IBT Member Groups Records

There are four member organizations within the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that support and advocate for their constituents on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. These are the Teamsters National Black Caucus, the International Teamster Woman’s Caucus/Women’s Conference, the National Teamsters Hispanic Caucus and the Teamsters GLBT Caucus. The purpose of these groups is to educate themselves and other Teamsters, to communicate with the IBT leadership and the ensure representation at all levels of the organization.

The Teamsters National Black Caucus was formed in 1975. Discussion of forming such a caucus within the IBT dates back to 1971. The goals of the TNBC are: to organize and educate the unorganized in African-American communities throughout the U.S.; to promote affirmative action in the workplace and in African-American communities; to encourage political action and legislation; and to increase black participation in the IBT at all levels.

In November 1986 the Teamsters’ Conference on Women in the Workplace was held in Dallas, Texas. The purpose of the conference was to focus on the needs of women workers in general and Teamster women in particular. In the fall of 1991 a group of Teamster women from the U.S. and Canada formed the International Teamster Women’s Caucus (ITWC). The purpose of the Women’s Caucus was two-fold. It provided women members the opportunity to become more involved in the workings of the IBT at all levels and it served as a channel of communication and education between Teamster women and IBT leaders. ITWC held its first and only conference in 1995. In 2002 the Teamster Women’s Conference was revived on an annual basis with which the Women’s Caucus has been closely associated.