Billions to Bail Out Banks, Time to Protect Our Pensions
April 10, 2009: Reckless Wall Street schemes have devastated Teamster pension plans. Can our union help lead the fight for retirement security for working families? The Teamsters Union has formed a high-level committee to look for ways to protect union pension funds that have been devastated by the financial crisis. And not a moment too soon. It’s no secret that many Teamster pension plans are in trouble. The Central States Pension Fund lost $9.5 billion...
A Message from the TDU Trustees
Good Teamster jobs on the line. Pension and benefit cuts. And a Teamster leadership that’s asleep at the wheel. Our union needs TDU more than ever. It’s going to take a lot of inspiration, organization, and hard work for our union to make it through these tough times. That’s why we are stepping up TDU activity this year. TDU members and organizers are hitting the road, getting Convoy out to new places, and meeting new...
YRC Teamsters Have Done Our Part
April 16, 2009: The YRC merger is a fact of life now for 35,000 freight Teamsters. By Chuck DeaverLocal 174, YRCSeattleTDU International Steering Committee Status reports on the merger are all over the drivers’ rooms, the trucking industry press, and our local unions. The reviews are mixed. Teamster employees have done their part, and more, to help YRC succeed. It’s now up to management to make it work in this difficult economic period. Teamsters gave...
Holland Teamsters Fight for Premium Work
April 10, 2009: After Teamsters in suburban Chicago voted down their contract twice, they won new language that protects their overtime and premium work. Now management is trying to back out of the protections. USF Holland Teamsters in Local 179 are challenging management over using part-time dockworkers (“supplements”) to take their overtime and premium work. The members are covered under a local cartage agreement separate from the National Master Freight Agreement. Cell Phone Call The...
Central States Financial Report: Relief Sought; More Members Needed
April 10, 2009: The 2008 Financial and Analytical Report on the Central States Pension Fund was finally issued in late March, and it’s not pretty. There are no big surprises, but it reveals that the Fund will ask the IRS for a waiver because it cannot meet its funding target for this year. The report, which was expected on February 1 but was not issued until late March, is available to members only through Teamsters...
Teamsters at UPS Freight Don’t Get Credit
April 10, 2009: As the one Teamster carrier that has done some hiring, UPS Freight has attracted some experienced Teamster drivers. Unfortunately, they are learning the bitter truth about a deal made by the Hoffa administration: you get no pension credits in any Teamster pension fund by working there. You start anew in a company fund. Can this be corrected in the next contract? Not with the present IBT leadership.
YRC Wants to Defer Pension Payments
April 10, 2009: YRCW has contacted some Teamster pension funds asking to defer for several months the company’s payment of pension contributions for Teamsters. This is according to IBT Freight Director Tyson Johnson, who says any deal like that must be negotiated with him. The only good news here is that Teamster can rest assured it will not affect your pension credits. Thanks to court cases our members won years ago, all Teamster pension funds...
Teamsters Making a Difference
Our union can protect us in tough times. But not when our leaders are out of touch with the problems members face. TDU brings working Teamsters together to protect our contracts and benefits and move our union in a new direction. 804 Members United“Our union leadership is not leading the members in the right direction. I got involved to try to make some positive change. “We’re building a movement in my local called 804 Members...
Why All UPS Teamsters Should Care About The Central States Pension Fund
May 1, 2009: If you are a UPS Teamster in the West or the East, then the problems in the Central States Pension Fund won’t affect you, right? Wrong. UPS’s pullout has financially devastated the Central States Pension Fund. And the company plan that replaced it is a ticking time bomb of retirement insecurity for nearly 50,000 UPS Teamsters in the Central and Southern Regions. This may not affect your pension directly, if you’re a...
Contract Violations That Kill Teamster Jobs
April 10, 2009: Volume is down at UPS and layoffs are up. Our union can’t reverse the economic slowdown—but our union can protect Teamster jobs by holding UPS to the contract. Contract Violations That Kill Teamster Jobs • New Overtime Guidelines Hurt Working Teamsters • New Jersey Local Challenges UPS Over Supervisors Working UPS has responded to the economic slowdown with record layoffs and job cuts. Drivers across the country are reporting an increase in...