The General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) gave a remarkable address during the Teamsters Canada Convention, which took place June 8 to 11, 2009.

He invoked the importance for Teamsters Canada and IBT to continue to work together in order to improve the lot of North American workers.

“We live in exciting times,” explained Mr. Hoffa. “Our new president, Barack Obama, has told us that unions are part of the solution and that we must rebuild the middle class in the United States.”

James P. Hoffa once again emphasized the importance of the ties between the IBT and Teamsters Canada.

“We live in two countries, but we are part of one big union,” he commented. “Our two countries share many common values, but Canada is still an example in terms of its social progress.”

The president of the IBT also addressed the important issue of new member recruitment. In fact, several meetings were held on this topic at the Teamsters Canada Convention.

“We must organize, organize, and organize,” he hammered. “We recruited 43,000 new members last year despite the recession.”

To listen to James P. Hoffa’s full speech, click below on the player.