19:14 - we need to focus on organizing because that's the only way

19:18 - we are going to grow this internationally and the only way we are going to survive.

19:23 - And in four and a half years,

19:26 - we have organized over 90,000

19:28 - new members, 90,000

19:32 - previous administration.

19:36 - Previous administration.

19:38 - What all that growth.

19:39 - And they counted the mergers and everything else.

19:44 - We actually saw about 51,000 people in a 13 year period get organized.

19:49 - So that system was broken.

19:51 - We brought in someone who is unbelievable

19:55 - at developing campaigns, executing campaigns

19:59 - and winning organizing drives, and that's Chris Roselle, director of organizing.

20:05 - He assembled a team second to none.

20:08 - He assembled a team that understands how important

20:10 - it is to engage with the unorganized.

20:14 - But he did something that has never been done before.

20:18 - He created a program at our direction to actually take members

20:24 - out of unionized industries and have member

20:27 - to member interaction with these nonunion, workers

20:31 - who do the same job as our union members do every single day.

20:35 - And that has proven to be,

20:38 - the most valuable resource that we have.

20:40 - We also have struck

20:43 - many employers for recognition.

20:46 - And when you can get the support

20:49 - of an unorganized group to come together and either march on the boss

20:53 - and demand recognition and or strike for recognition,

20:57 - you know that those people believe in the organization.

21:00 - You know that you have convinced them that this is the right thing to do

21:04 - for them and their families.

21:05 - More importantly, and why are we able to do these programs?

21:09 - We're able to do these programs because we have financially positioned

21:16 - better than we

21:16 - have a have been in the history of the Teamsters union.

21:20 - We surpassed $1 billion

21:22 - in assets, 1 billion with a B,

21:26 - and went on about the money.

21:28 - But if you don't have money, you can't have programs.

21:32 - If you don't have money, you can't create an army of organizers

21:36 - where you don't get a return on your investment.

21:39 - When you're organizing, especially if you can't get a first contract.

21:44 - So that's why it's important.

21:47 - But the most important part of the financial stability of this union

21:51 - and our general secretary treasurer,

21:53 - who's on injured reserve right now, he broke his leg.

21:55 - He doesn't Lawrence

21:56 - Taylor injury but he's coming back strong bigger faster stronger.

22:00 - He has.

22:03 - Basically put us in the best position ever been.

22:06 - And why are we able

22:07 - to do all these programs and why are we successful in organizing?

22:11 - It's because we got a $375 million strike and defense fund,

22:17 - and that strike and defense fund is used for a couple different purposes.

22:21 - It's used to

22:24 - pay our members

22:26 - when a company chooses to strike themselves.

22:29 - And it also gives us the ability to utilize it

22:32 - to defend against any threat to the greatest organization in the world.

22:36 - And that's the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and I believe, local 429

22:42 - recently in Pennsylvania is 429 in the House

22:46 - for 29 had a 20 day strike.

22:49 - What Sunnyside Cannabis where we were able to convince

22:53 - probably your nontraditional Teamsters

22:57 - who probably sample a lot of the product

22:59 - that they're that they are

23:02 - responsible for.

23:04 - But we were able to get a positive result, just like 340 other strikes

23:10 - we've had in four and a half years, because we're able to pay our members

23:15 - $1,000 per week

23:19 - out of the strike and defense fund.

23:24 - And that's crucial because I think, you know, previously

23:27 - and there's been a lot of history in this room.

23:30 - There's a lot of history at this table that whenever we had a strike threat prior

23:34 - to 2022, the employer always had the advantage over us.

23:40 - The employer knew

23:42 - that you'd have to wait eight days before you got to check.

23:46 - They employ a new that the payment was about 150

23:50 - to $200 depending per week, depending upon

23:54 - what industry you worked in

23:57 - and when you go to a fight,

24:00 - you want to look at your opponent and you want to know

24:03 - where their vulnerabilities are.

24:06 - You want to know where you can hurt them.

24:08 - The most.

24:09 - You want to know what you're going to capitalize on.

24:13 - And the employers know different.

24:15 - They know our members probably better than we do.

24:19 - They have them captivated for 60 to 70 hours,

24:23 - 60 to 70 hours per week.

24:26 - They know their financial stability

24:29 - or lack thereof, so they know what they can sustain and not sustain.

24:34 - And we were proud in

24:35 - 2021, when we were able to change

24:40 - the Constitution, to mandate that our members

24:43 - get paid from day one.

24:46 - But we weren't successful

24:48 - in upping the strike benefit in the Constitution.

24:52 - But again, when you talk about someone who is vested in this organization,

24:58 - someone who knows the Constitution better than anybody, our general secretary

25:02 - treasurer came to me, said, hey, Sean, I think we've got an opportunity here

25:07 - to enhance the strike benefit

25:09 - without a constitutional change

25:12 - on a individual basis,

25:16 - situation by situation.

25:18 - And so we determined that it was legal for us as a general executive board.

25:22 - And we've got our General Executive board represented here today,

25:26 - that we could take a vote

25:28 - of the General Executive Board to enhance that strike benefit.

25:31 - And I'm proud to say we've enhanced that strike benefit

25:35 - for the 340 strikes that we've had.

25:38 - We've enhanced that strike benefit so that an employer knows that our members

25:43 - are not financially compromised, that they know we can sustain,

25:47 - like our brothers and sisters, that in local 429, a battle.

25:52 - And that

25:52 - battle is important because we got to win the battle

25:56 - if we are going to win the war.

25:59 - And I'm proud of the work we've done.

26:00 - I'm proud of the contracts with negotiated.

26:02 - Bill Hamilton has negotiated two of the strongest

26:06 - contracts ever. Why?

26:09 - Because we have the participation and inclusion

26:14 - of the most important people in this union,

26:17 - the 1.3 million rank and file members

26:20 - who give us the opportunity

26:23 - to represent them and the privilege.

26:26 - And we've changed that culture

26:28 - because I think if, you know, you've been around a long time,

26:32 - a lot of leaders previous to a lot of us

26:35 - thought that the members worked for them.

26:40 - And they couldn't be more wrong.

26:42 - We work for the members.

26:45 - They are our employers.

26:47 - They tell us what to do, they give us direction,

26:51 - and they are the most valuable resource we have.

26:56 - We could talk about having $1 billion in assets.

26:58 - We can talk about a $370 million strike and defense fund and all.

27:02 - That's important.

27:04 - But the most important part of the equation

27:08 - is, what are the 1.3 million

27:11 - members that we get the honor and privilege to represent?

27:15 - What are they thinking?

27:17 - What do they want, and how are we going to engage them

27:21 - to be part of the solution and not part of the problem?

27:26 - And we did that by a constitutional change as well,

27:29 - mandating in any and all negotiations, whether it's a national negotiations

27:34 - or a local union negotiation, have to include rank and file members.

27:40 - And as Bill talked about earlier, rank and file members are important

27:45 - because I think most of us know air when you're dealing with an employer,

27:50 - they have this disease.

27:53 - It's called liabilities.

27:56 - And when you are

27:57 - debating across the table, they're going to lie to you.

28:02 - They're not going to tell you the truth.

28:04 - They're going to tell you how we're a great employer.

28:06 - That doesn't happen here,

28:08 - but there's nothing more valuable

28:10 - than when a rank and file member who has to work in that workplace

28:15 - can contradict

28:17 - and actually debate credibly

28:19 - about the trials and tribulations that they face

28:23 - every single day in that workplace.

28:27 - And that's why we're winning.

28:29 - We're winning because we have engaged the most important people.

28:34 - We're winning.

28:35 - We're investing in programs like our education department.

28:40 - Dennis Hauer can attest that we have invested

28:45 - millions upon millions of dollars, and we're going to continue

28:49 - to invest in educating our members because this next generation

28:55 - have no generational connection to the Teamsters union.

28:58 - For the most part, I'm lucky.

29:00 - I'm fortunate, extremely lucky.

29:01 - I thank God every single day when I get up for a couple things,

29:05 - but I thank them for giving me the opportunity

29:08 - to be a fourth generation teamster, where I got to learn

29:13 - what it was and is to be a teamster around that dinner table.

29:18 - And unfortunately, that generational connection

29:21 - no longer exists or it's in the minority.

29:25 - So it's important for us, especially when guys like Ed Thompson,

29:29 - Ron Hicks decide to retire.

29:32 - It's important for us to make sure we're investing and that next generation,

29:37 - we're investing in, that next generation to teach them

29:42 - the history of the Teamsters union and why we have great health and welfare,

29:47 - why we have great pensions, why do we have respect and dignity in the workplace,

29:52 - but also to train them

29:57 - on how important it is to protect this brand, what everything we've got

30:02 - to make sure that the Teamsters union remains

30:06 - the top labor union in the world.

30:10 - We need to teach them

30:11 - what it means to take on an employer,

30:14 - what it means to be politically active

30:17 - so that we can hold politicians accountable.

30:21 - And if you're not active politically, and I know Pennsylvania,

30:25 - you have nine teamster members

30:29 - and either the House or Senate

30:32 - in the state of Pennsylvania, which is extremely important.

30:36 - It's important when a governor, a previous governor made a bad decision,

30:40 - I believe his name was Wolf, to not put

30:43 - guardrails around autonomous vehicles.

30:46 - And we're fighting every single day all over the country,

30:50 - all over every single state,

30:53 - to fight against autonomous vehicles, to fight against

30:56 - autonomous commercial vehicles.

30:59 - And it's important when you have like when we go to negotiations,

31:03 - you have credible arguments at the table because you have people

31:07 - that actually work in the workplace.

31:09 - But it's just as important in politics to have people engaged

31:14 - when they're trying to do backroom deals at the statehouse

31:17 - or they're trying to slip something, you know,

31:21 - through the goalie, and you have people that say, no, that's not right.

31:24 - I'm a teamster.

31:25 - I know that autonomous vehicles are going to destroy infrastructure,

31:28 - going to destroy jobs, going to destroy careers.

31:33 - That's important.

31:34 - It's important to have a seat at the table,

31:36 - because if you're not at the table, if you're on the menu,

31:40 - and I know we've gotten criticized because of the positions we've taken

31:45 - in the Teamsters union

31:47 - as far as trying to reach across the aisle

31:51 - to get bipartisan collaboration on policies

31:55 - that are important to Teamsters and working people.

31:59 - And we're doing it, and we're being successful at it.

32:03 - Have you seen the fast the Labor Contracts Act?

32:06 - We just had a bipartisan coalition

32:09 - led by Congressman Norcross

32:13 - that filed a discharge petition

32:16 - to stop the stalling of the introduction of this bill.

32:22 - And we've got Republican support.

32:25 - We've got some Democrats

32:27 - that say they're not signing it because it's not the proact.

32:31 - Now we have an opportunity for the first time in about 50 years,

32:36 - to get pro-worker legislation passed.

32:40 - And we didn't do that by criticizing Democrats.

32:44 - We didn't do it by criticizing Republicans.

32:46 - We didn't do it by criticizing independents.

32:49 - We did it by having conversations,

32:53 - legitimate conversations with people we normally wouldn't interact with.

33:00 - And that is extremely important.

33:04 - We've got to get beyond what someone did 2 or 3 years ago,

33:09 - or what positions someone took on an issue that really wasn't important

33:14 - having conversations, collaborating

33:18 - with people, explaining, having credible debate and dialog.

33:24 - It's going to promote solutions to problems.

33:27 - And we have an opportunity right now because we have positioned ourselves

33:32 - as one of the most influential

33:35 - organizations politically in the country,

33:38 - and I'm proud of the work we have done.

33:41 - I embrace criticism,

33:45 - I embrace disagreement,

33:48 - but I embrace the people that are willing

33:51 - to sit down and find solutions to problems.

33:55 - That's what we get paid to do.

33:58 - That's what we are.

34:00 - Took an oath to protect, preserve and improve

34:05 - the greatest organization in the history of labor.

