pdf Retiree News & Views - Sept/Oct 2020 (4.78 MB)

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Nancy B. True, after a 2-year battle with cancer. Nancy was surrounded by her loving family in her final moments. She truly embodied the spirit of the union, helping retirees and all of those around her. She was a presence at many parades and rallies singing, “We are the Teamsters, the mighty, mighty Teamsters, everywhere where we go people want to know who we are”. She truly captured the hearts of many.

Nancy B. True was the director of Local 237’s 11,000-member Retiree Division, a position she was appointed to in 1993 after serving for six years as the division’s first retiree assistance coordinator and one year as assistant director. The Retiree Division offers retirees a wide range of social work services; benefits assistance; and neighborhood membership meetings. Through the Retiree Division, retirees remain involved unionists, participating in voter registration, rallies and political activities. The Retiree Division also offers comprehensive retirement planning programs, including pension counseling, for members considering retirement.

In 1993, True initiated the Teamsters Local 237 Oral History Project to preserve the history of the union. The project involves interviewing retired members, founders and builders of the union and collecting union artifacts Today, the Local has a significant archive of union memorabilia and photos as well as thousands of recorded (and transcribed) interviews of members about their lives on the job as members of Teamsters Local 237. Oral histories have been published in the Local’s newsletters and are posted on the union’s website (www.local237.org). In 2015, the Oral History Project began working in Puerto Rico. This expansion of the project provided an opportunity to capture the histories of our Puerto Rican membership, as well as the experience of the Puerto Rican diaspora who worked for many years in New York City and then made a U-turn to the island in retirement. The Oral History Project published its first book Memoria de boricuas peregrinos (in Spanish), anthologizing the interviews that were completed in Puerto Rico.



As Retiree Division director, Ms. True produced a large, annual Founders Day event to honor the founders and builders of the union, as well as conferences and special events in Puerto Rico and Florida. Under her leadership, the division presents an annual program for Black History Month, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Women’s History Month Latino heritage, Italian heritage and other events. In 2010, True played a major role in the coalition that organized event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Social Security. The program that she spearheaded, in East Harlem, was the largest Social Security event in the country.



In 2011, Ms. True coordinated Hoops for Haiti a fundraising event for the victims of the hurricane that devastated the country in January 2010. The event was initiated by the Retiree Division’s Sunshine Club and evolved into a union-wide activity that also involved community partners. The project raised nearly $23,000 for the Registered Nurses Response Network, a 501(c)3 charity, to continue their work in Haiti.

As part of her union responsibilities, Ms. True represented Local 237 President Gregory Floyd as a designated trustee of the New York City Employees Retirement System and as a delegate to the New York City Central Labor Council.

A 33-year Teamster, Ms. True received her B.A. from Tufts University and her M.S. from Columbia University School of Social Work. A recognized expert on balancing work and retirement with eldercare responsibilities, she spoke at conferences, appeared in teleconferences, and published articles on this topic. An AFL-CIO video on Work & Family featuring True and Local 237 retirees, on the topic of eldercare, was shown at the AFL-CIO’s 1991 convention.



True was a fellow of the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College, adjunct faculty member of the Columbia University School of Social Work and a field instructor for Adelphi University School of Social Work and Hunter College School of Social Work.

Nancy was adored by many and will truly be missed by her Local 237 family, friends, and retirees.