October 31, 2013: The 5,000 Teamsters of Rhode Island today elected a new team of officers to lead their local forward, in a major reform win. The election posed a contest between the "old guard" led by incumbent Joe Bairos, and a younger reform team led by UPS driver Matt Taibi and Rhode Island Hospital worker Paul Santos to lead Local 251. All ten candidates on the United Action slate were victorious, and will take...

October 29, 2013: On November 5, YRC execs will meet with the IBT Freight Division and all freight local unions to press for a contract extension, reportedly until 2019. Hoffa and the Freight Division have agreed to allow YRC to address local union officials in Dallas. The meeting will come two days before YRC is expected to announce its third quarter results. The company is aiming to refinance its debt, and wants a long-term Teamster...

UPDATED October 29, 2013: Opposition to the proposal to amend pension law to allow retirees' pensions to be cut is growing and gaining force to slow down this train wreck and allow consideration of other options. As reported in Pension and Investments, the growing opposition was in evidence at a Congressional hearing held on the proposal today. Click here to watch a video of the testimonies. Click here to tell your Senators and Congressional Representatives to...

October 25, 2013: UPS announced third quarter profits of $1.1 billion today. Can anyone explain why Hoffa and Hall gave the company healthcare cuts, a longer progression and other contract givebacks? The company's third quarter profits are up a staggering 134 percent. UPS made $469 million in the third quarter last year, including a $559 million charge on their books for pension adjustments. Working Teamsters are still fighting for improvements in seven contract supplements and...

October 17, 2013: Hoffa and Hall are dishing out concessions as fast as employers can serve them up. After spending the summer cutting the healthcare of 140,000 UPS Teamsters, the Hoffa-Hall administration is now targeting Teamster pensions. The Central States Pension Fund is lobbying Congress to eliminate key pension protections and give Central States the power to cut retirees' pensions. Hoffa and Hall's standing with the members has never been lower. So how do they stay...

October 17, 2013: Hoffa and Hall have lied to members about our contracts and healthcare. But in the fight to protect our benefits, we shouldn't turn against union health plans. Given all of Hoffa-Hall's lies about Teamster contracts, it's no wonder that many members don't trust the union to run our health plan. But in the fight to protect our benefits, we shouldn't turn on union health plans. The fact is union health plans work....

October 17, 2013: UPS management has a new toy to harass preloaders and write them up for misloads. In some buildings, preload supervisors have started wearing scanners, entering package cars, and scanning every package in the load. The scanner flags packages that are not in the truck's EDD. The management tries to blame the loader for the misload. Part-time supervisors are being told to have a 1,000 scans by the end of each shift. This...

October 17, 2013: Hoffa drew headlines when he declared that Obamacare would make union plans "unsustainable." It's another way that bungling by the Hoffa-Hall administration has hurt Teamster healthcare. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was in Congress, the IBT didn't make sure union plans were fully protected. Healthcare providers and other industries looked after their interests. The IBT and other unions failed to do the same. Now the labor movement is putting pressure on...

October 17, 2013: Is management handing out excessive discipline for misloads or missorts? Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your fellow Teamsters. UPS has the right to expect employees, in this case preloaders and loaders, to work accurately. This is just common sense. But management frequently goes overboard from common sense to nonsense. In this article, we'll review how members can defend themselves in the office and through the grievance...

October 17, 2013: With the UPS contract long expired and peak on the way, contracts and contract supplements or riders covering over 75,000 UPSers still remain to be negotiated. The contracts, supplements and riders covering Teamster members in the Western Region, Louisville, Ohio, Indiana, Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Local 177 all need to be voted a second or third time. Two additional contracts covering all UPS Teamsters in Illinois and parts of Indiana...