34:08 - And that's the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

34:20 - Now. The facts don't lie.

34:24 - What we've accomplished,

34:26 - but we can't get complacent.

34:29 - Complacency is not acceptable.

34:31 - We could talk about all our victories,

34:34 - but we got to talk about what needs to happen moving forward.

34:37 - The biggest threat to our members right now is artificial intelligence

34:42 - technology that's going to destroy jobs.

34:46 - And we are fighting every single day, regardless of what

34:51 - the keyboard warriors are saying out there, because, you know,

34:55 - there's no consequences for misinformation anymore.

34:58 - There's no consequences for insults, because I remember back in the day,

35:02 - if you insulted someone to their face, you might have a spirited debate,

35:06 - you might have a little go around and then it'd be over.

35:10 - But when there's no consequences, you know, it's unfortunate,

35:14 - but the reality of it is we got to protect every single job we have.

35:19 - We got to find a way to create jobs and opportunity

35:22 - as a result of this technology that's coming.

35:25 - And we don't know what that is.

35:27 - We have been positioning ourselves to sit on many symposiums

35:31 - like Blackrock, Blackstone, Palantir.

35:36 - These are all the AI gurus that are either going to be implementing

35:39 - AI and or building the data centers

35:43 - that are going to support all these AI driven technologies.

35:48 - And again,

35:49 - we're not at that table explaining how important it is

35:53 - to find opportunities for people

35:56 - that may lose their job as a result of technology.

36:00 - Now, we're not doing our job.

36:03 - And again, when you see the criticism on

36:05 - why are you going to sit on a panel

36:09 - at black Rock?

36:11 - Well, if we're not sitting on that panel

36:14 - explaining how important it is to protect the middle class

36:18 - and create opportunity, then no one's going to have a voice at that panel.

36:21 - No one's going to care about what we have to say.

36:24 - If you are not out there lobbying the people that we pay

36:29 - to represent us in our communities about how dangerous this could be

36:34 - and find solutions to create opportunities, we're not doing our jobs.

36:40 - And the most important thing we need to do right now

36:43 - as a union, and we got to do it a lot better,

36:46 - and we're going to hopefully continue to do it better.

36:48 - As Steve says.

36:49 - Need to stop rooting against Teamsters.

36:53 - Americans need to stop rooting against America.

36:57 - We are the greatest union.

36:59 - We are the greatest country,

37:01 - and we need to do great things together.

37:05 - We need to put differences aside.

37:08 - Opinions matter, but find solutions to problems,

37:13 - and we are committed to doing that.

37:16 - We need to make sure that we take care of the most important people,

37:20 - the 1.3 million members that we have the honor and privilege

37:23 - to represent every single day.

37:24 - And we got to get up every single day to protect the brand.

37:29 - What everything we've got and that brand, the Teamsters brand Thunder

37:34 - and Lightning, has given everybody in this room great opportunities,

37:40 - have given

37:40 - everybody in this room the ability at some point, like Brother

37:44 - Thompson, like Brother Hicks, to retire with dignity and respect

37:49 - that wasn't given to us.

37:53 - We had to take that, and we've got to continue to take it,

37:56 - and we've got to embrace this next generation of Teamsters

38:00 - to make sure we empower them with a vision, with a goal

38:05 - to continue to make this union bigger, faster and stronger.

38:09 - And anybody that hates on the Teamsters

38:12 - or any teamster that's rooting against the Teamsters,

38:16 - you know,

38:18 - God created sidewalks for a reason

38:22 - because the streets aren't made for everybody.

38:26 - And those people that are rooting against the Teamsters

38:30 - and rooting against America,

38:34 - you are the reason why God created sidewalks,

38:38 - because I think we've proven 340 times

38:40 - we will take it to the streets to get what we want, get what we deserve.

38:45 - We will take it to the streets politically

38:49 - to make sure that these politicians are held accountable.

38:53 - And make sure I remind them that

38:55 - when you have good jobs, you have good communities,

38:58 - you've got good school systems, you've got a next great generation

39:03 - that's going to make this Teamsters Union bigger, faster, stronger.

39:07 - I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here.

39:10 - And like anything else, I will open up for questions, concerns and criticisms.

39:14 - Thank you very much.

39:30 - Are there any questions?

39:39 - This is a first.

39:42 - But listen, thank you very much I appreciate opportunity to be here.

39:45 - Thank you.

40:02 - We got.

40:05 - He's always hard to follow.

40:09 - What thing he said

40:11 - resonates with me and with all of you I'm sure is

40:17 - we can't trust our politicians to our future.

40:21 - Sometimes.

40:22 - So I urge you, when you're doing your contracts,

40:26 - when you're negotiating your individual labor agreements,

40:29 - your large labor agreements, whatever size they may be.

40:34 - For instance, in DHL, we legislated there will be no driverless

40:39 - vehicles into the contract for the life of the contract.

40:44 - They can't have them.

40:45 - We legislated I protections for office

40:49 - people where if there's an AI mechanism

40:52 - that gets installed in the office, it's got to have an operator near it.

40:56 - So we don't eliminate jobs.

40:58 - We know AI's coming, but we need to control it to make sure

41:03 - that our people are the ones operating it,

41:06 - and not some third party from southeast Brazil pushing a button.

41:12 - So we've been able to do that in several of our big contracts,

41:16 - and we will continue to legislate against AI.

41:20 - We know it's coming.

41:21 - We're going to have to deal with it.

41:23 - And we understand we have to deal with it.

41:24 - But at the end of the day, we have to control it more than anything,

41:29 - deal with it and control it.

41:33 - Cases, Fitzpatrick area.

41:44 - I can speak regarding that.

41:46 - Let's that some free time.

41:51 - Joe, what do you want to say a couple words.

41:52 - Happy birthday.

41:53 - I'll start your shit.

42:06 - Why did I do that to myself?

42:08 - You know, I,

42:10 - Well, you were interrupted.

42:11 - Be quiet.

42:13 - We've got to dial.

42:15 - Who does?

42:17 - No, we don't.

42:19 - I heard that a snap.

42:20 - One of the requests that I can.

42:33 - I. Let's

42:36 - talk about shifting a little bit to Joint Council 53.

42:40 - We will have our executive board meeting

42:42 - and our regular monthly meeting this afternoon.

42:45 - Probably sooner than three.

42:47 - I will give you the time.

42:59 - But having said that.

43:03 - Let's go into,

43:04 - talking about,

43:09 - the coming convention.

43:11 - I know a lot of you have making plans.

43:14 - It's it's going to be

43:16 - rather condensed.

43:17 - It's in a few day period, 3 or 4 days.

43:21 - But, please make sure as a delegate,

43:25 - you get your credentials, make sure you register out there

43:28 - and make sure everybody knows you're there.

43:30 - We want to make sure that all the Pennsylvania delegates get placed seated.

43:35 - And, get ready to vote because we're going to have a vote out there.

43:42 - And, it's important that everybody participates more than anything.

43:46 - Now, the Pennsylvania Conference is always well represented.

43:50 - There will be no truck parades this year.

43:52 - They just don't permit it on the premises out there.

43:55 - So we're going to be a little hamstrung with advertising.

44:00 - But at the end of the day, we just want to participate

44:03 - and make sure everybody shows up.

44:05 - And, and I know you just don't want to miss Vegas.

44:08 - I love Vegas, but you know,

44:12 - let's talk about

44:14 - participation in these upcoming elections.

44:18 - You know, we live in a very divided community,

44:22 - a very divided leadership.

44:24 - We we don't know who to sometimes back, not back.

44:30 - Republican, Democrat.

44:32 - As you'll see here this week, we have friends

44:35 - on both sides of that aisle.

44:39 - Not as many on one

44:40 - side as the other, but still

44:43 - it takes a balance to get anything done in Washington today.

44:47 - As you can see, how broke it is.

44:49 - So we want to encourage that.

44:52 - We're going to be coming out with a list of candidates.

44:54 - A Pennsylvania conference is going to endorse.

44:58 - And we would like to make sure

45:01 - that you, as leaders, share that list with your members

45:06 - and make sure they understand who and why you're backing

45:10 - the message is the most important part

45:12 - of convincing people about elections

45:16 - and what elections hold for you.

45:20 - Remember somebody that you vote for

45:23 - that gets in office and breaks your trust

45:27 - because he doesn't vote for a bill, or doesn't support a bill,

45:30 - or becomes so enamored with his own party

45:33 - that he can't make a decision on his own, which is what's happened in this country.

45:38 - Too many of our elected politicians get swayed,

45:43 - get talked in the

45:45 - talking head points that they they can't make sense out of

45:49 - because somebody is telling them to do this or do that,

45:52 - they lose their sense of, of

45:56 - I would say independents almost.

45:58 - They, they can't make their own choices.

46:01 - They're made for them.

46:02 - We need to look for younger leaders that are willing to stand up

46:07 - and say what they believe and mean. It.

46:11 - I think we've witnessed first hand,

46:15 - the rather radical takeover of the Republican Party

46:18 - and what it has accomplished in this country.

46:22 - It has shaken

46:24 - the, the, the values to their core.

46:28 - Why do I say that?

46:29 - We've got friends on both sides.

46:30 - You just said I said, we do.

46:32 - But the majority is controlled by the Republicans.

46:36 - And right now, if you ask any Republican in a back room his opinion,

46:42 - you won't get the same opinion in front of a group of other

46:48 - like Republicans

46:49 - because they almost been muzzled to speak.

46:53 - I have friends on both sides, and they're very shy about

46:57 - announcing their true intentions or voting for something.

47:01 - Often they don't even show to vote.

47:05 - They don't want to vote.

47:06 - They don't want to vote because they're going to be pigeonholed.

47:09 - We need to change the dynamics in this country, and we have to change it

47:13 - by electing people that give a shit,

47:16 - and we haven't had that in a long time.

47:19 - There's very few people that we can go to as congressmen

47:22 - and as representatives that we can

47:25 - say, I know I can talk to you openly.

47:28 - I know you'll listen,

47:30 - and that,

47:32 - I'm sorry to say, has become a dwindling few.

47:37 - And we I don't know how we change it.

47:39 - I guess it it's it's got to come from us.

47:42 - It's got to come from voting people.

47:43 - And if it can't come from union people, then we're doomed.

47:46 - If we can't get the people in this room to agree

47:51 - on what our issues are and how we need to address them,

47:55 - and how we need to tell our politicians that, you know, our,

48:00 - our goals and our rules are to

48:02 - get free and fair day's work.

48:07 - No rules

48:09 - around legislation that protects labor.

48:13 - Why is it such a toxic issue to get people to sign on to a bill

48:18 - that says you have to get a faster, fairer contract?

48:22 - What is wrong with a country

48:24 - that can't back the simplicity

48:28 - of a fair, fast contract?

48:31 - Don't give that employer 12 months to pick us apart.

48:35 - Don't give them a year to break down the bargaining unit.

48:38 - Get rid of half of them.

48:40 - Why can't they understand that

48:42 - this is not that difficult or political of an issue?

48:46 - It's an issue that protects our members, protects our contracts for text year.

48:52 - Right.

48:52 - And those people's rights.

48:54 - It's their first time in a union.

48:56 - Some of them, they don't know what a union means.

48:59 - Yet here they are looking at a piece of agreement peace,

49:04 - because it's not a full agreement that they can't get past first base,

49:08 - because this company is going to stonewall on what their six lawyers.

49:13 - Why can't a congressman

49:15 - or a senator absorb that simple issue of life

49:19 - that we have rights in this country, and you need to protect them?

49:24 - It's becoming increasingly difficult to get that point across.

49:28 - And, it's it's disappointing.

49:31 - Hopefully some of the speakers that are here, this week

49:34 - can convey that to us, but right now it's at a difficult crossroads.

49:39 - And, quite frankly, it worries me

49:42 - that we won't get there.

