Rip Watson Transport Topics October 08, 2014 View the original piece Con-way Freight announced a driver pay increase Sept. 30, several weeks before scheduled union representation elections at three Southern California terminals. Con-way, whose less than truck load unit is the third largest in the United States , said the increase and faster progression to the top rate was tied to the driver shortage. Click here to read more.

Bruce Vail In These Times October 08, 2014 View the original piece Leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are mobilizing their forces in the wake of an unexpected attack by a notoriously anti-union warehousing company looking to undermine workers with back-room tactics in federal bankruptcy court. The Keene, New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers’s actions could prove to be an immediate threat to the livelihoods of about 1,100 Teamster members in the Mid-Atlantic region, the...

David Leonhardt The New York Times October 08, 2014 View the original piece American workers have been receiving meager pay increases for so long now that it’s reasonable to talk in sweeping terms about the trend. It is the great wage slowdown of the 21st century. The typical American family makes less than the typical family did 15 years ago, a statement that hadn’t previously been true since the Great Depression. Even as the unemployment rate...

Steven Greenhouse The New York Times October 07, 2014 View the original piece After his 12-hour shifts at an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas, Jesse Busk says, he and 200 other workers typically waited in line for 25 minutes to undergo a security check to see whether they had stolen any goods. Upset that the temp agency that employed him refused to pay workers for that time, Mr. Busk sued. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear...

Super Market News October 02, 2014 View the original piece Contract talks between Teamsters Local 117 and Fred Meyer were scheduled to resume Monday with a federal mediator. The union said issues include health care and the desire by Kroger, Fred Meyer’s parent company, to include language that would allow the company to outsource worker jobs to a third-party subcontractor. Click here to read more at Supermarket News.  

William B. Cassidy The Journal of Commerce October 01, 2014 View the original piece Con-way Freight today said it will boost truck driver pay by $60 million in 2015, restructuring pay rates for more than 14,000 line-haul and pickup-and-delivery drivers nationwide. The second-largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier said it will raise pay, align rates with geographic markets and reduce the time it takes for drivers to reach the top pay scale.   The new pay plan at Con-way...

Alexandra Bradbury Labor Notes 24, 2014 View the original piece Their employer is the U.S. Postal Service, but a few unlucky Bay Area letter carriers were hired only to find out their job is actually delivering groceries for online retailer Amazon at 4 a.m. It’s an experimental program being staffed with City Carrier Assistants—the lowest tier of union letter carriers, permatemps who make $15-17 an hour. To find their way in the dark they’re issued...

Joe Songer AL.com 23, 2014 View the original piece Birmingham, Alabama --Three people are dead -- including the gunman -- after a shooting this morning at a UPS facility in Inglenook, according to Birmingham officials. The incident happened just before 9:30 a.m. as police received multiple calls of an active shooter at 4601 Inglenook Lane, the customer service center and warehouse. "Patrol units responded quickly; they rallied and made entry,'' said Birmingham Police Chief A.C....

Carol Robinson AL.com 23, 2014 View the original piece Birmingham, Alabama --Three people are dead -- including the gunman -- after a shooting this morning at a UPS facility in Inglenook, according to Birmingham officials. The incident happened just before 9:30 a.m. as police received multiple calls of an active shooter at 4601 Inglenook Lane. "Patrol units responded quickly, they rallied and made entry,'' said Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper. "They were able to clear...

Rip Watson Transport Topics 22, 2014 View the original piece UPS Inc. said it is pursuing an expansion of truck brokerage through its Freight unit, adding new capabilities in a fast-growing sector where the company does not currently have a major presence. Ken Burroughs, vice president of strategy for UPS Freight, outlined the company’s plans for Transport Topics during an exclusive Sept. 16 interview. He said, “We have put an emphasis on growing the brokerage...