Building a New Local 251 Through Reform & United Action
April 2, 2014: Teamster members swept the United Action Slate into office in the 5,500-member Rhode Island Local 251 last fall. One hundred days into their first term, the reform leadership is living up to its name—by taking united action and rebuilding union power by getting members involved. Financial Reform As candidates, the United Action Slate vowed to cut bloated officer salaries and put members first. On their first day in office, they made good...
“What a Union is All About”
April 8, 2014: An interview with Brooke Reeves a Local 251 Steward at Rhode Island Hospital. You backed the incumbent officials who lost the Local 251 election. What’s it been like since then? The biggest change is the new leadership is totally up front with the members. The old Business Agent made deals that were kept totally secret from us. We just found a Memorandum of Understanding that cut starting pay for new hires. I...
Driver-Community Alliance Powers Teamster Bus Strike
April 2, 2014: Bus service is at a standstill but solidarity is on the rise in Vermont where a Teamster strike has shut down the state’s largest public transit system continues. As Teamster Voice goes to press, the strike at the Chittenden County Transportation Authority is entering its third week. Community groups, unions, and the public are uniting in support of the drivers who have made driver fatigue and public safety a key issue in...
NY Bus Drivers Win Big Grievance
April 18, 2014: Contract enforcement action by a TDU member has paid off—winning a $100,000 grievance victory for new York City school bus drivers. Consolidated Bus Transit (CBT) tried to pull a fast one and cheat more than 160 drivers and bus aides out of their vacation pay for President’s Day week. New York City schools are closed for President’s Day week but Teamsters at CBT have always been paid for that week for 20...
Los Angeles Local 396: Change is Coming
April 2, 2014: Members of Los Angeles Local 396 are talking, networking and starting to raise money to put the rank and file power back in the drivers seat. Even former supporters of secretary treasurer Ron Herrera are climbing aboard the movement for change. Most of the 10,000 members of Local 396 work at UPS. Herrera showed his colors in the UPS contract; instead of working with members for a better contract, he sold every...
Texans Build Teamster Unity At TDU Meeting
April 2, 2014: Local 745 members held a TDU meeting in El Paso, Texas to talk about enforcing their contracts, the future of the union and rebuilding Teamster Power. Teamsters in El Paso are members of Local 745 in Dallas which is 635 miles away! That kind of distance takes the “local” right out of local union. So members decided to cook up some Teamster Unity of their own and organized a TDU meeting in...
The $300,000 Club
April 2, 2014: Hoffa and his number two Ken Hall raked in more than $300,000 a piece in total compensation last year according to the IBT LM-2 financial report reviewed by TDU. Hoffa gave himself a Cost of Living increase of $4,000. Most Teamsters don’t see anything resembling that. Hoffa’s “housing allowance” ballooned to $67,358, bringing his total compensation to $381,409. Ken Hall also gets that outsized perk. They work in the Marble Palace; do...
Pension Cuts Bill May Move Soon
April 2, 2014: Legislation is expected to be introduced soon that would allow the Teamster Central States Plan and other “deeply troubled” pension plans to slash pensions. This makes the fight-back to stop this legislation and push for more positive alternatives all the more urgent. As TDU has reported over the past year, the National Coordinating Committee for Multi-Employer Plans (NCCMP) has been lobbying both the House and Senate for a bill that would revoke...
Teamsters Organizing to Protect Pensions
April 2, 2014: Teamsters are getting active to defend pensions and oppose legislation which would allow retiree benefits to be slashed. “We’ve formed a committee in the Cleveland area, and we’re going to make our voices heard,” said Alex Adams (speaking in the picture), retired past President of Local 407. “It starts with contacting Teamsters and retirees, who are worried about the future, and letting them know that something can be done if we get...
How to Think Like an Arbitrator
April 18, 2014: Thinking like an arbitrator will help you win your contract language grievances—even if you don’t go to arbitration. When a member, steward, or union rep prepares a contract language grievance, a useful skill is learning to “think like an arbitrator.” Almost all local Teamster contracts, and some national ones, have arbitration as the final step in the grievance procedure. So just as an attorney has to think like a judge, you need...