49:46 - In between

49:46 - our speakers, I would like to invite,

49:50 - is Emily out there to

49:53 - Emily?

49:53 - Leonardo?

49:56 - She runs, a recovery center and Brookdale

50:00 - and more and more and more, our our members have relied

50:04 - on outside interests other than hospitals and rehabilitation centers.

50:11 - But we have a myriad of members

50:14 - that have really needed physical and mental assistance.

50:19 - And, Emily, come on up.

50:27 - Come on up here.

50:33 - Hello, everyone.

50:34 - The dawning of the Lord

50:36 - is drinking my coffee.

50:46 - Emily.

50:46 - Thank you. Cheers.

50:49 - Good morning everyone.

50:51 - My name is Emily Leonardo.

50:52 - I am the clinical outreach representative for Discovery Behavioral Health.

50:57 - I do a lot of advocacy for our members and their families.

51:01 - I do everything from substance abuse to mental health

51:05 - to eating disorders on a residential level.

51:08 - For a 30 day inpatient stay.

51:10 - Or I can also find you a therapist.

51:13 - You're struggling at work.

51:14 - You're struggling at home.

51:16 - What happens when a member needs help?

51:19 - What happens? Somebody tell me I'm a member.

51:22 - I'm coming to you. I have a problem.

51:24 - Who do you call?

51:26 - Who do you turn to?

51:27 - Emily.

51:29 - I have a table out there I can talk to you all about

51:32 - Brookdale Recovery Center, the safe return to work.

51:35 - After struggling with substances.

51:37 - I can talk to you about discovery, mood and anxiety.

51:40 - It's in Maryland for primary mental health.

51:42 - A safe return to work.

51:44 - We will file all FMLA short term disability,

51:47 - and we will advocate from the time you need, whatever treatment that you need

51:50 - until your return to work will loop in your union, your business agent,

51:54 - whoever needs to be looped in for your advocacy.

51:57 - Make sure that you can keep your job and recover lifelong.

52:02 - And that's all I have for you.

52:05 - Because I was made coffee and I was not prepared, so I apologize.

52:08 - Please come find my table.

52:09 - We can have a one on one conversation.

52:11 - And in the interim, if you have someone in mind

52:14 - at work, at home who is struggling and could probably use a little bit

52:18 - support, but you don't really know where to begin, come to me, talk to me

52:21 - about the situation that we can connect and I can push you in the right direction.

52:26 - Thank you everyone.

52:37 - Just for attitude

52:38 - makes you want to go share.

52:42 - Thank you Emily.

52:50 - As I was going on

52:51 - one of my rants about the process and things

52:55 - we need to get done in Congress, in the Senate, one of my favorite

53:00 - people walked into the room and I just noticed him.

53:03 - Congressman Ryan Fitzpatrick,

53:06 - he's to me,

53:09 - a teamster hero.

53:11 - Brian Fitzpatrick stands up in a bipartisan way

53:16 - and represents the Teamsters

53:19 - in our country and in his area better than anybody

53:23 - I've ever seen on either side of the aisle.

53:28 - He's fair.

53:29 - He's got courage,

53:31 - and I'm not even reading that off his bio.

53:34 - So I'm telling you the way he is.

53:36 - For 14 years prior to representing his hometown

53:39 - of Pennsylvania, first Congressional District Brian Fitzpatrick

53:43 - served our nation both as an FBI special agent and federal prosecutor,

53:48 - fighting both domestic and international political corruption

53:52 - and supporting global counterterrorism

53:56 - and counterintelligence efforts, including being embedded with the U.S.

54:00 - Special Forces as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

54:05 - Working to promote freedom and democracy at home and abroad.

54:09 - Brian also served as National Director of the FBI's Campaign

54:12 - Finance and Election Crimes Enforcement Program,

54:16 - and as a national supervisor for the FBI's Public Corruption Unit

54:21 - at FBI headquarters, where he was recognized as an expert

54:25 - in restoring integrity to governmental institutions.

54:30 - He was a

54:30 - co-sponsor of the Faster Labor Contracts Act,

54:34 - introduced in 2025 to establish

54:37 - a defined timeline for first contract bargaining units,

54:42 - and he was one of six Republicans who voted against the Ashley Hinson

54:47 - Workforce Regulation Bill, a measure opposed by the Teamsters.

54:51 - Congressman Fitzpatrick is a delegate

54:54 - to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and a champion of bipartisan leadership,

54:59 - co-chairing nearly 20 caucus

55:01 - caucuses and task force dedicated to strengthening Pennsylvania's

55:05 - first district, our nation and global security, among others.

55:10 - He serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus,

55:14 - Congressional Ukraine Caucus, Bipartisan Task Force for Combat

55:19 - Combating anti-Semitism, Congressional

55:22 - Fire Services Caucus, House Cancer Caucus,

55:25 - and the bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force.

55:30 - Congressman Fitzpatrick is a licensed attorney, a certified

55:34 - public accountant, and a certified emergency medical technician.

55:39 - That about covers it all.

55:40 - There's nothing he can't do,

55:41 - and he's here today to speak to us, and I'm honored to have him.

55:45 - Brian, please come on up.

56:04 - Thank you.

56:11 - Thank you.

56:11 - Bill. That was very, very kind.

56:13 - And to President Hamilton and to, our very own Danny Grace from,

56:17 - Pennsylvania's first district, I think, I think we all share,

56:22 - one main thing in common, and that is that we value loyalty.

56:26 - And any time that Danny calls, I will answer any time, Bill,

56:29 - he calls that I will answer.

56:30 - And they always know the answer is always yes.

56:33 - Always yes, no matter what the ask is.

56:36 - Billy brought up the, Faster Labor Contracts Act,

56:38 - so I'm sure many of you are familiar with it.

56:41 - So we have the pro act.

56:43 - That's sort of the that we would call the Super Bowl of organized labor

56:46 - that I co-lead, with Bobby Scott.

56:49 - Obviously that's a very, very heavy, all in organized labor bill.

56:54 - That's been a challenge

56:55 - to get through both chambers, because we have different rules

56:58 - that govern each of the chambers.

56:59 - The Faster Labor Contracts Act is is much like that,

57:03 - but it's pared down a little bit, much more bipartisan.

57:06 - And I've made my pledge to president O'Brien, to President Hamilton, to Danny,

57:11 - that that we will force that to the floor.

57:14 - And that is a guarantee it will pass.

57:17 - That is a guarantee.

57:19 - And then our job is to find a way to navigate the Senate on that.

57:23 - But if it emerges, that emerges out of the House

57:25 - is going to be a lot of pressure for them to put that up for a vote.

57:28 - And it's a two party bill.

57:29 - So I actually feel quite good.

57:30 - And in a town where it's hard to get things done, I actually feel quite

57:34 - good about the prospects, and that's going to be a huge win for the Teamsters.

57:38 - I just want to, you know, touch on on one thing.

57:43 - We all have our story of where,

57:45 - where our labor labor support comes from.

57:49 - Many of you, I'm sure, have a family history of it.

57:52 - I spoke at the, the Building trades, conference in Washington, DC.

57:56 - It was actually at the Washington Hilton, last Wednesday,

58:01 - and I talked about our old family story.

58:04 - So my grandfather, actually, my grandparents on both sides

58:07 - immigrated through Ellis Island in Ireland.

58:09 - My grandfather, Michael Fitzpatrick, who died when I was very, very young.

58:14 - But one of the memories I have of him was him

58:17 - telling me as he's bobbing me up and down on his knee.

58:20 - He died when I was, I think, five years old,

58:24 - that unions had saved him, that he had come to,

58:26 - come to America from Ireland with no money at all.

58:30 - And it was the ironworkers Union.

58:32 - They gave him a, a job,

58:34 - not just a union card, not just a job, but dignity, and actually allowed him

58:38 - to start a family here, which led to the Fitzpatricks,

58:42 - ultimately moving to Pennsylvania, from New York.

58:45 - And starting a family.

58:46 - And I know that's the story of so many people here.

58:49 - And when it comes to supporting these types

58:51 - of legislation, and these bills, it's easy.

58:55 - It really is, because there are a lot of people

58:58 - in Washington, DC that we deal with that we really don't want to deal with.

59:02 - And then there are people that because of this job,

59:05 - we get to meet some of the most amazing beer and blue jeans,

59:08 - salt of the earth, patriotic Americans that we can ever hope for.

59:12 - And I look at the people of organized labor.

59:13 - I look at you all in this room just by looking at you.

59:16 - I can tell you that that's what you are.

59:18 - You're part of not only the largest and most diverse union in the world,

59:23 - which you are.

59:25 - You've been doing it for close to 125 years, dating all the way back to 1903.

59:30 - And what are you asking for?

59:31 - Fairness, fair wages, safe job

59:34 - conditions, and a fair shot at success.

59:37 - And that is what we will call a win at the back type.

59:40 - Of course, in DC you're not asking for anything out of selfish motives.

59:45 - You're not asking for anything that hurts our country quite the contrary.

59:49 - You're asking for fairness.

59:50 - You're asking for safety.

59:52 - You're asking for a fair pay to take care of your family,

59:56 - to be part of the American story that we're all a part of, are all part of.

59:59 - 732 And I just want to touch on,

01:00 - 05.969 something Billy talked about the the caucuses that he read.

01:00 - 09.772 One of them, the one that I lead, the main one that I spend most of my time on

01:00 - 11.107 is called the Problem Solvers Caucus.

01:00 - 14.844 So in Congress, there's a continuum based on ideology

01:00 - 19.015 of caucuses that you join and everybody joins one.

01:00 - 21.784 So on the far right, you have something called the Freedom Caucus.

01:00 - 24.053 I'm sure most of you have heard of that far left.

01:00 - 25.188 You have something called the squad.

01:00 - 27.256 I'm sure you've heard of that.

01:00 - 29.125 Most people haven't heard of the others. Right.

01:00 - 30.693 These are the saber rattlers.

01:00 - 32.362 They get a lot of the attention.

01:00 - 35.898 But as you move towards the center, you have some conservative

01:00 - 37.266 Democrats called the Blue Dogs.

01:00 - 39.235 Some moderate Republicans called the Tuesday group.

01:00 - 42.271 There's one group and only one group that's a two party group.

01:00 - 44.307 And that's called the problem Solvers.

01:00 - 46.209 It's actually a 1 to 1 ratio.

01:00 - 48.144 So if you want to join, you have to find someone

01:00 - 50.113 from the opposite party to join with you.

01:00 - 53.249 Everything we do, every bill we advance is a two party solution

01:00 - 55.618 authored by both parties.

01:00 - 59.922 And by the way, the fair, the Faster Contracts Act is just that.

01:01 - 02.992 So our group is a bipartisan group.

01:01 - 06.562 We're currently at 50 members, 25 Democrats, 25 Republicans.

01:01 - 07.463 By the way, do the math.

01:01 - 11.467 There's 435 members of the House, and only 50 chose to join the

01:01 - 12.969 the bipartisan Problem Solvers.

01:01 - 14.837 So take of that what you will

01:01 - 16.606 we would like

01:01 - 19.642 for one day us not to be needed that we don't need.

01:01 - 22.679 We don't have a Problem solvers caucus is just called Congress.

01:01 - 23.846 We're not there at the moment.

01:01 - 27.216 But that's our ultimate goal and what our long term goal is.

01:01 - 30.953 So we're using bipartisanship as a mechanism ultimately

01:01 - 33.322 to get to non partizanship.

01:01 - 35.091 And what do I mean by that?

01:01 - 37.827 We're about to celebrate 250 years.

01:01 - 41.264 In just a few months, which, by the way, is not a long time.

01:01 - 43.132 When you think about,

01:01 - 46.769 this monumental birthday we have coming up 250 years is only a few generations.

01:01 - 50.039 And yet we are the world's oldest democracy.

01:01 - 52.275 No, democracy has survived this planet.

01:01 - 52.942 Think about that.

