Coli to Serve on Labor Education Advisory Board

Joint Council 25, University of Illinois Work to Strengthen Labor Movement

Teamsters Joint Council 25 President John T. Coli has been tapped by the University of Illinois to be the union’s leading representative on a new statewide labor education board.

The university’s School of Labor and Employment Relations is asking labor leaders across the state to serve on its Labor Education Program Advisory Board. The committee of 12-15 union officers will meet twice each year to discuss training opportunities for students and union members, and address new ideas for strengthening the labor movement.

“We’re going to try to bring greater alignment to what labor leaders statewide feel is needed to better serve the labor community,” said Robert Bruno, University of Illinois Professor and Director of the Labor Education Program. “Improving labor education is important to protecting the labor movement.”

Members of the advisory board are expected to first meet Feb. 17 in Bloomington. Meetings will be held downstate and in Chicago each year. The Labor Education Program regularly offers courses on everything from collective bargaining and labor history to stewards training and gender issues in the workplace.

“Getting labor into our classrooms is imperative to making sure generations of workers know their rights and the capacity of unions to protect them,” said Coli, a Central Region International Vice President. “It’s an honor to represent Teamsters across Illinois and to work with our sister unions to improve labor education opportunities for workers.”

“Considering all of the goods and services the Teamsters help move statewide, it’s clear the union is an important part of the overall labor movement,” said Bruno. “There’s potential to bring a lot to the table because the union is very diverse in both the public and private sectors. The Teamsters make a big footprint.”

Teamsters Joint Council 25 represents more than 100,000 hardworking men and women throughout Illinois and northwest Indiana.

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