Chicago School Dedicates Classroom to Teamster Leader

Local 786 President Recognized for Military, Labor Service

The sacrifice of one Teamster leader for his service to the U.S. military and America’s labor movement will forever live on in the form of a classroom on Chicago’s South Side.

Michael Yauger, Teamsters Volunteers in Politics Chairman and Teamsters Local 786 President, was honored last week as the United Neighborhood Organization dedicated a classroom in his name at the Veterans Memorial Charter School Campus. A second room was also dedicated for Benito Garcia, a veterans service officer for the Helmets to Hardhats national veterans program.

“When you join the military and vow to protect the freedoms and rights of all Americans, you do it for love of country, not in the hopes of receiving special recognition one day,” said Yauger, a decorated Vietnam veteran. “To now see my military service and lifelong commitment to the Teamsters memorialized in the halls that house our next generation—it’s a rare and remarkable moment.”

Three schools are housed on the charter school campus, each named for a veteran who served in a foreign war. The new dedications are part of a recent commencement to name 20 classrooms throughout the schools in honor of local veterans who also fought overseas. Yauger and Garcia both served in the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The campus currently serves approximately 1,500 students from kindergarten to 10th grade. Part of its mission is to alleviate school overcrowding in Chicago, which disproportionately affects Hispanic communities across the city.

Community leaders established the United Neighborhood Organization in 1984 to address local issues and leadership in Chicago’s Hispanic neighborhoods.

Teamsters Joint Council 25 represents more than 100,000 hardworking men and women throughout Illinois.

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