01:01 - 55.912 More than 250 years. Democracy in this form.

01:01 - 00.149 And when our country was founded and the independence

01:02 - 03.152 movement was launched, there were no political parties.

01:02 - 05.922 When George Washington ran for president, he wasn't

01:02 - 08.925 part of a political party because they didn't exist.

01:02 - 11.427 Everybody was just an American.

01:02 - 13.262 Imagine that. Right.

01:02 - 17.033 And it wasn't until later in his term where these this

01:02 - 20.837 concept of the two party system started to come out.

01:02 - 26.542 And Washington dedicated a huge chunk of his farewell address in 1796,

01:02 - 29.879 by the way, an incredibly brave person that led us

01:02 - 34.050 to pull off the greatest military miracle in world history defeating the Brits.

01:02 - 37.286 The sun had never set on the British Empire, and he pulled

01:02 - 40.289 this ragtag group together called the Continental Army

01:02 - 43.926 a bunch of, you know, farmers and realtors and small business owners

01:02 - 47.663 who are willing to leave their spouses and their kids to go on

01:02 - 49.265 what was deemed to be a suicide mission.

01:02 - 52.168 And so the people

01:02 - 55.171 they didn't know and never would know might enjoy a better way of life.

01:02 - 56.773 That's how much they believed in the cause.

01:02 - 58.374 There were no parties back then.

01:02 - 00.042 They didn't exist.

01:03 - 02.678 And towards the end of Washington's second term,

01:03 - 05.581 they talked him into a second term. He said, no more.

01:03 - 10.219 It was a tradition that, that that lasted up until FDR, who served

01:03 - 14.123 four terms and died in office, at which point Congress passed the 22nd amendment.

01:03 - 17.093 But it was always a gentlemen's agreement started by George Washington.

01:03 - 21.631 And in his farewell address in 1796, he warned about the two party system.

01:03 - 24.901 He said the fundamental precepts of the way

01:03 - 27.904 they drafted

01:03 - 29.005 the articles

01:03 - 31.974 in the Constitution was, was, was meant to,

01:03 - 35.812 you know, rely on unity and consensus building.

01:03 - 39.015 And he looked at this two party system and he said, that's the exact

01:03 - 42.318 opposite of what we envisioned when we drafted the Constitution.

01:03 - 43.853 What they

01:03 - 47.356 envisioned was unity, against a common external threat.

01:03 - 51.093 And he warned that the two party system was going to create this internal division

01:03 - 53.029 that would put our republic at risk.

01:03 - 56.032 And here we are about to celebrate our 250th birthday.

01:03 - 58.734 And his words definitely have rung true.

01:03 - 00.703 Well, how do we fix that?

01:04 - 04.106 We view our group as a mechanism, not the solution,

01:04 - 07.944 but part of the part of the problem solving process to fix that,

01:04 - 10.746 to make sure that we we are sitting together

01:04 - 13.249 at the state of the Union address, we're going in each other's districts,

01:04 - 16.252 and we're authoring and supporting two party solutions.

01:04 - 18.321 And at the core of our group

01:04 - 21.824 is an unequivocal and unapologetic support for organized labor,

01:04 - 25.061 including the Teamsters and all of your brothers and sisters,

01:04 - 27.864 throughout the building trades and throughout the unions.

01:04 - 31.801 That is a core tenant of our group because we our goal for labor

01:04 - 37.206 is to take it out of politics altogether and make it a universally accepted truth

01:04 - 40.443 that we are always going to support the men and women of organized labor,

01:04 - 41.978 take it out of politics, ought to go.

01:04 - 48.384 Because

01:04 - 51.387 that is that's the only way to build a sustainable mission.

01:04 - 52.955 There are a lot of groups out there.

01:04 - 55.825 They go all in on on an ideology.

01:04 - 57.526 They go all in on a party.

01:04 - 00.062 And that's a short term solution, short term thinking.

01:05 - 03.833 Because as we know, the pendulum always has and always will swing back and forth.

01:05 - 08.671 The success of a cause can never ride on a certain circumstance.

01:05 - 12.441 In our government being the case, it's got to be you got to

01:05 - 15.444 have protection across the board and have allies across the board.

01:05 - 19.315 And that's what Billy and Danny and so many people here have done.

01:05 - 24.587 You've made this about you made this an American cause, because it is.

01:05 - 26.188 That's exactly what it is.

01:05 - 29.258 So I, for one, will always, always, always have your back.

01:05 - 33.496 The gentleman up here know the answer for me is always yes.

01:05 - 36.766 And the most imminent piece of legislation that's going to have

01:05 - 41.203 the biggest impact on you all, is a faster, Labor Contracts Act

01:05 - 44.840 that is a two party bill endorsed by our caucus, that

01:05 - 48.678 we have made a pledge to president O'Brien that we are going to sign the discharge.

01:05 - 50.613 We're just developing the strategy.

01:05 - 52.915 But it's it's a question of of of when,

01:05 - 56.118 not if it will be brought to the floor and it will pass.

01:05 - 58.254 That is a guarantee.

01:05 - 59.522 Then we got to deal with the Senate.

01:05 - 02.525 The Senate's a different animal, different rules, different vote thresholds.

01:06 - 04.327 But, one step at a time.

01:06 - 06.195 So thank you all for your friendship.

01:06 - 09.198 Thank you for your loyalty, and loyalty.

01:06 - 12.368 And my family always comes back, tenfold.

01:06 - 15.104 And that's what you have with me. So thank you so much. I appreciate.

01:06 - 55.644 Brian, thank you for for coming.

01:06 - 57.780 And thank you for what you do.

01:06 - 58.914 One thing he's right.

01:06 - 02.018 About every single time I call.

01:07 - 03.352 What do you need?

01:07 - 05.421 Is the first things. I have his mouth.

01:07 - 07.757 The guy is.

01:07 - 09.291 He's up for election this year, too.

01:07 - 09.625 Correct.

01:07 - 13.362 Brian, we need to get this guy reelected.

01:07 - 17.366 I don't care what party you belong to.

01:07 - 20.036 This guy needs our vote,

01:07 - 21.137 and we will campaign.

01:07 - 24.140 Hard to get Brian back where he belongs.

01:07 - 26.609 Helping us because he does every single day.

01:07 - 29.812 He's down there and he does every single day's anywhere.

01:07 - 33.049 He speaks well of labor and of us and of working

01:07 - 36.118 people across this state and across this country.

01:07 - 40.222 And he's well respected and we should always have his back, and we will.

01:07 - 46.162 Our next speaker is Representative Martina White.

01:07 - 50.433 Martina is a financial advisor and lifelong resident of Northeast

01:07 - 51.567 Philadelphia.

01:07 - 55.004 She was first elected on March 24th, 2015,

01:07 - 58.974 and a special election to fill an open seat in the 170th district.

01:07 - 03.879 She became the first new Republican elected in Philadelphia in 25 years.

01:08 - 07.083 Martina has worked on various issues and delivered

01:08 - 11.087 increased funding for school and the ITC program.

01:08 - 15.724 Public safety, including concurrent jurisdiction for illegal firearm crimes,

01:08 - 19.128 as well as the impeachment of the Philadelphia District Attorney

01:08 - 22.465 and increasing services for our seniors.

01:08 - 25.734 Martina served as a secretary of the House Republican Caucus

01:08 - 30.606 for two consecutive sessions, and now serves as the caucus chairwoman.

01:08 - 33.976 Additionally, she serves on the Septa board

01:08 - 38.080 as chair of the House Republican House Transportation Infrastructure Committee

01:08 - 41.617 and the Liquid Natural Gas Task Force.

01:08 - 45.554 As a financial advisor, Martina guided families and small business

01:08 - 48.891 owners on how to best accomplish their financial goals.

01:08 - 53.195 There, she saw the challenges of raising children and dealing with the high cost

01:08 - 57.233 of education and health care, which helped inspire her

01:08 - 01.103 to seek office to assist working families across the Commonwealth.

01:09 - 06.142 Martina was the first member of our immediate family to graduate from college.

01:09 - 09.445 She received her Bachelor of Science degrees

01:09 - 12.748 in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College.

01:09 - 15.684 She's a friend of labor, a friend of mine.

01:09 - 20.222 And would you please invite my wife, vice, my wife with some financial planning.

01:09 - 25.794 One of our team,

01:09 - 52.354 Thank you.

01:09 - 55.324 Thank you so much.

01:10 - 07.536 You know, Brian is always a tough act to follow.

01:10 - 11.740 I will say that, but he does an incredible job down in Washington for all of us.

01:10 - 14.843 And we're really grateful to have him as our, local congressman.

01:10 - 18.147 So, you know, good morning.

01:10 - 19.582 First and foremost.

01:10 - 23.319 And, thank you so much for that warm introduction and thank you,

01:10 - 26.655 to Billy Hamilton and Danny Grace for your leadership.

01:10 - 29.525 All of the Pennsylvania Teamsters and, the team

01:10 - 31.660 that is here before you does an incredible job

01:10 - 35.097 to advocate for your membership all across the state and our nation.

01:10 - 38.100 You know, local 830 is actually just

01:10 - 41.103 across the street from my office back home in the district.

01:10 - 44.540 And it's a really special thing because anytime a member needs anything,

01:10 - 48.043 they always just walk right across the street and we're there to help.

01:10 - 51.947 So, just for background on on me

01:10 - 54.950 and why I'm here today,

01:10 - 59.321 my great grandfather ran and operated one of the largest union

01:10 - 00.923 trucking companies on the eastern seaboard.

01:11 - 02.725 During his time.

01:11 - 05.828 And so I will never forget where I come from

01:11 - 09.565 and the people who helped to get me there.

01:11 - 12.534 So I just want you all to know that.

01:11 - 18.340 And, you know, Pennsylvania is not just another state in the transportation

01:11 - 19.808 sector.

01:11 - 23.946 Pennsylvania is the crossroads of the East Coast economy.

01:11 - 28.784 And within a single day's drive from here, you can reach nearly half of the U.S.

01:11 - 30.352 population.

01:11 - 32.888 And that's why freight moving through this Commonwealth helps

01:11 - 35.891 to power the entire northeast and much of the country.

01:11 - 40.562 And that system works because all of you

01:11 - 43.165 Teamsters move the goods that keep

01:11 - 47.136 hospitals, supplied construction projects running, grocery

01:11 - 51.140 store shelves full and stocked, and manufacturers competitive.

01:11 - 55.044 When Pennsylvania freight moves, America moves.

01:11 - 59.481 Right now, there are real developments happening in the industry

01:11 - 02.651 that create opportunity for transportation workers all across the state.

01:12 - 06.121 First and foremost, cargo moving through the Port of Philadelphia

01:12 - 09.792 is expected to grow by millions of additional tons over the next

01:12 - 12.795 few years, especially refrigerated and container freight.

01:12 - 17.966 Every one of those shipments depends on trucking once it reaches the shore,

01:12 - 21.036 which means more freight moving across Pennsylvania highways.

01:12 - 25.140 And second, southeastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley

01:12 - 28.844 have become one of the fastest growing logistics carters in the country.

01:12 - 32.181 Companies are expanding here because they need access

01:12 - 35.184 to the East Coast markets within hours, not days.

01:12 - 39.054 That growth means more routes, more freight activity

01:12 - 42.057 and stronger long term demand across this region.

01:12 - 46.962 And third, even with all this expansion, the industry continues to face a shortage

01:12 - 51.233 of qualified professionals like you, professional drivers

01:12 - 54.403 that can get the freight where it needs to go and to do so safely.

01:12 - 59.041 More than ever, we are making

01:12 - 02.478 sure that Pennsylvania is competitive in the national freight network.

01:13 - 07.149 That's why protecting transportation funding matters here in the Commonwealth.

01:13 - 10.252 For years, hundreds of millions of dollars

01:13 - 13.789 of transportation funding was going toward

01:13 - 18.861 an alternative fund for helping to support the state police operations.

