January 29, 2009: When Teamsters found out their jobs were going to be outsourced at the San Francisco Chronicle, the paper told them to re-apply at the new facility. But when one 44-year pressman took the test, he was told he wasn’t qualified. This summer, the San Francisco Chronicle will outsource 200 union jobs to a new nonunion facility in Fremont, California run by Transcontinental, a large Canadian printer. Teamster pressmen at the Chronicle are...

January 29, 2009: TDU’s elected leaders met last week to make our plans to educate Teamster members and build the movement to take back our union. The day-long meeting of the TDU International Steering Committee was held on Jan. 17 in Detroit. “Many Teamsters who supported Hoffa in the past now realize he is a failure,” said Frank Halstead, a member of the ISC from Los Angeles Local 572. “TDU is out there giving members...

January 29, 2009: US trucking company Arkansas Best Corp (ABFS.O) swung to a surprise fourth-quarter loss and said it slashed about 1,100 jobs in the period as the US recession brought "unprecedented weakness" to its business, pushing down both freight volumes and prices. Click here to read more at Reuters.

January 28, 2009: The International Union has directed locals to reduce the dues of YRC Teamsters by $6 per month to take account of the pay cut which went into effect retroactively to January 1. The memo states that locals can choose to implement the new dues rate in January, February or March. While many locals need money, we think it’s only fair to reduce the dues in January, when the pay cut took effect....

January 28, 2009: The change of operations hearing in Dallas regarding issues of jobs and seniority in the Yellow-Roadway merger finished three of four regions by Wednesday afternoon. The meeting moved on to locals in the South. The hearing will continue on the “velocity” (utility employee) aspect of the merger tomorrow. Many locals worked out issues regarding the follow-the-work principle. Because that principle was used, most of the relocations will be from a specific losing...

January 27, 2009: The change of operations hearing in Dallas to allocate jobs and seniority in the Yellow-Roadway merger will continue for at least a third day. It was originally scheduled for two days, but by Tuesday afternoon only the Central Region locals and half of the Eastern locals had been heard. A lot of the time is taken up with locals contesting the company on how many workers get to follow their work. Where...

January 29, 2008: UPS management is moving to eliminate every Article 22.3 job at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport—the single largest cut since UPS started slashing full-time jobs last year. In all, the company is planning to eliminate 120 Article 22.3 positions at DFW. “I was on the picket line every day in 1997 holding a sign that said 'Part Time America Won't Work.' I never dreamed the company would try to force me back to...

January 29, 2009: Our union’s failure to enforce the Article 22.3 full-time jobs provision of the contract has forced Seattle Local 174 members to make a devil’s choice: your money or your jobs. When UPS laid off dozens of Article 22.3 Teamsters, Local 174 filed a grievance and promised to win back the jobs. Now local officials have cut a deal that would give back a separate grievance victory worth $1 million or more. In...

January 27, 2009: Truck driving is among the most dangerous and stressful occupations, as this disturbing video illustrates. The accident shown occurred near Donner Pass in California. The truck with the video camera was going 55 mph when the other driver passed and then lost control. Both the driver and co-driver lost their lives. Let's all drive and work safely, especially in winter conditions.

January 26, 2009: A federal district court in Ohio Jan. 22 gave final approval to a $2.43 million consent decree settling an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging that a regional trucking firm unlawfully discriminated against women in hiring for driver and loading dock jobs (EEOC v. Pitt Ohio Express Inc., N.D. Ohio, No. 06-747, consent decree approved 1/22/09). At a Jan. 22 fairness hearing, Judge Lesley Wells of the U.S. District Court for the...