Teamsters Joint Council 25 is America’s premier labor union for Illinois and Northwest Indiana, representing more than 100,000 men and women with 25 local union affiliates.
THOMAS W. STIEDE,President
Thomas W. Stiede has been a member of Local 703 since 1977. He first joined the Teamsters while working as a warehouseman for Dominick’s grocery stores. Following an extended local trusteeship in the early 1990s, a new leadership slate was elected by the members at Local 703 and Tom was seated as Secretary-Treasurer in 1995. Members have continued to re-elect Tom as their dedicated and proven leader in the years since. Tom became a Plan Manager with the Chicago-Area Benefit Trust Funds in 1995 as well. In the early 2000s, he joined the Teamsters Volunteers in Politics political action committee for Teamsters Joint Council 25. In 2004, Tom was officially elected as a Trustee on the Joint Council 25 Executive Board. In the years that followed, he also served as Recording Secretary before being elected the Joint Council’s Secretary-Treasurer. Tom is President of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. He is committed to educating fund trustees throughout the union to protect and sustain the benefits earned and received by Teamster members everywhere.
JAMES T. GLIMCO,Secretary-Treasurer
James T. Glimco joined the Teamsters Union in 1989 as a Business Agent for Teamsters Local 777. He was appointed Vice President of Local 777 in 1992. Since 1993, he has held the position of President of Local 777. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for both the Teamsters Local 777 Health Benefits Plan and the Local 777 Retirement Plan. In 2008, he joined Joint Council 25 as a Trustee. Glimco earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s of business administration in finance from Benedictine University.
DOMINIC ROMANAZZI,Vice President
Dominic Romanazzi first became a Teamster in 1986 when he began working for the Illinois State Tollway Authority as a Member of Local 726. He subsequently became a Member of Local 330 in 1989 when he began working for the Illinois Department of Transportation. In 1998, Dominic was appointed as Business Representative for Local 330 and continued to move up in rank until 2004, when he was elected President and Principal Officer of Local 330. Dominic is currently serving his fifth term as Local 330 President and Principal Officer. Dominic served as the Chairman of the Joint Council No. 25 Teamsters Volunteers in Politics (TVIP) Board from 2012 to 2019. He also serves as the Union Co-Chairman of the Northern Illinois Ready Mix and Material Association (NIRMMA) Grievance Committee, the Union Co-Chairman of the Suburban Teamsters of Northern Illinois Health, Welfare and Pension Funds Board, and Trustee on the Board of the Illinois Teamsters/Employers Apprenticeship and Training Fund.
PAUL J. STRIPLING,Recording Secretary
DEBRA SIMMONS-PETERSON,Trustee
Ms. Debra Simmons-Peterson joined Teamsters Local Union No. 743 in 1975 while working in the Transportation Department of Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital. In 2003, Ms. Simmons-Peterson resigned from her position in the Transportation Department to pursue her own entrepreneurial endeavors. She enthusiastically returned to IBT Local 743 in 2008, serving as a Union Representative. In 2010, she was appointed to serve as the Vice President of IBT Local 743 and subsequently elected to the position of Secretary-Treasurer in 2011. Debra was elected to her current position as President of Local 743 in 2013, making her the first African American female to be elected to this position. Debra has also served as the President of Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 Women’s Committee and on the Teamsters Volunteers in Politics (T.V.I.P.) Committee.
PATRICK A. GLEASON,Trustee
Brother Gleason was a member of Teamsters Local Union No. 627 from 1966-1990. He was employed in various industries including construction, tank haul, grocery and freight, with intermittent employment with the Illinois Department of Labor as a Prevailing Wage Conciliator in 1985 and 1989. He also served our wonderful Country in the United States Marine Corps and is also a proud Vietnam Veteran. In 1990, brother Gleason was appointed as Businesses Representative to IBT Local 26 and since that time has also served in various positions on the Executive Board including Trustee, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. He has proudly served IBT Local 26 in the position of President since 2006.
Brother Gleason also currently serves as the Joint Council’s Construction Coordinator and IDOT Negotiating Committee Member.
KEVIN ENGELKE,Trustee
As a second-generation Teamster, Kevin began his career in 1982 as a rank-and-file freight driver. Kevin went on to work as a Teamster driver in the construction industry, and also in the warehouse/manufacturing industry. In 2010, he accepted a position as a Business Representative for Local 525 in Alton, IL. Kevin was appointed as a trustee on Local 525’s Executive Board, and continued to move up as Recording Secretary, President, and in 2015, he was appointed Secretary/Treasurer and Principal Officer. Kevin is currently serving his third term as Local 525 Secretary/Treasurer. Kevin has been on the Downstate IDOT negotiating committee since 2011, and on the First Student Negotiating Committee since 2014. In 2019 he joined the Teamsters Volunteers in Politics, and in 2022 he was appointed Chairman of the Committee.