01:13 - 22.531 I worked to move that funding into the general fund,

01:13 - 25.000 and therefore restoring billions of dollars

01:13 - 27.436 over the past decade to the highways and freight quarters.

01:13 - 30.205 The industry depends on every day

01:13 - 31.073 where I come from.

01:13 - 31.507 In Northeast

01:13 - 35.110 Philadelphia, transportation work is part of the fabric of our communities.

01:13 - 39.481 It's how families build stability and opportunity across generations.

01:13 - 44.286 And it's why partnerships between policy makers and organizations

01:13 - 47.423 like the Teamsters matter so much.

01:13 - 50.759 When we invest in freight infrastructure, we strengthen jobs.

01:13 - 55.063 When we support workforce pipelines, we strengthen industries.

01:13 - 57.065 And when we keep Pennsylvania competitive

01:13 - 00.569 as a logistics hub, we strengthen the entire Commonwealth.

01:14 - 04.973 So I just want to thank you all very, very much for the work that you do

01:14 - 08.444 to help keep Pennsylvania moving and to keep America moving.

01:14 - 11.780 So it's an honor today to stand with you all.

01:14 - 14.783 Thank you very much.

01:14 - 28.030 Thank you.

01:14 - 30.165 Great job. Thank you.

01:14 - 30.499 Okay.

01:14 - 33.302 Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please?

01:14 - 35.504 Back in session.

01:14 - 38.340 We have a special guest here today.

01:14 - 41.743 Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis has joined us,

01:14 - 45.080 as part of the Shapiro team.

01:14 - 48.083 He's doing a wonderful job for the state of Pennsylvania.

01:14 - 50.819 Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis is the youngest

01:14 - 53.021 lieutenant governor in the country

01:14 - 56.191 and the first black lieutenant governor in Commonwealth history.

01:14 - 01.029 Inspired by the history makers who came before leaders like Pennsylvania House

01:15 - 06.668 speaker K Leroy Elvis and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Nix Jr,

01:15 - 10.072 Austin is determined to motivate a new generation

01:15 - 13.075 of public servants to break even more barriers.

01:15 - 16.612 Austin's path to the second highest office in the Commonwealth

01:15 - 21.116 started in McKeesport, a former steel town in western Pennsylvania.

01:15 - 25.454 Growing up, he watched his mom, a hairdresser from more than 40 years,

01:15 - 28.957 juggle raising a family with putting food on a table,

01:15 - 32.761 and he watched his dad work hard as a union bus driver.

01:15 - 37.232 At age 16, Austin was living in McKeesport

01:15 - 41.970 when gun violence came to their doorstep after a shooting in his neighborhood.

01:15 - 46.341 He got involved in his community, starting a youth advisory council

01:15 - 51.446 with the mayor and a youth gun violence prevention program at the high school.

01:15 - 56.084 Austin went on to study political science at the University of Pittsburgh,

01:15 - 59.588 becoming a first generation college graduate

01:15 - 02.591 and then pursuing a career in public service.

01:16 - 07.996 He returned to McKeesport to work for the Allegheny County Executive.

01:16 - 12.301 In that role, he helped create his first violence prevention office

01:16 - 15.637 within the Allegheny Department of Health.

01:16 - 18.540 In 2018, Austin

01:16 - 21.677 successfully ran for the House of Representatives

01:16 - 25.480 to represent the Mann Valley and his hometown of McKeesport,

01:16 - 29.585 becoming the first American African-American

01:16 - 33.889 to represent his legislative district as lieutenant governor.

01:16 - 37.693 Also presides over the Pennsylvania Senate, chairs

01:16 - 42.130 the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, leads a local government advisory committee,

01:16 - 45.601 and serves on the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council.

01:16 - 49.404 Governor Josh Shapiro has also appointed Austin

01:16 - 53.175 to chair the Pennsylvania Commission of Crime and Decency.

01:16 - 55.110 Austin

01:16 - 58.647 is a great friend of the Teamsters, always there when we need him

01:16 - 01.917 and proud to have him here today, Austin.

01:17 - 26.808 Good morning.

01:17 - 29.011 Are there any Teamsters in the house?

01:17 - 30.345 You can do better than that, I said.

01:17 - 33.248 Are there any teamsters in the house?

01:17 - 36.418 Let's give a round of applause for your president, President Hamilton,

01:17 - 40.055 for his leadership and all the great work he provides here

01:17 - 43.058 in Pennsylvania.

01:17 - 47.763 You know, I want to thank all of you for having me here today.

01:17 - 51.466 It's great to be here with brothers and sisters in the labor movement.

01:17 - 53.935 As President Hamilton mentioned, I'm

01:17 - 57.172 the proud son of a union bus driver and a hairdresser.

01:17 - 01.043 I would like to note that my mother has worked

01:18 - 04.046 with Carl Bailey's wife.

01:18 - 09.484 My mother has worked with Carl Bailey's wife for 40 years.

01:18 - 12.454 And he knew me before I even knew myself.

01:18 - 14.289 So, Carl, thank you for your leadership.

01:18 - 16.358 And thank you for being here.

01:18 - 19.961 You know, I grew up in a working class family in a working class community,

01:18 - 22.297 and I know what it's like to grow up in a family

01:18 - 25.233 that has to get creative to make ends meet.

01:18 - 28.637 I saw firsthand the benefits of a good union

01:18 - 31.640 job, what that can provide for a family.

01:18 - 35.911 My own experience drives me to always stand with working people,

01:18 - 40.315 whether I'm at the Capitol in Harrisburg or on a picket line in Erie.

01:18 - 43.485 Which

01:18 - 45.420 is why Governor Shapiro and I

01:18 - 49.424 have worked so hard to invest in Pennsylvania's workforce, to support

01:18 - 53.795 good paying jobs and to defend workers rights here in our Commonwealth.

01:18 - 57.632 These investments we're making are delivering real results

01:18 - 01.670 for the next generation to prepare them for the workforce of the future.

01:19 - 05.774 Our apprenticeship programs are expanding and we're creating new ones

01:19 - 10.679 in fields like nursing, energy and agriculture and manufacturing

01:19 - 14.282 so that more Pennsylvanians can develop the skills that they need

01:19 - 17.719 to get good paying jobs and to live the American dream.

01:19 - 21.690 Look, since the governor and I took office, we've registered

01:19 - 25.293 over 200 new apprenticeship and pre apprenticeship programs,

01:19 - 28.997 enrolled nearly 18,000 new apprentices,

01:19 - 32.067 increased funding for vo tech and career

01:19 - 35.971 and technical education and apprenticeships by 50%.

01:19 - 40.208 Since we took office, we enrolled 3000 additional students

01:19 - 43.211 in career and technical education programs.

01:19 - 46.815 I made a commitment to expanding opportunity in our Commonwealth

01:19 - 50.619 when I first came into office, and these additional investments,

01:19 - 54.422 our younger generations can enter the workforce best prepared

01:19 - 57.893 to tackle the job at hand and build their futures.

01:19 - 01.830 And once on the job, the governor and I are making sure

01:20 - 05.200 your rights and our safety are held to the highest standard.

01:20 - 08.236 I want to be clear, brothers and sisters,

01:20 - 11.273 every worker deserves a safe workplace.

01:20 - 14.543 Every worker deserves the benefits

01:20 - 18.046 and pensions that they've negotiated for and that they earned.

01:20 - 22.184 And as long as Josh Shapiro and I are in charge in Harrisburg,

01:20 - 23.852 right to work is dead.

01:20 - 26.655 In this Commonwealth and union organizing is a way.

01:20 - 39.734 We've made protecting

01:20 - 43.338 workers rights a priority and a hallmark of this administration.

01:20 - 48.810 When employers break the law through wage theft, theft, misclassification, child

01:20 - 53.381 labor violations or other abuses, our administration has stepped up

01:20 - 56.551 and stepped in to hold those bad actors accountable

01:20 - 59.654 and put more money back into the pockets of workers.

01:20 - 03.825 In the last three years, we've returned more than $15

01:21 - 07.629 million in unpaid wages to workers across the Commonwealth

01:21 - 11.766 to make sure that if you work hard, you are paid what you're owed.

01:21 - 17.172 We've investigated nearly 650 misclassification of construction

01:21 - 23.812 employees cases to issue over $1 million in fines and help over 1800 workers.

01:21 - 27.883 We've safeguarded the rights of over 6.2 million working

01:21 - 31.586 Pennsylvanians through aggressive enforcement of labor laws.

01:21 - 35.457 This is all while we see the constant

01:21 - 39.961 chaos and confusion that continues to come out of Washington, D.C.

01:21 - 44.165 for the last year, the Trump administration has purposely targeted

01:21 - 48.770 workers through union busting, worsening worker protections and forcing costs

01:21 - 52.540 to rise and giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

01:21 - 56.611 With gas prices over $4 a gallon in the Commonwealth,

01:21 - 00.582 Pennsylvanians have spent over $238

01:22 - 05.453 million more last month to fill up at the pump

01:22 - 10.625 because of these reckless policies, despite the policies that are causing

01:22 - 15.597 these rises, the governor and I have been laser focused on making

01:22 - 19.935 sure the economy here in Pennsylvania works for every single one of us.

01:22 - 23.405 Pennsylvania remains on a path of sustained growth

01:22 - 27.776 as the only state in the northeast United States with a growing economy.

01:22 - 30.812 And, according to new data, Pennsylvania.

01:22 - 35.250 Pennsylvania ranked third in the country for job growth last year.

01:22 - 38.787 The governor and I are moving the Commonwealth forward.

01:22 - 44.059 So far, we've secured over $41 billion in private sector investment,

01:22 - 47.829 created nearly 23,000 new jobs

01:22 - 51.633 from these investments, invested in small and diverse businesses

01:22 - 55.070 so that they can support and grow here in Pennsylvania.

01:22 - 58.106 And we've cut red tape and bureaucracy, lowering

01:22 - 01.109 costs for both small and large businesses.

01:23 - 06.114 Our workforce and economy go hand in hand, which is why I'm focusing

01:23 - 10.218 on economic investments that generate opportunities for Pennsylvanians

01:23 - 14.222 to pave their path for success and live the American dream.

01:23 - 17.359 Whatever that looks like for them and their families.

01:23 - 20.595 I know, though, that we have more work to do.

01:23 - 25.033 That starts with working with labor leaders like everyone in this room,

01:23 - 28.370 to make sure our workers have the rights that they deserve.

01:23 - 32.040 Pennsylvanians, union workers are the best in the country,

01:23 - 35.944 and I want to be clear that Josh Shapiro and I have your backs.

01:23 - 40.415 We're running for reelection to keep getting stuff done here

01:23 - 45.186 in Pennsylvania, from protecting workers rights and safety to cutting taxes

01:23 - 48.390 seven times, to putting money back in people's pockets,

01:23 - 51.359 to creating good paying jobs in this Commonwealth.

01:23 - 55.697 Together, we've made significant progress to ensure that

01:23 - 01.069 the next generation of workforce is better and brighter than the one before them.

01:24 - 02.370 They found it.

01:24 - 06.608 We will continue to work hard to make sure every person has the rights

01:24 - 10.645 that they deserve, and I look forward to working with you all to keep moving.

01:24 - 13.448 Pennsylvania forward. Thank you for everything you do.

01:24 - 15.483 Thank you for having me. And let's go out there and work.

01:24 - 24.726 Oh yeah.

01:24 - 36.504 You know,

01:24 - 38.540 We're still waiting on a couple of speakers,

01:24 - 41.876 but we have some housekeeping we need to move on to.

01:24 - 44.279 So would,

01:24 - 46.081 I've had,

01:24 - 49.084 Bill Einhorn and his team talk before.

01:24 - 54.122 Fund administrator for many, many years.

01:24 - 59.294 And, has morphed it into a very successful insurance life insurance business.

01:24 - 00.995 And amongst other things.

