January 27, 2014: The voting results are in and the YRC concessions will be extended through 2019. Join YRC Teamsters who are taking aim at 2016 and the chance to vote out the Hoffa administration and take back our union.  Teamster members approved the YRCW “Plan B” contract extension by a vote of 12,267 to 6,314 in local union voting over the weekend. Hoffa and Hall immediately hailed it as “saving 30,000 jobs.” The vote...

Western Pennsylvania Supplement Local City National Agreement Supplment June Supplement January     Yes No Yes No Yes No 30 Jeanette, Pa. 91 646 96 642 132 557 110 Ebensburg, pa. 45 131 51 125 109 83 249 Pittsburgh 30 432 30 432 67 346 261 New Castle, Pa. 9 84 9 84 19 67 397 Erie, Pa. 15 65 16 64 42 42 491 Uniontown, Pa. 5 22 6 21 17 18 538 Worthington,...

January 24, 2014: Western Pennsylvania UPS Teamsters have again overwhelmingly rejected their contract supplement by a 3-1 margin. Ken Hall and the IBT tried to bully the members by saying they will never bargain anything better, but determined rank and file Teamsters are sticking together in solidarity. The local-by-local count is available here. Members are angry over reduced health care benefits through TeamCare, and to inadequate changes in the Wester Pa Supplement. Western Pa joins...

UPDATED January 22, 2014. 4:00 p.m. The International Union has just issued new Rules for contract voting by 26,000 YRCW Teamsters. The changes 1) are to allow Friday voting in a sealed envelope for drivers subject to dispatch who will not be back to their home local to vote on the weekend; and 2) clarify that anyone on layoff, but who has worked in the past three years, may vote, even if they are on...

January 18, 2014.  YRC Teamsters will be voting once again on a contract extension, this time in union halls on January 25-26.  The proposal, reportedly toned down from the initial “wish-list” proposal by YRC, was negotiated with the IBT. We will publish the full proposal and other information as soon as it is available. The “two man” meeting of local officers to see the proposal will be Tuesday, January 21. Ken Hall had a long...

January 16, 2014.  YRCW CEO James Welch now says that the company will “revise its proposal” for a contract extension, to work with the Teamsters and with their lenders to enable the company to re-finance its debt. In a statement issued today. Welch admitted that “re-voting the same proposal is not an option.” Teamsters at YRCW clearly gave Welch that information with the overwhelming rejection of the company’s first extension proposal. Welch now plans to...

January 15, 2014: YRCW Teamsters are asking: where are Hoffa and the IBT Freight Division?  YRCW terminal management personnel are working over Teamsters, asking them to call the IBT and request a re-vote, while hinting of a possible closure. The IBT Freight Division has stated there will be no re-vote of the same proposal. We can all agree on that. Hoffa and Freight Director Tyson Johnson are MIA, leaving YRC Teamsters to fend for themselves....

January 15, 2014.   Today is the 50th anniversary of the National Master Freight Agreement, first signed on this date in 1964.  It covered 400,000 Teamsters and was the culmination of decades of organizing, starting with the courageous Minneapolis strikers of 1934. It was also the high-water mark of Jimmy Hoffa, who came up from the streets of Detroit and fought his way to the top of the Teamsters Union, with the help of the mob....

January 9, 2014. 5 p.m. The counting of YRCW ballots has ended with the contract extension rejected by a vote of 12,028 to 7,623. You can see the results by local union here. The votes in most of the biggest locals counted are decisively No, and many smaller locals voted No also. What is the Plan B? Since rank and file opposition to the concession deal has been widespread and well-known, the International Union and...

January 9, 2014: The YRCW contract extension has gone down to defeat. What’s next? The company has hinted that it could be bankruptcy, and we sincerely hope for the sake of 26,000 Teamsters, their families and their communities that they will not take that route. The International Union should step up to the plate and bargain immediately with YRCW, while simultaneously dealing with the banks to save Teamster jobs without completely gutting the contract. There...