Radio around Chicago is no longer reserved for Top 20 hits, sports highlights or radical conservative pundits. These days, Teamsters Local 142 is using it to rebuild the middle class.
Since April, Teamsters Joint Council 25’s Indiana affiliate has been hosting its own radio show on WJOB AM 1230, broadcast across the region from Hammond. Every other Tuesday, union representatives join WJOB announcer Jim Dedelow for “The Voice of the Middle Class,” a show developed by Teamsters Local 142 Secretary-Treasurer Richard Knipp and Recording Secretary Harvey Jackson to speak directly to committed union members and working families.
“This is the Teamsters’ direct counterassault to Indiana’s shift to a right-to-work-for-less state,” said Jackson. “Workers across Indiana and northern Illinois need to know how dangerous it is to move away from a unionized workforce in America, and what we can do together to restore a strong foundation for the middle class.”
For up to an hour several times per month, Jackson remains a constant voice on the radio show, discussing everything from the truth about right-to-work (for less) to public employee bargaining rights to Mexican trucks and veterans’ issues. The Teamsters also take calls from listeners during each broadcast, even talking one-on-one with workers about what it means to be a Teamster and how to organize with the union, as in Teamsters Local 142 ’s most recent show on July 3.
At a membership meeting earlier this year, many Teamsters Local 142 members working in construction and over-the-road hauling urged union leaders to take a hard-line approach to Indiana’s anti-union movement. The membership wanted to take a dramatic step, Jackson said, to deliver the message of Teamster Power to more working families across the region.
Teamsters Local 142 reached out to WJOB and found a supportive partner in Dedelow, whose four-hour drive time talk show reaches thousands of listeners each weekday. With its 9 a.m. time slot, the Teamsters’ radio show is on the dial for listeners throughout Chicago and Cook County, reaching as far west as Oak Lawn, east to Valparaiso, Ind. and south to Monee, Ill. and Lowell, Ind. For a complete schedule of Teamsters Local 142 ’s broadcast dates, visit WJOB1230.com.
Jackson will be back on the radio at 9 a.m., Tuesday, July 17.
Teamsters Talk Veterans Programs
On July 3, Teamsters Local 142 welcomed Joint Council 25 Trustee and Teamsters Local 786 President Michael L. Yauger into the WJOB studios to discuss the union’s Helmets to Hardhats and Heroes to Healthcare initiatives. Yauger realized the show was a chance to share some of the vital personal programs Teamsters provide to workers alongside powerful contracts and secure benefits.
“Every Teamster local in the country should be trying to do what Teamsters Local 142 has already been doing for the last four months,” Yauger said. “This is an initiative that has far-reaching potential to benefit workers. In just one half-hour, we can talk to thousands of regular people about their lives, their jobs and how they can improve both. That dialogue is very valuable for the labor movement.”
Teamsters in the Chicago metropolitan area are encouraged to tune in to “The Voice of the Middle Class” for its Tuesday broadcasts. Teamster local unions and affiliated organizations interested in visiting WJOB to participate in an upcoming show should contact Harvey Jackson at (773) 721-8800. Members can also visit Teamsters Local 142 online at Teamsters142.org.
“Radio remains one of our most important mediums because it reaches all social classes,” said John T. Coli, President of Joint Council 25. “Local 142 has truly taken a lead to reach as many workers as possible, to let them know you don’t have to work in fear of losing your job, of losing your benefits, of constant struggling to make ends meet.
“There is a better way in the Teamsters Union.”
Teamsters Local 142 and Teamsters Local 786 are affiliates of Teamsters Joint Council 25, which represents more than 100,000 hardworking men and women throughout Illinois and northwest Indiana.