01:25 - 04.065 And I can tell you firsthand that it's made

01:25 - 07.402 a difference just in my life,

01:25 - 10.505 because you can work it

01:25 - 13.508 into your pension programs and take,

01:25 - 18.046 a instead of taking, a reduced pension.

01:25 - 23.017 You buy life insurance and it subsidizes any losses you might occur on taking that.

01:25 - 25.987 But it's a very successful program.

01:25 - 31.192 It's helped numerous members, hundreds of our members make life saving decisions.

01:25 - 34.095 Really. So, Bill, I want to come on up. Who's coming up?

01:25 - 42.704 Bob. Says it looks like Bill.

01:25 - 45.039 And that's definitely not Bill.

01:25 - 46.508 Thank you so much.

01:25 - 49.310 For the past ten years, we've had the pleasure of helping,

01:25 - 53.381 as Bill said, helping you for pension maximization.

01:25 - 56.751 But today I'm here today that says Arbor

01:25 - 59.687 has now formed a relationship with Aflac.

01:25 - 03.791 We have now have the ability to give you guaranteed issue benefits,

01:26 - 07.862 no medical questions asked, no

01:26 - 10.865 preexisting conditions.

01:26 - 15.570 For you and your members,

01:26 - 18.740 long term care, life insurance, no questions asked.

01:26 - 21.075 But that wasn't enough.

01:26 - 22.277 We went back to Aflac.

01:26 - 24.445 We said we need the best pricing.

01:26 - 26.748 So two months ago we were in Pittsburgh.

01:26 - 29.784 I went to Carl's people, came up to us and said, I already have Aflac.

01:26 - 32.720 I'm paying $9 a week for a policy.

01:26 - 36.991 We were able to deliver the same policy for $8 a month.

01:26 - 41.062 You now have the best pricing in the country.

01:26 - 45.300 We now have a complete team that can go out no matter where you are

01:26 - 46.534 in any state.

01:26 - 50.505 We have a complete team that we never had before, but we weren't done.

01:26 - 54.142 We went back and we said, we want more from Aflac.

01:26 - 58.079 So anybody that signs up with an Aflac policy through Aweber

01:26 - 03.251 fraud protection free for you and all of your family members.

01:27 - 11.159 But we said that wasn't enough.

01:27 - 13.595 But we want more.

01:27 - 18.399 So when a member takes a policy out, we never want the price to change

01:27 - 21.302 even after they retire.

01:27 - 23.104 So now

01:27 - 26.074 thank you.

01:27 - 26.874 So now you have

01:27 - 29.877 all these particular benefits for you, for life.

01:27 - 33.681 But that wasn't enough.

01:27 - 37.118 I said we need to have people that can speak Spanish,

01:27 - 41.522 Italian, Portuguese at every level.

01:27 - 44.759 I don't care if you have a union member that has three people.

01:27 - 47.228 We now have the ability to go.

01:27 - 50.498 No matter how often it is to these unions.

01:27 - 54.535 We were fortunate enough to work with 125

01:27 - 58.673 and 125 brought us in, but they said we have a problem.

01:27 - 03.678 A lot of our members don't get off work till one, 2 or 3 in the morning.

01:28 - 06.281 And we said, no problem.

01:28 - 07.915 We will be there.

01:28 - 10.551 We now have the ability to help you.

01:28 - 13.688 So what I would like to do now is introduce

01:28 - 18.159 Mary from Aflac, who has been with Aflac for over ten years.

01:28 - 21.429 This was an attorney whose best friend

01:28 - 24.732 got cancer ten years ago and said, I want to make a difference.

01:28 - 29.537 I want to deliver policies to each and every member that I meet.

01:28 - 31.906 And what did she do a year ago?

01:28 - 34.909 She came now to Arbor full time.

01:28 - 37.612 We now have 7 or 8 members

01:28 - 40.615 in her team that can go anywhere in any state.

01:28 - 43.651 So without any further ado, I like to introduce Mary.

01:28 - 51.793 Well, thank you everybody.

01:28 - 53.528 I'm so excited to be here.

01:28 - 54.829 And I know a lot of you.

01:28 - 59.000 I can't express the support I've already received from each

01:28 - 02.904 and every one of you, and I look forward to working with everybody in this room

01:29 - 04.505 at one point or another.

01:29 - 08.209 What I'm asking today is just for your support, just to allow me

01:29 - 12.046 to speak to your members about these incredible benefits, educate your members.

01:29 - 16.317 That's all we want to do is educate people on what is available to them

01:29 - 20.688 through the Teamsters that have negotiated these incredible rates.

01:29 - 23.725 The plans that we're talking about are accident

01:29 - 26.728 plans, like Bob said, as little as $8 a month.

01:29 - 30.064 We have hospital plans, cancer plans.

01:29 - 32.767 Do you know that our cancer plans are unlimited benefits?

01:29 - 36.571 We will pay you for the rest of your life on our cancer plan.

01:29 - 40.375 We won't drop you like car insurance or or house insurance, right?

01:29 - 41.709 Because we paid you too much money.

01:29 - 46.147 Our average cancer patient gets about 40 to $50,000 in cash.

01:29 - 48.583 A year due to their treatments.

01:29 - 51.619 So again, even though they have great medical

01:29 - 53.721 benefits, that's not enough anymore.

01:29 - 55.123 Who's going to pay your mortgage?

01:29 - 56.457 Your car insurance?

01:29 - 58.359 Your electric bills? Right.

01:29 - 02.397 Aflac benefits are cash benefits in your pocket that will help

01:30 - 06.200 you financially while you're going through those rough patches in your life.

01:30 - 08.703 We also have life insurance.

01:30 - 11.072 Guaranteed issue life insurance.

01:30 - 15.009 If you've had a diagnosis before and don't have life insurance.

01:30 - 18.579 A lot of teamster members have life insurance, but once they retire,

01:30 - 19.380 guess what?

01:30 - 21.082 They lose the life insurance.

01:30 - 24.719 These are portable and rate stable, and the younger you are, the cheaper

01:30 - 25.720 these plans are.

01:30 - 27.755 We never go up in price

01:30 - 31.426 and you take them with you into retirement for you and your family.

01:30 - 34.529 We cover your children up to 26 years old,

01:30 - 37.498 so that's another perk that we offer as well.

01:30 - 38.699 Disability we pay.

01:30 - 40.134 In addition to state disability

01:30 - 42.737 in the state of Pennsylvania, there is no state disability.

01:30 - 46.507 So in addition to what the Teamsters offers, we pay on top of that.

01:30 - 49.544 And like Bob said, free fraud protection for the whole family.

01:30 - 52.680 But the biggest thing I can say to you is you have our cell phones.

01:30 - 54.148 You call us directly.

01:30 - 58.252 You don't have to get frustrated on A18 hundred number or not feel supported.

01:30 - 59.787 We are here to support you.

01:30 - 02.290 24 over seven people know that I've worked with me.

01:31 - 04.759 I return phone calls right away.

01:31 - 07.762 I am there for the members with whatever they need

01:31 - 10.198 and we will go to their homes and handhold them

01:31 - 11.599 while they're going through something

01:31 - 15.203 serious like accidents, cancers, critical illnesses.

01:31 - 17.939 So, I have a table right out there.

01:31 - 19.574 I'm excited to work with all of you.

01:31 - 22.577 Please stop in, grab your duck before you leave.

01:31 - 25.713 And, I'm happy to speak to anybody in depth.

01:31 - 28.049 Thank you so much. And thank you for your support.

01:31 - 28.783 Thank you.

01:31 - 36.524 Just.

01:31 - 38.292 I'm going to share something with you.

01:31 - 41.596 I don't know if I have in the past, but I will anyway because it's

01:31 - 44.599 going to benefit your members if you bring these people out.

01:31 - 47.768 About 15, 18 years ago,

01:31 - 50.771 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

01:31 - 53.941 I was just coming up, on pension age.

01:31 - 56.344 Collect your pension?

01:31 - 58.579 Of course, the pension

01:31 - 01.582 was greatly reduced at that time.

01:32 - 04.952 I have a wife and a young daughter,

01:32 - 09.223 and they wanted to reduce my pension from 6000

01:32 - 14.595 to about 3300 a month for survivor's benefits because of the age.

01:32 - 17.532 And, the capitulation in between.

01:32 - 20.568 But at the end of the day, I called

01:32 - 23.571 Bob and Bill, and they came out.

01:32 - 28.509 No medical exam, million dollars insurance policy.

01:32 - 31.679 Take your full pension on reduced

01:32 - 34.382 that million dollars is for life.

01:32 - 37.385 The cost of the million dollars is half

01:32 - 40.221 of what the reduction in pension would have been.

01:32 - 42.723 It's a no brainer for your members.

01:32 - 45.326 Why would you take a reduced pension?

01:32 - 48.896 If you can buy insurance that's going to be tax free

01:32 - 53.834 by the way, no taxes on insurance tax free the rest of your life.

01:32 - 56.871 Your family can live in comfort for the rest of their life.

01:32 - 58.172 You don't have to worry about it.

01:32 - 02.209 It's the easiest thing I've ever done, the smartest thing I've ever done.

01:33 - 05.212 And I encourage you to bring these people out to union meetings.

01:33 - 07.281 Let your members meet and let them speak to them.

01:33 - 11.018 They'll save them a ton of money and better than the money they save.

01:33 - 13.621 The peace of mind can't be bought.

01:33 - 15.056 So that's my spiel.

01:33 - 19.760 Next I'd like to introduce

01:33 - 23.898 and James, she is our our benefit consultant.

01:33 - 27.168 That my my help Philadelphia and vicinity health and welfare

01:33 - 30.171 fund a joint council 53 funds.

01:33 - 35.409 She also consults for local 125 and 945 in North Jersey.

01:33 - 38.412 I don't hold that against her, but,

01:33 - 42.116 you know, she she can be very tough.

01:33 - 46.020 And she's very thorough, and she knows funds in and out,

01:33 - 49.890 and she can tell you how to save money and push the right buttons.

01:33 - 51.125 Come on up.

01:33 - 52.126 I didn't call you anything.

01:33 - 55.129 You did not I. I respect that, okay.

01:33 - 56.163 So. Hello.

01:33 - 59.166 Thank you for giving me a couple minutes.

01:34 - 07.008 Usually when I start speaking, I tell some inappropriate jokes.

01:34 - 09.377 But I did not have time today to prepare any.

01:34 - 10.611 So see me after.

01:34 - 12.647 I'll come up with one. You can't hear me.

01:34 - 14.582 How about now? Better. Okay.

01:34 - 17.118 As Bill said, I'm man James.

01:34 - 18.319 I work for CBS.

01:34 - 21.255 We are a full service brokerage.

01:34 - 24.258 I specifically work in the benefits space.

01:34 - 27.395 And as he said, I work with,

01:34 - 30.598 local 945 125

01:34 - 34.101 and, the Teamsters Health and Welfare of Philly and vicinity.

01:34 - 39.407 My job is to help you with your benefit plan.

01:34 - 42.376 So we do claims analysis. We help with stop loss.

01:34 - 43.944 We help with marketing.

01:34 - 48.215 So whether it's newsletters, websites, basically everything, whatever

01:34 - 51.952 we can do to make your life easier within reason,

01:34 - 54.055 that's what we do.

01:34 - 56.090 So I wanted to give just a couple quick things.

01:34 - 59.326 Everybody knows pharmacy is very expensive, correct?

01:34 - 01.362 Yes. Right.

01:35 - 05.833 So one thing that we were able to do specifically for funds we work with

01:35 - 09.303 is identify drugs that there is a biosimilar to,

01:35 - 12.440 which means for anyone that's not like a pharmacy nerd like me

01:35 - 16.610 is it's the same medication, just not name brand.

01:35 - 19.613 And that we were able to save over.

01:35 - 21.248 I think it was $6 million

01:35 - 24.385 with less than 20 members identified just by switching that.

