Make UPS Deliver
January 26, 2007: Teamster negotiators have given UPS until just March 31 to negotiate an early agreement. Now is the time to get involved and to stand strong and united. Management wants an early deal. We’ve got to Make UPS Deliver or say no to an early settlement. Our Teamsters National UPS negotiating Committee has scheduled seven weeks of intensive bargaining, beginning the week of Jan. 22, and given UPS until the end of March...
Join the Grassroots Campaign to Make UPS Deliver
January 26, 2007: UPS Teamsters have launched a rank-and-file campaign to “Make UPS Deliver” the contract that working Teamsters deserve. “Our goal is to give UPS Teamsters a voice in these negotiations and to make sure that the company and our union negotiators deliver the contract we deserve,” said Michael Savwoir, a Local 41 feeder driver involved in the effort. The UPS Negotiating Committee kicked off early bargaining in September and has scheduled seven weeks...
New York UPSers Respond Angrily to Pension Cuts
December 6, 2006: Hit by a 30 percent pension cut, many New York Local 804 Teamsters feel it’s time to fight back. Local 804 President and fund trustee Howie Redmond voted against the cuts, but never informed members that UPS management was seeking cuts. “Local 804’s officers certainly knew we had a problem and that management wanted cuts. Why was that hidden from the members?” said Local 804 alternate steward Jim Reynolds. “Now they’re going...
In West Pension Multiplier Goes Up, But 38% Pension Cut Remains
December 5, 2006: When is an increase actually a cut? Teamsters in the Western Conference Fund are finding out the hard way. Fund trustees voted to raise the pension multiplier. But a typical Teamster will lose $100 a month off of their pension check every year that the new multiplier is in effect. Trustees of the Teamsters Western Conference Fund voted to slightly increase the pension multiplier, the number that determines the amount of pension...
Round One in Early Bargaining Goes to UPS
“The union plans to address pensions and healthcare first.” IBT press release on UPS early bargaining, Oct. 2, 2006 December 6, 2006: Less than two months after the IBT announced that it would “address pension and healthcare first” in UPS bargaining, the company imposed a 30 percent pension cut on thousands of UPS Teamsters in New York City (see article on page 3). In pushing through the cuts over the objections of Local 804, management...
UPS Teamsters Vote Leedham in Big Numbers
December 6, 2006: The IBT election is over, and James Hoffa won the power to oversee the union’s bargaining with UPS. A centerpiece of Hoffa’s election strategy was to win big at UPS, our union’s largest employer. He didn’t. Despite outspending Leedham 10-1 and with 90 percent of local officials campaigning for him, Hoffa had to settle for no better than half of the UPS vote. Tom Leedham won the majority of the UPS vote...
Teamsters Organize FedEx Ground Stations
December 5, 2005: In an historic win, our union has organized two FedEx Ground stations near Boston. Workers voted 22-8 for Teamster Local 25 at the two small stations. Instead of recognizing the union and bargaining, FedEx intends to challenge the union victory at the NLRB and court, to drag it out. FedEx Ground drivers are contractors who buy their own trucks, but the NLRB has ruled that they are employees. The union has lost...
UPS Buys More Congressmen Than Any Company
December 5, 2006: An academic study by three economists entitled “Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns” and reported in the New York Times indicates that in recent years UPS has donated PAC money to more Congressional candidates than any other corporation. UPS’s corporate PAC gave to 629 Congressional and Senate candidates from October 1999 to October 2004. The study found that corporate buying of Congressional influence has a positive effect on stock price. It shows...
UPS Quarterly Profits Break Record
December 5, 2006: UPS’s third-quarter after-tax profits rose to $1.04 billion, with strong growth in domestic and international shipments. Profit in the largest business line, domestic packages, rose 8.8 percent and international profits jumped 22 percent. UPS reported only one weak spot: integration of Menlo Forwarding (UPS Cartage Services Inc.) and Overnite (UPS Freight).
Pension Cuts Hit Flagship UPS Local
December 5, 2006: Just two months into early negotiations with UPS to protect Teamster benefits, the company has cut the pensions of thousands of UPS Teamsters in New York City. Local 804 members will be hit with a 30 percent cut in their pension accrual effective Jan. 1. The cuts send a clear signal that UPS management is continuing its offensive against Teamster benefits.The largest UPS local in the East, Local 804, was the first...