Signs of the Times #6: Organizing for Social Justice ft. Tim Beaty

Our guest on today’s episode is Tim Beaty, an ND grad and director of Global Strategies for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Tim has spent the past 30 years organizing for social justice in the U.S. labor movement. He shares how this career path was ignited by his friendship with Rev. Don McNeill, C.S.C. and involvement in the early days of the Center for Social Concerns, as well as his time in Peru during his junior year working with Holy Cross priests to experience poverty, theology, and economics from the perspective of the poor.

Tim discusses his work with the Teamsters and their success over the years organizing low-income workers to raise wages, and have a sense of dignity and solidarity that comes from working together and using their voice. He shares how an experience organizing a committee to boycott Campbell’s soup on campus for their unfair treatment of migrant workers lead to a desire to work in the labor movement and a passion for helping working people build for a better society. He also shares what he sees as the “signs of the times” in the labor movement, his experience meeting the Pope, and discussing the rights of workers from the perspective of the Catholic Church.