01:35 - 27.755 So we take a look at the formularies, what we can do with that.

01:35 - 32.927 We were able to help reclaim over $1 million and stop loss dollars on that.

01:35 - 36.430 So when I say our job is really to help you, it is.

01:35 - 38.866 I don't think we say no too much.

01:35 - 41.302 So you will come to us, ask for something.

01:35 - 44.638 We look and try to see what can we help with, what can we do?

01:35 - 47.842 What can we help so that the members know what your benefits are?

01:35 - 50.811 We do the vendor vetting.

01:35 - 54.014 So let's say you're not happy with your dental vendor.

01:35 - 56.317 We do all the work to vet out a new one

01:35 - 59.720 and then bring back to the fund a better solution.

01:36 - 03.424 So the best way that I can let

01:36 - 06.927 you guys know what I do is if you know and you're in here, come see me after.

01:36 - 09.997 If you don't know, then introduce me to your fund administrator

01:36 - 11.298 because they will know.

01:36 - 16.036 And I can't leave up here without telling you guys to check out teamster fund.com.

01:36 - 19.673 That is, website that we helped do.

01:36 - 21.509 Well, we actually did it for,

01:36 - 24.979 Philadelphia, and vicinity.

01:36 - 26.981 So check it out. It's got everything on there.

01:36 - 28.382 It's pretty impressive looking.

01:36 - 30.651 And anyone in here that knows Maria, I know she would kill me

01:36 - 32.820 if I didn't tell you guys to go look at that.

01:36 - 34.188 So thank you very much.

01:36 - 37.191 Thanks, Val.

01:36 - 46.233 Believe me, she's a bulldog.

01:36 - 50.604 And when we have vendors that are abusing the system,

01:36 - 54.708 which we always do, you can't keep an eye on every single vendor that comes in.

01:36 - 57.244 And if we have,

01:36 - 00.381 for instance, in the dental area, if we have some of the dentists

01:37 - 05.219 or other people that work in the system not doing what they're supposed to do,

01:37 - 08.222 overcharging our people under servicing them,

01:37 - 11.826 she gets involved, straightens them out.

01:37 - 14.228 Most of the time they're gone and replaced.

01:37 - 18.132 But what it does to is it sends a message to the rest of the people that work

01:37 - 23.070 inside that fund, that number one, she's going to make it more efficient

01:37 - 27.174 for them over the long haul and make their jobs easier.

01:37 - 29.844 So if you got people working at your funds,

01:37 - 32.546 they can rely on her to do all the troubleshooting

01:37 - 34.915 because it's so hard today in the medical profession,

01:37 - 38.018 just getting simple everyday bills straightened out.

01:37 - 41.021 These damn offices, you go in and oh,

01:37 - 44.825 I've got two insurance companies, I've got an international plan

01:37 - 49.530 that covers me and our local plan, so I shouldn't pay any deductibles.

01:37 - 51.565 We have to charge at $20.

01:37 - 53.767 They don't know how to do their jobs.

01:37 - 57.738 Most of these doctor's offices have no clue on how to bill.

01:37 - 01.475 They have no ability to decipher.

01:38 - 05.012 So you wind up in collection agencies six months later

01:38 - 08.482 for bills you don't even know because they never billed it properly.

01:38 - 13.153 Well, she's there to streamline the system, make sure it works,

01:38 - 16.323 and if it don't work, who's ever responsible will be gone.

01:38 - 20.461 So that's that's the way we like to do business in the Teamsters.

01:38 - 24.498 And we like our employees to be as efficient as we expect them to be.

01:38 - 29.036 And our members deserve service that actually works

01:38 - 32.873 and that a lot of lip service. So,

01:38 - 36.844 Dennis, our AG, come up here for a second.

01:38 - 43.317 All of.

01:38 - 50.791 Good morning, sisters and brothers.

01:38 - 52.927 Just wanted to say thank you.

01:38 - 55.996 You know, we do this, men wear pink campaign.

01:38 - 58.032 Last year, we changed it over to pediatric cancer.

01:38 - 01.735 Last year, with your help, we raised $161,000

01:39 - 05.139 for, kids with cancer.

01:39 - 10.844 So, we're going back to the Men Wear Pink campaign

01:39 - 13.847 because people got upset that I didn't dye my beard pink last year.

01:39 - 17.117 So I will be doing it again this year, although I have to wait

01:39 - 20.120 till the end of October because my daughter's getting married

01:39 - 24.258 and I don't want to be in the her pictures with a pink beard, maybe I will.

01:39 - 25.592 I don't know, we'll see.

01:39 - 27.161 It's up to her whether it whether I do it or not.

01:39 - 29.363 Anyway, so we're going to go back to the Men Wear

01:39 - 33.834 Pink campaign again will raise money for, breast cancer, research.

01:39 - 36.837 We have a an active research grant going on right now.

01:39 - 40.274 Trying to eliminate one certain type of hers to cancer.

01:39 - 43.844 Again, the Teamsters are sponsoring that grant.

01:39 - 45.713 Out of a hospital, out in California.

01:39 - 46.714 We're very proud of that.

01:39 - 50.050 And so we want to do that again, and try to again raise money and raise

01:39 - 53.420 some, for not just support services, but for that research as well.

01:39 - 57.257 We will be doing our, raffle again.

01:39 - 59.927 I know we have a couple winners from last year in the room,

01:39 - 02.796 so congratulations to you for winning some of that money.

01:40 - 05.199 We did change the price of the ticket, there,

01:40 - 08.202 instead of 20 bucks a ticket, they're only ten bucks a ticket.

01:40 - 10.504 We'll still sell you two for 20 bucks if you want.

01:40 - 14.041 But Angie has tickets in the back.

01:40 - 16.010 We'll be out, today and tomorrow.

01:40 - 19.013 If you want to take some back, we'll have packs of, 20.

01:40 - 19.613 If you want to take them

01:40 - 22.616 back to your locals and help out and anything again, any bit of money

01:40 - 27.154 we raise goes all to these, these deserving people, that need our help.

01:40 - 29.356 So, again, thank you so much for your support.

01:40 - 30.290 I do appreciate it.

01:40 - 33.293 Thanks.

01:40 - 42.903 I do want a follow up.

01:40 - 45.773 We're waiting for our next speaker.

01:40 - 48.308 But I did want to follow up with some of the comments

01:40 - 51.645 that even came from, president O'Brien this morning.

01:40 - 55.215 One of the things that I think

01:40 - 57.351 we take for granted as leaders

01:40 - 01.822 and as, our members progress, they

01:41 - 06.760 they don't realize the benefits that they have sometimes, you know,

01:41 - 09.797 I get phone calls all the time from around

01:41 - 12.933 the state, asking for help on different,

01:41 - 18.472 picket line duty,

01:41 - 21.041 our contracts coming up for ratification.

01:41 - 22.476 We're a little frayed.

01:41 - 23.977 They don't make a lot of money.

01:41 - 27.081 And, this employer is offering them

01:41 - 30.284 a 2% raise, a 1% raise, sometimes zero.

01:41 - 32.453 And they're scared to death.

01:41 - 34.054 They're afraid to go on strike.

01:41 - 35.055 They don't know what to do.

01:41 - 36.223 They don't know what to say.

01:41 - 38.926 They can't afford to be out of work.

01:41 - 42.629 And when they call me and I say to them,

01:41 - 46.533 this is an easy problem to solve,

01:41 - 49.336 I will get you expedited strike benefits.

01:41 - 51.105 I always get it. Never, never.

01:41 - 54.341 They never hesitate of $1,000 a week

01:41 - 58.011 for your members, $1,000 a week

01:41 - 01.248 for as long as it takes.

01:42 - 04.785 95% of the time

01:42 - 07.287 that agent

01:42 - 11.391 or whoever it is that called me, we'll go back to that owner

01:42 - 14.928 or negotiating committee that he's facing with

01:42 - 18.799 and say, look, you got a deadline and it's Friday

01:42 - 25.105 and the clock's ticking, because on Monday morning we're going to be at your place

01:42 - 29.710 bright and early with $1,000 a week in their pockets.

01:42 - 33.680 Every single week they're out and watch how quick they find religion.

01:42 - 36.750 Holy shit. You're paying $1,000 a week.

01:42 - 38.785 That's more than we're paying them here.

01:42 - 41.321 And they'll stand out there all day long

01:42 - 44.324 and long as it takes, because we're not running out of money.

01:42 - 48.228 We've got enough in that strike account to last a long, long time.

01:42 - 51.365 And I don't know how many times

01:42 - 53.767 that that bell has been wrong.

01:42 - 57.704 And that bell has been answered quite quickly by the company

01:42 - 00.707 that says we can't afford to give him any raises.

01:43 - 03.777 I know some of you guys have had that happen in here,

01:43 - 06.813 so just raise your hands if it's happened to you.

01:43 - 11.818 You know what it takes.

01:43 - 15.189 That fund is an amazing, useful tool,

01:43 - 20.661 and it gets employers to wake up and wake up quickly.

01:43 - 23.730 I've used an enormous amount of times,

01:43 - 27.568 and it's never had the effect that it wasn't supposed to have.

01:43 - 30.771 And the funny part of it is,

01:43 - 33.774 the mere threat of it usually resolves the issue.

01:43 - 36.176 And if you don't resolve the issue

01:43 - 39.179 and you actually have to utilize it.

01:43 - 43.250 The members that are out on that picket line

01:43 - 46.253 after a couple of weeks, and if it goes a few weeks or more,

01:43 - 50.757 the company starts to realize the real pain.

01:43 - 53.560 Shortly,

01:43 - 58.332 and it usually has a double effect of getting them to the table quickly

01:43 - 03.737 and then getting the settle the damn thing and giving him a raise that's worthwhile

01:44 - 05.939 raising.

01:44 - 06.640 He's here.

01:44 - 10.277 Okay, so I just wanted to make sure

01:44 - 13.614 that you utilize that threat

01:44 - 16.650 more because it's an effective tool

01:44 - 19.786 and it works a lot better than you think it does.

01:44 - 23.390 And it's been very effective for us. So

01:44 - 27.694 our next speaker is here.

01:44 - 30.030 Congressman Bob

01:44 - 33.367 Bresnahan was born and raised in Wyoming Valley.

01:44 - 37.271 He understands the values and traditions of northeastern Pennsylvania.

01:44 - 40.774 His childhood was split between school hockey, golf

01:44 - 44.044 and his family's electrical contracting business.

01:44 - 47.247 After earning his degree in business administration from the University

01:44 - 51.618 of Scranton, he stepped into a leadership role and became the company's CEO.

01:44 - 55.322 As CEO of cuckoo

01:44 - 58.325 cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo.

01:44 - 59.559 All right.

01:44 - 00.327 Construction.

01:45 - 04.231 Rob grew the company to more than 150 employees and expanded

01:45 - 08.368 its capabilities and power distribution intelligent transportation systems.

01:45 - 12.072 Under his leadership, the company proudly employed union labor

01:45 - 15.409 and played a critical role in restoring power and after

01:45 - 18.612 natural gas disasters across the United States,

01:45 - 21.915 including hurricanes and floods and severe winter storms.

01:45 - 25.719 Rob's commitment to his community extends far beyond business.

01:45 - 29.122 He has served as president of the Luzerne County SPCA

01:45 - 33.493 and held board positions with the Catholic Youth Center, Junior Achievement

01:45 - 35.529 40 for

01:45 - 39.232 its cemetery association, the National Electrical Contractors

01:45 - 43.170 Association, the Luzerne County Industrial Development Authority,

01:45 - 46.540 and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

01:45 - 50.644 Before coming to Congress, Rob served as chairman of the Joint Apprentice

01:45 - 54.348 Training Committee, was a trustee for the IBEW

01:45 - 57.384 163 health, wellness, and Annuity Funds.

