This is what we union thuggs do for the holidays

Bass Tournament delegates present the check.

Teamsters Joint Council 13 in St. Louis raises the largest contribution ever received by a hospital for children's gifts.

A few weeks ago, the joint council raised more than $12,000 at their 1st. Annual Dan McKay Memorial Bass Tournament.

Joint Council 13 president Marvin Kropp presented the donation to Jill and Lauren, representatives of St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Snowflake Village.

Marvin Kropp presents the check.

Every year Snowflake Village provides gifts for children in the hospital at Christmas time as well as any siblings.   The hospital representatives told the Teamsters it was the largest contribution that they had ever received, and they were overwhelmed by the generosity.

Here's how the Teamsters got involved:

Last Christmas, retired Teamster and Missouri State Rep. Bob Burns reached out to Marvin Kropp about Teamster’s support for Snowflake Village.  Brother Burns told them about the wonderful work Snowflake Village does for families of sick children spending Christmas in the hospital. Brother Kropp and Mike Goebel, vice-president of Joint Council 13, decided to help.   

On Christmas Eve, they brought a donation to Children’s Hospital and helped wrap gifts for the children.   

“It was a very moving experience to see the joy of the children when they received their gifts.  So when picking a charity for the bass tournament, Snowflake Village was our first choice,” said Brother Kropp.

Joint Council 13 President Marvin Kropp, Local 600 Secretary-Treasurer Scott Gilchris, Local 600 member Dan McKay and Local 600 President Larry Tinker. 

Teamsters Joint Council 13 committed to partnering with Snowflake Village in future charity bass tournaments and looks forward to it.

Teamsters Joint Council 13 would like to thank everyone who made a contribution to this great cause and to all the hard work that everyone put into this event to make it such a huge success!

And remember, THUGGs stands for 'Those Helpful Union Guys and Gals'!

This is what we union thugs do for disabled children

We organize a day of offroading and fun for 142 disabled children at the summer camp we support financially.

According to a translation of the posting (in French) on the Teamsters Canada website,

Dozens of volunteers and the Quad Club Hikers have agreed to meet on July 7 to organize a day for offroading for 142 disabled children at Camp Papillon. 

This was the fifth annual day offroading and a video was made to mark the anniversary. 

Camp Papillon is a vacation site for disabled children and respite for parents. It is located around Lake Pierre, 40 kilometers north of Joliette. The Teamsters Union contributes financially to the camp and has raised nearly $500 000 for 25 years through the Teamsters Quebec Open. 

In addition to mountain biking, children were delighted by clowns, mascots, magicians and makeup artists. 

"There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the smiles of these children, said Alain DeGrandpré, president of Joint Council 91 of the Teamsters Union. It was a magical moment for them, but also for us." 

Alain DeGrandpré has also paid tribute to the participation of all volunteers and especially André Paquin of Local 106 who is the organizer of the event. 

"This is our way of making a small difference in the lives of these children, said the unionist. But children are also a big difference in ours."

And remember, "thugs" stands for "those helpful union guys and gals."

This is what we union thugs do on the golf course

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White played.

(UPDATES to CORRECT White sted Turner in caption.)

We raise more than $3 million for autism research in Chicago.

Teamsters raised funds to cure the developmental disorder at the 11th annual "In Search of a Cure" golf outing on July 26 at the Silver Lake Country Club in Orland Park and Ruffled Feathers Golf Club in Lemont.

The event is named in honor of Bryan D. Hancock, the autistic son of Teamsters Joint Council 25 Vice President and Local 731 President Terrence J. Hancock. Local 731 coordinates the outing, where hundreds of sponsors, golfers and Teamster supporters assemble each year.

Local 731 donates all proceeds from the golf tournament to Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago on behalf of its Therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research. "In Search of a Cure" donated $600,000 to Easter Seals to finish building its research center. The next phase of construction will include a warm water therapy pool and aquatic center named in honor of Bryan D. Hancock.

The center will include educational research, early intervention training, job placement programs for young adults and independent living instruction.

Oh, and "thugs" stands for Those Helpful Union Guys and Gals.

This is what we union thugs do for the jobless

Some thug.

(UPDATE: Changes 2nd paragraph to clarify only employees of contractors with educational institutions lost benefits recently, Adds 700 members of Local 728)

We buy food and distribute it to workers whose earned benefits were arbitrarily cut off by the state of Georgia.

This spring, the Department of Labor suddenly cut off the unemployment benefits earned by 64,000 Georgians (including 700 members of Local 728) who had no work during the summer. They were employed by companies that contracted with educational institutions.

Lots of food for lots of hunger.

Velmar Hightower, a food service technician for Aramark at Spellman College, had depended on her unemployment benefits for 20 summers. She was shocked when the Georgia Department of Labor told her at the end of May that she no longer qualified. Like tens of thousands of others, she'd had no time to plan for a summer without income.

The workers are facing eviction, repossession and hunger. There is no work for them in Georgia. There is no pay.

Teamsters from Local 728 in Atlanta bought $3,000 worth of food and set up a food distribution center. Several hundred union members whose unemployment benefits were cut picked up groceries at the IBEW Hall in Savannah on Saturday and Wednesday. Local 728 will also deliver bags of groceries to the homes of 50 unemployed school bus drivers at Fort Stewart later this week.

Remember "Thug" stands for "those helpful union guys (and gals)."