International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa delivered an invigorating speech to Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 Delegates Tuesday before swearing in all newly elected Executive Board Members of Joint Council No. 25 and fourteen Local Affiliates. The General President encouraged those being sworn in to pause and reflect on the solemn oath they were about to take, and how they can strive every day to serve their rank-and-file membership better.

“We make a solemn pledge every three years about what we intend to do for this union,” General President Hoffa said. “Some parts in there say, ‘It’s the members who I will serve. It’s the members who put me here.’ I like that. Because that is what it’s all about. We did not get here by ourselves. The members put us here. And is the members we shall serve.”

Joint Council 25 President Terrence J. Hancock, Secretary-Treasurer Thomas W. Stiede, Vice President Brian Meidel, Recording Secretary James T. Glimco, and Trustees Keith E. Gleason, Dominic Romanazzi, and Debra Simmons-Peterson took their oaths to faithfully and dutifully serve all of the Affiliated Local Unions and their Teamster Brothers and Sisters. Teamsters Joint Council President Terrence J. Hancock said he was ecstatic when he learned General President Hoffa planned to attend the Delegates Meeting to swear in the Executive Officers of Joint Council No. 25.

“It meant so much to me, and the rest of our Executive Board, that the General President was there to administer our oaths of office. The tireless work and outstanding achievements of General President Hoffa has made the International Brotherhood of Teamsters what it is today: the strongest and most united labor organization in North America,” President Hancock said.

General President Hoffa referred to Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 as “the heart of our Union” and spoke about Joint Council No. 25’s recent organizing successes and contract wins.

“This is the heart of our union. Here in Chicago, Joint Council 25. This is really where it’s at, and it’s about all of us having a plan, every Local unit having a plan,” General President Hoffa said. “We are organizing like never before. We organized thousands of people last year. 2019 was a historic year for our Union. We’re organizing from coast to coast. You know that, you’re doing it here.”

General President Hoffa rallied the Delegates to be filled with a spirit of determination and innovation when it comes to getting more members involved with Union activities. General President Hoffa called on every Joint Council 25 Affiliate Officer to strive for improved membership outreach.

“We need to involve the members more, so they see a connection between their leadership and their lives,” General President Hoffa said.

Executive Board Members were also sworn in from Teamsters Local No. 50, Local No. 301, Local No. 325, Local No. 627, Local No. 673, Local No. 700, Local No. 722, Local No. 727, Local No. 731, Local No. 734, Local No. 743, Local No. 777, Local No. 781, and Local No. 916.

General President Hoffa posed for pictures with the newly sworn-in Officers, and personally signed individual copies of the oath for each of the 93 Officers sworn in Tuesday. General President Hoffa parted with a sincere message for each of the Delegates in attendance, he asked them all to “strive for success and solidarity.”

“You’ve got to have that constant fire in your belly,” General President Hoffa said. “You’ve been elected to serve, it’s an obligation, all of us have. And I know that everyone in this room will go out and do that job. We have a lot of work to do. I look out here and I see a lot of great Teamsters. Let’s get together, let’s have a plan and let’s make sure we work to keep this Union great.”