01:45 - 00.854 He was elected to the 119th Congress

01:46 - 03.857 as a representative for Pennsylvania's eighth district.

01:46 - 07.761 He serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,

01:46 - 11.164 as vice chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

01:46 - 14.601 He also serves on both the House Committee

01:46 - 17.571 on Agriculture and the House Committee on Small Businesses.

01:46 - 18.605 Congress.

01:46 - 22.909 Bresnahan was one of six Republicans who voted against Ashley Hinson

01:46 - 27.280 Workforce Regulation Bill, a measure opposed by the teamster,

01:46 - 33.553 and he was a co-sponsor of the Fair Labor Contracts Act, introduced in 2025.

01:46 - 37.591 Rob, come on up.

01:46 - 55.075 All right.

01:46 - 57.411 Thank you.

01:46 - 00.414 Rob. Nice to meet everybody.

01:47 - 06.920 Well good morning everyone.

01:47 - 08.722 Good morning everyone.

01:47 - 10.357 Sorry for the slight delay.

01:47 - 13.760 We had the, VA secretary in town this morning,

01:47 - 16.763 and we had a wonderful roundtable, but,

01:47 - 20.534 very grateful to have, been invited to be

01:47 - 23.537 with all of you here today.

01:47 - 26.540 I think it's important to first point out,

01:47 - 30.777 I've never served in an elected body a day in my life.

01:47 - 33.914 I was a heavy highway union electrical contractor.

01:47 - 36.116 We had nine different cbas.

01:47 - 39.553 I think at one point that we were collectively bargain with

01:47 - 44.057 and some of the most meaningful work that I got to do was serving as

01:47 - 48.562 the chairman of the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee with the IBEW 163.

01:47 - 51.798 Also served as a health, wellness and annuity

01:47 - 54.968 trustee, for over a period of six years.

01:47 - 57.471 So I want to say thanks for for being here.

01:47 - 00.807 Thank you for having me because your voices really mean a lot.

01:48 - 02.175 Sometimes in Congress,

01:48 - 06.046 we're expected to know so much about so many different topics.

01:48 - 09.816 So having an opportunity to dialog and and have interactions

01:48 - 14.254 really goes, so much farther than you can actually imagine.

01:48 - 17.858 I came from the boots, not the suits background.

01:48 - 21.595 And that's the mindset we try to bring to Capitol Hill every single day.

01:48 - 24.965 So I don't want to just talk the talk.

01:48 - 26.032 I want to talk about working.

01:48 - 27.634 It's something that also infuriates me

01:48 - 31.571 is sometimes you see all these delays and recesses that Congress go on.

01:48 - 33.940 I was just talking to one of my colleagues last week and they said, hey,

01:48 - 38.845 how would you feel about skipping August recess to to work on legislation?

01:48 - 40.113 I thought, isn't that my job?

01:48 - 44.818 I mean, last year alone, we were in Washington, DC 174 days,

01:48 - 48.555 and we still did 351 in district events.

01:48 - 51.691 And that includes getting married.

01:48 - 54.728 Somehow I have a wonderful wife who tolerates me while I'm,

01:48 - 56.930 we're like two ships passing in the night sky.

01:48 - 01.401 But ultimately, that's what we should be doing, is advocating and actually

01:49 - 04.804 moving the ball towards the goal line to accomplish different things.

01:49 - 08.108 So Pennsylvania, along with the rest of the country, was built

01:49 - 11.111 on the backs of of working people.

01:49 - 14.147 And that's not changing anytime soon.

01:49 - 17.150 It's going to carry us through the next 250 years

01:49 - 20.620 at almost 100,000 strong, including over

01:49 - 24.090 3000 Teamsters in Pennsylvania's eighth congressional district.

01:49 - 27.827 You are showing up every single day to keep this country moving.

01:49 - 31.698 Every low delivered, every mile driven, every shift worked,

01:49 - 32.866 keeps our economy going.

01:49 - 33.633 And on my way up here,

01:49 - 37.571 I was talking to my cousin Jordan, who was an airline pilot with 357.

01:49 - 41.541 And he went to school in the district, and he was a part of my process

01:49 - 44.544 growing up, and part of our family business.

01:49 - 45.979 So that's why I'm committed

01:49 - 48.548 to protecting the dignity of work and the people who do it.

01:49 - 51.585 Union rights are workers rights, plain and simple.

01:49 - 54.754 So on the sign right there and the right to organize, negotiate

01:49 - 57.557 and to be treated fairly on the job matters,

01:49 - 59.960 that right is about dignity.

01:49 - 02.963 It's respect and a fair shot at the American dream.

01:50 - 05.799 If you put in the hard day's work, you should be able to provide

01:50 - 08.201 for your family with a family sustaining career.

01:50 - 11.805 And that's what the Teamsters do each and every single day standing up for that.

01:50 - 14.307 Right. And your dignity isn't just rhetoric.

01:50 - 15.175 It's a priority.

01:50 - 17.510 And it's something I fight for every single day in Congress.

01:50 - 22.215 And I don't care if it's a Republican idea or if it's a Democrat idea

01:50 - 24.551 when it comes to the issues, I care about what's right

01:50 - 27.988 for northeastern Pennsylvania, and I think I've shown that by now, and I'm

01:50 - 30.991 willing to stand up to my own party if something goes wrong.

01:50 - 33.393 They didn't send me to Washington to be a party guy.

01:50 - 37.263 They sent me to be a guy to represent northeastern Pennsylvania.

01:50 - 40.233 I think you had prefaced earlier about the bill,

01:50 - 43.503 the Hinson bill that had come to the floor last January that would have allowed

01:50 - 46.506 for workers to go unpaid for work related training.

01:50 - 50.276 And I didn't feel that that made any sense.

01:50 - 54.080 So a small group of us decided that, hey, we weren't going to support that.

01:50 - 58.251 And, after having some courage in coalition around,

01:50 - 03.023 any anti-labor bills for the remainder remainder of the month

01:51 - 06.960 and the year ended up kind of being sidetracked because they said, hey,

01:51 - 10.530 these are good legislative ideas, that

01:51 - 13.633 there's a there's a coalition that wasn't a good legislative idea.

01:51 - 19.205 Let me preface that the, the, the backbone of being able to have organized labor

01:51 - 21.508 and taking

01:51 - 24.844 shots at that priority didn't seem right.

01:51 - 27.981 And I'm happy to say that there was a small group, a small coalition of us,

01:51 - 31.551 that that also felt that, every single thank you for

01:51 - 34.821 thank you.

01:51 - 36.489 Every single

01:51 - 39.492 one of my votes comes down to one purpose.

01:51 - 41.661 Is it good for northeastern Pennsylvania?

01:51 - 44.197 Is it good for our working families?

01:51 - 47.467 And I get to serve on the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee,

01:51 - 50.470 where I serve as a vice chairman of Highway Transit.

01:51 - 54.507 And we're working to pass the next surface transportation reauthorization package.

01:51 - 56.676 It was supposed to be this week of markup.

01:51 - 59.679 It has been postponed until the middle of May.

01:52 - 02.582 Some have been calling this week in Congress,

01:52 - 06.219 hell week because of FISA reauthorization and the agriculture bill,

01:52 - 10.490 the farm bill, which we actually have local farmers Feeding our Communities Act.

01:52 - 14.060 And inside the title for which, is our legislation about,

01:52 - 17.097 supporting our, our local farmers and fisheries

01:52 - 20.533 and keeping food unprocessed and close to where it's sourced.

01:52 - 24.037 So giving a life a lifeblood to our local farmers.

01:52 - 26.172 The name does exactly what it says.

01:52 - 28.508 It's our local farmers feeding our community.

01:52 - 31.244 So when we talk about rebuilding our roads and our bridges, we're

01:52 - 34.114 not just talking about convenience, we're talking about opportunity.

01:52 - 37.350 We're talking about of creating real families, sustaining jobs.

01:52 - 38.785 And I always feel that.

01:52 - 41.654 And that's something that we have always prided ourself on.

01:52 - 44.657 My grandparents started the business in 1973 with,

01:52 - 47.861 my grandfather at a station wagon and a ladder.

01:52 - 52.098 He was a 53 year IBEW member when he had passed away.

01:52 - 55.835 All my aunts, all my uncles and and getting to serve as the chairman

01:52 - 58.138 of the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee chairman,

01:52 - 01.141 we got to see opportunities where you earned while you learn.

01:53 - 05.779 And what actually got me involved in politics was A2I

01:53 - 11.718 never thought I'd be doing this, but in 2017, we went down to Capitol Hill

01:53 - 17.590 and it was about expanding 529 college saving plans and having them

01:53 - 21.261 be more eligible and better tool to support apprenticeship programs.

01:53 - 24.631 And I remember meeting with a member of Congress, he's no longer there.

01:53 - 27.433 But we were I was talking about the struggles

01:53 - 31.371 that I saw some of our young electricians who were trying to enter the workforce,

01:53 - 32.672 you know,

01:53 - 35.675 being able to buy the drills, being able to buy the freight of clothing.

01:53 - 38.711 And they their parents had set them up 5/29.

01:53 - 41.481 And at that time, it wasn't eligible.

01:53 - 45.185 And I remember expressing my passion to this member of Congress,

01:53 - 46.886 and his eyes were rolling back in his head.

01:53 - 48.555 I kind of walked out of that meeting thinking, like,

01:53 - 50.824 I can do that because this is going to change a life.

01:53 - 53.827 This is going to change a future for a young person

01:53 - 55.962 who wants to go into skilled trade.

01:53 - 58.832 And this is opportunities that you earn while you learn.

01:53 - 02.302 You graduate with $0 in debt, jobs that will never be replaced

01:54 - 05.271 by artificial technology or artificial intelligence.

01:54 - 11.044 And that's what really kind of sparked my passion into why I wanted to serve.

01:54 - 14.247 Because if we get that right, we're putting people to work

01:54 - 16.583 and strengthening our local economy at the same time.

01:54 - 18.918 And that's why I'm pushing for more local control

01:54 - 21.921 over how and where these federal infrastructure dollars are spent,

01:54 - 25.792 because our communities know what they need better than Washington.

01:54 - 27.327 In Harrisburg.

01:54 - 30.330 Northeastern Pennsylvania needs its fair shake, and I'm going to continue to fight

01:54 - 31.631 to make sure that we get it.

01:54 - 33.233 It's also an opportunity to strengthen

01:54 - 36.236 our supply chains and the work forces behind them.

01:54 - 39.606 We've all seen what happens when supply chains break down

01:54 - 44.110 delays, higher cost disruptions that hit working families the hardest.

01:54 - 47.280 We need the support made in America, strengthen our logistics network

01:54 - 48.114 and make sure

01:54 - 52.719 we're not relying in other countries for what we can do right here at home.

01:54 - 54.153 We also need to make sure

01:54 - 57.757 that these American goods are being moved by American workers.

01:54 - 01.027 At the end of the day, it all comes down to fairness

01:55 - 02.996 and making sure every worker's voice is heard.

01:55 - 04.931 You deserve to be treated fairly,

01:55 - 07.934 paid fairly, and respected for the work that you do.

01:55 - 12.071 And in Washington need to step up by supporting investments,

01:55 - 16.442 by making policy decisions that get people on the job site and help their families

01:55 - 16.910 get ahead.

01:55 - 19.545 Here's my promise I'm going to show up.

01:55 - 21.581 That's all I know how to do I show up.

01:55 - 24.550 I'm going to listen and always fight.

01:55 - 27.453 I appreciate this opportunity to be with you here today.

01:55 - 30.023 Thank you for keeping this country moving forward.

01:55 - 32.558 And you can count on me to have your back

01:55 - 34.527 for as long as I have the opportunity and privilege

01:55 - 37.063 to serve in the United States House of Representatives. Thank you.

01:55 - 49.042 Thank you, thank you.

01:55 - 52.045 Thanks for coming, honor.

01:55 - 16.936 You. Do.