According to the Teamsters website, there are currently 1.4 million members under 21 Industrial Divisions that include both professional, non-professional, private sector and public sector members. The Teamsters Union is one of the largest labor unions in the world. The union has a structure that enables successful running and management of union’s activities. As stated on the Teamster’s website, the union’s General President and General Secretary-Treasurer serve as the executive officers of the union, and the General Executive Board consists of 22 Vice Presidents geographically located throughout the United States (Search Results, n.d.). The president has the responsibility of overseeing all organizational activities, making decisions …show more content…
Every five years the Teamsters hold an election, local delegates who are elected attend the national convention where the union president is chosen. Using democratic leadership style influences the performance of the Teamsters by ensuring active participation of its members and the aceptance of new strategies that are effective to all the union. Democratic leadership used by the union also ensures the recognition of the needs of the stakeholders. Unions view themselves as democratic organizations that represent the interests of their members in whom power is ultimately vested. Like other organizations, labor unions have an organizational structure at local and national levels ("The Organizational Structure of Labor Unions"). Using this approach within the union has influenced its performance by creating order in its activities and communication process. It is indisputable that having different personnel handling the responsibilities of running specific activities within the union has promoted specialization in the execution process. The provisions of autonomy and the responsibility of the local branches of the union across the United States and Canada has facilitated successful implementation of the desired organizational activities. Therefore, it is apparent that the organizational structure and policies adopted by the Teamsters have contributed to its success (Witwer,