IBT Calls UPS Locals to meeting on Health Benefits
August 27, 2013: The International Union is holding a meeting for all locals with members in or moving into the Central States TeamCare plan in Chicago with representatives from TeamCare on Sept. 4. The IBT announcement promises, “updated information about the plan” and “educational materials to take back to your Local Union.” The only “updated information” that affected UPS Teamsters want to hear is that TeamCare will be matching members’ current benefits. UPS is providing those...
UPS Healthcare & Obamacare
August 27, 2013: In response to questions to Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), we consulted an expert attorney who advises healthcare plans regarding compliance with Obamacare. Here are his responses to members’ questions. Q. January 1, 2014, is a trigger date for implementation of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act). Does UPS need to have any new health plans in place prior to that date or face financial consequences? A. No. It really does not...
How UPS Teamsters Can Win
August 21, 2013: Hoffa and Hall say it is impossible for UPS Teamsters to win a thing. They won't bargain to protect healthcare, and they won't bargain for real changes in the Central Supplement. We say UPS workers can win. Here's how... First, if your supplemental negotiators are working to win gains, then back them, including the rank and filers on your negotiating committee. Get involved. That's Teamster solidarity. But that is not the case...
UPS Central Region Proposal: There's Nothing There
August 19, 2013: On August 16, the IBT's Central Region Negotiating Committee quietly reached a deal with management to make just two minor "tweaks" to the rejected first offer. Apparently Hoffa-Hall will keep this stinky deal under wraps until their PR machine puts perfume on it. Reportedly one change is a minor tweak in the notorious Article 17 (i), which allows Teamsters to be immediately fired for all "other serious offenses." This clause does not...
Teamster Organizers Petition for Solidarity
August 16, 2013: The organizers who work for the International Union have launched an online petition drive directed at the Hoffa administration. The petition was launched on MoveOn.org and calls on the Hoffa administration and organizing director Jeff Farmer to bargain fairly with the union of IBT organizers and to maintain their present benefits and terms of employment. Some organizers have been fired and have suits pending against the Hoffa administration. Fired organizer Tim Lewis...
Hoffa's Hidden Record Re-Visited
August 16, 2013: In online discussion forums, many Teamsters are asking where Hoffa came from and how he became Teamster President. In response to members' questions, TDU is re-issuing two documents on the history of James Hoffa prior to his election as Teamster President. These two thoroughly-researched documents were produced in 1996 for the Ron Carey Campaign. They document Hoffa's work and background over a long period of time. The facts in these reports have...
Building Teamster Power Conference
Building Teamster Power ConferenceSponsored by Teamsters for a Democratic Union Sunday, Sept 15.10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.CUNY Law SchoolLong Island City, N.Y. Join Teamsters from New York and throughout the Northeast for a day of union education and strategizing about rebuilding Teamster Power. Workshops include: Shop Steward Grievance Training Building Union Power by Getting Members Involved Labor Law for Union Members Defending Teamster Pensions & Benefits Beating Harassment and Enforcing Our Rights at UPS Fighting...
Teamster Members Organize for Change
September 3, 2013: Members are saying NO to contract givebacks and weak representation, and YES to rebuilding union power. Employers and the Hoffa administration have served up a steady diet of concessionary contracts. But members are starting to organize for change. And it's catching on. The industries and contracts may be different but the pattern is the same. Members have organized Vote No campaigns to fight contract givebacks at Gate Gourmet, Republic Airways, ABF, UPS...
Reformers Run for Office in Rhode Island
August 9, 2013: Teamsters in Providence, R.I. have been building a movement for change in Local 251. Now they are running for office as the United Action Slate. Earlier this year more than 1,200 members joined a United Action petition drive to reform the Local 251 bylaws and give members the right to elect their shop stewards and contract negotiating committees, and to vote on officer salaries. These issues struck a chord. More than 800...
ABF Contract Shows Hoffa-Hall Have Given Up on Teamster Power
August 20, 2013: Hoffa and the Freight Division are parroting management's line, aiming to divide, discourage and defeat members. In early August, ABF Teamsters in the Central Region, Carolinas, Western Pa., and a couple of other supplements are voting again on the contract. A number of Teamsters are speaking out against the concessionary deal. Some have made up leaflets comparing the concessionary deal to what Hoffa initially said they would bargain for. The initial contract...