Organizing is in the blood of this Teamster family

As a <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/organizing-victories" rel="nofollow">Teamster organizer</a> and a <a href="http://driveupstandards.org/durham-school-bus-workers-forum" rel="nofollow">Durham School Services school bus driver</a>, Shelley Goodman witnessed a lot of hardship in 21 years. She worked to alleviate it -- and to pass that torch to a new generation.<br /><br />Goodman saw what happened to school bus drivers without a union. One school bus monitor sold her blood to make ends meet in Jacksonville, Fla. Goodman met her on an organizing drive.<br /><br />A worker who had terminal cancer came to cast his vote in the Teamster election in Minnesota, so committed was he to a better future for his coworkers.<br /><br />“I’ve witnessed all these battles,” Goodman told the audience of 1,000 Teamsters at the recent<a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/09/teamster-womens-conference.html" rel="nofollow"> 2013 Teamsters Women’s Conference</a>. “But there are two women who I would like to recognize today. They encouraged me to be an activist. They are my two daughters.”<br /><br />The two sisters have the same fire as their mother to empower workers to better their working conditions and their lives.<br /><br />Goodman said she is extremely proud of her daughters as she called on the audience of Teamsters to continue their fight and pass it on to the next generation.<br /><br />Courtney Goodman Bell is a business agent with Local 777 in Chicago. Kacie Goodman Romero is a special education teacher in Louisiana and a chief shop steward working to organize and mobilize her coworkers.<br /><br />Romero is learning from her mother and sister about empowering workers to stand up for their rights.<br /><br />“I’m glad to be at the Teamsters Women’s Conference," Romero said. "Having moved from Illinois to Louisiana, a <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-talk-about-right-to-work.html" rel="nofollow">right-to-work</a> state, I have a lot to learn about organizing and unions. I want to empower myself to help others.<br /><br />Romero is one of five union members among a work force of 80. The teachers and staff have a growing interest in organizing, but also a fear of retribution from their employer.<br /><br />Romero remembers workers coming to their house to talk to their mom, the fighter, she told the<a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/09/teamster-womens-conference.html" rel="nofollow"> Teamster</a> women at the conference. “Mom would go to her shop steward meetings and bring us along when we were little,” Romero said.<br /><br />Bell said being in a union is ingrained in their family.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Our father was a union ironworker. When I was eight years old, Mom organized at her bus terminal. For us, it was common conversation at the dinner table.</blockquote>Bell is the youngest daughter, but advises her sister on how to organize in her workplace.<br /><br />“I’m a business agent and I represent school bus drivers, and I can explain to them, I rode a bus, too, with my Mom. I know the gratification and challenges of being a bus driver,” Bell said.

Durham school bus organizing Organizing is in the blood of this Teamster family

As a Teamster organizer and a Durham School Services school bus driver , Shelley Goodman witnessed a lot of hardship in 21 years. She worke...

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