By ED FINKELSTEIN
Publisher
With a donation of $18,000 to Camp Rainbow from Teamsters Local 688’s 2016 annual charity golf tournament this year, Local 688 has donated a total of $253,376 to a number of charities from its various golf tournaments since 1998, Local 688’s Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mike Goebel announced.
Despite the union’s major boycott of Schnucks Markets resulting from the company throwing long-term Teamster warehouse workers to the curb in order to hire scabs at their newly built North County warehouse, Local 688 continues it wide-ranging community support efforts.
“We believe that working for the community by helping local charities is a responsibility we have and despite serious issues like the Schnuck’s boycott, we continue to try our best to support worthy causes,” Goebel said.
BUT NEXT YEAR?
“However, what will happen next year if the anti-worker, wage-reducing ‘right-to-work’ comes to be, only time will tell. I can say that a lot of Labor’s charitable efforts will probably be curtailed as we struggle to meet our financial obligations that will be drained away by freeloaders taking advantage of a RTW law.”
Under federal law, a union must provide services to everyone covered by a contact, members and non-members alike. The RTW law will allow selfish persons to not pay any dues or fees for the union’s services but still get all the advantages. This will severely tax the union’s finances, making it less able to aggressively fight for members… and support local charitable causes.
STRONG CHARITY SUPPORT
Teamsters Local 688’s donations to charities from their golf tournaments over the past 16 years include:
- Dream Factory: $117,000
- Camp Sunrise: $60,000
- Camp Rainbow: $43,000
- 688/UPS United Way: $ 7,362.00
- United Way from Merritt Memorial tourney: $ 8,014
Camp Sunrise and Camp Rainbow are recreational retreats for kids with cancer and their families where they can have fun and enjoy a summer camp experience in a safe atmosphere. The camps are free of charge and sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Families can participate in a variety of activities which include exploring the outdoors, camping, arts and crafts, horseback riding, archery, boating, magic shows, and much more.
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