Teamsters Protest Hospital Layoffs
March 2, 2009: Local 743 Teamsters are standing together to fight layoffs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Teamster Local 743 represents much of the non-nursing staff at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Management recently announced a major layoff of over 450 employees. “I have no job, six kids and a $1,500 dollar rent payment,” said Sherri Taylor Kennedy, a Local 743 member. Until the layoff, she was a secretary serving two pediatric...
Former Chicago Teamster Prez Indicted for Cocaine Deals
March 2, 2009: At the same time he was the $150,000-a-year president of Chicago Local 743, one of the largest Teamster locals, Robert Walston was involved in a cocaine-trafficking scheme, according to an indictment unsealed on Jan. 22. Walston pleaded not guilty on Jan. 29. On June 16, 2007, federal agents seized $135,000 in cash from Walston and Victor Matos, one of his alleged co-conspirators. Walston is accused of repeatedly driving and flying to Houston...
Letters from our Members
Ron Carey and the Right to Vote In 1991, I beat my local officers and was elected on a slate of working Teamsters to represent my members as a delegate to the Teamsters Convention. That year was the first time working Teamsters got a chance to represent our members on the convention floor. That was a right that we won through TDU—and we made good use of it. We nominated Ron Carey. And we put...
Worried about Our Union's Future? Join TDU Today
Do you think our union is headed in the wrong direction? Teamsters for a Democratic Union is made up of thousands of working Teamsters who are doing something about it. Our movement is growing because members like you are doing their part to turn our union around. You can help. Join TDU today. Make UPS Deliver Full-Time Jobs “I was on the picket line every day in 1997 holding a sign that said ‘Part Time...
Reddaway Wants 10% Cut Before Contract Done
February 27, 2009: Negotiations for a new contract for some 400 Teamsters at the Pacific Northwest terminals of USF Reddaway were not going smoothly, as of late February. Reddaway is a regional carrier owned by YRC. Negotiations are ongoing; the contract expired Dec. 31, and Teamsters are working on an extension. Management is reportedly demanding an immediate ten percent pay cut, in line with the negotiated cut at YRC’s other operations. But local union negotiators...
Local 896 Merger on Hold
March 2, 2009: A proposed merger of California Local 896 that would have threatened that local’s proud history of winning strong contracts is now on hold. The news comes just as the Committee to Save Local 896 was preparing their next action. Members spoke up to save their local and made it happen. For months, Local 896 officials were deep in talks with Local 848 head Jim Santangelo about merging the two locals. But now...
Baltimore Members End Pension Freeze
February 27, 2009: The Baltimore Local 355 pension is no longer frozen, thanks to hundreds of working Teamsters who took action and demanded improvement. But Local 355 officials have raised benefits only a fraction of the former amount—and added a penalty for Teamsters who retire early. On Feb. 18, the Local 355 pension fund trustees announced they are re-instating a modest pension accrual, effective March 1, 2009 through the end of the year. Last year,...
BNA Daily Labor Report: Teamsters Offer to Return to Work at Oak Harbor
February 13, 2009: International Brotherhood of Teamsters members who are on strike against Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc., an Auburn, Wash.-based trucking company, have made an unconditional offer to return to work and end the strike begun more than four months ago over alleged unfair labor practices by the company, the union announced Feb. 12. “In this tumultuous economic climate, it does not benefit the workers or the company to allow Oak Harbor to continue...
Members Build Movement for Change
February 20, 2009: Teamster members are reaching out to other Teamsters to work together to build a stronger union. Members are talking Teamster-to-Teamster, getting petition signatures, distributing Convoy, and asking members to get involved in our movement for change. Here’s what some members are doing to put our union back on the right track. Mike SchafferResponding to the Crisis in Freight and Our Union I took two days off work to pass out Convoys at...
Local 179 President Resigns in Scandal
February 19, 2009: Less than six weeks after taking office, the new principal officer of Local 179 has resigned in the wake of a corruption scandal. Jim Kenney was elected president of Local 179 in September and took office in January. Apparently, he was a fast learner in the ways of misusing members’ dues dollars. Union officials refused to disclose to members or the press what impropriety occurred. Hoffa PR-man Bret Caldwell told the press...