Teamster Members Organize for Change
September 3, 2013: Members are saying NO to contract givebacks and weak representation, and YES to rebuilding union power. Employers and the Hoffa administration have served up a steady diet of concessionary contracts. But members are starting to organize for change. And it's catching on. The industries and contracts may be different but the pattern is the same. Members have organized Vote No campaigns to fight contract givebacks at Gate Gourmet, Republic Airways, ABF, UPS...
ABF Contract Shows Hoffa-Hall Have Given Up on Teamster Power
August 20, 2013: Hoffa and the Freight Division are parroting management's line, aiming to divide, discourage and defeat members. In early August, ABF Teamsters in the Central Region, Carolinas, Western Pa., and a couple of other supplements are voting again on the contract. A number of Teamsters are speaking out against the concessionary deal. Some have made up leaflets comparing the concessionary deal to what Hoffa initially said they would bargain for. The initial contract...
Women Teamsters: Rebuilding Union Power
August 9, 2013: Women Teamsters continue to emerge as leaders and activists in our union. Meet them at the TDU Convention this November in Chicago. "I'm very excited to meet all the fellow TDUers from all over the country, to see my extended Teamster family in Chicago. I'd love to see more and more females attend. I like to share stories and learn about how other people have dealt with issues. I can't wait for...
Reformers Run for Office in Rhode Island
August 9, 2013: Teamsters in Providence, R.I. have been building a movement for change in Local 251. Now they are running for office as the United Action Slate. Earlier this year more than 1,200 members joined a United Action petition drive to reform the Local 251 bylaws and give members the right to elect their shop stewards and contract negotiating committees, and to vote on officer salaries. These issues struck a chord. More than 800...
Contract Smoke & Mirrors: the Prequel
Hoffa waives Ken Hall's "surprise"neutrality agreement with UPS Freightwhile Hall celebrates in the background. August 26, 2013: This is not the first time Ken Hall has played politics with members' contracts and turned contract negotiations into a scripted performance. In the last bargaining round, Hall made a surprise announcement at the Teamster Convention that he had just reached a neutrality agreement to unionize UPS Freight. Hoffa-Hall supporters immediately said the announcement proved there shouldn't be...
From Tough Talk to Contract Concessions
"We're not paying $90. We're notpaying $9. We're not paying 9¢.We're not paying premiumsfor health insurance for a companythat made $4.389 billion."— Ken Hall, Conference Call withUPS Shop Stewards, Feb. 2, 2013 "What we need to be doing issending a message and makingsure that our members understandthat we're not going to be talkingabout concessions, we're goingto be talking about improvements."— Ken HallSpeech on UPS ContractIBT ConventionJune 30, 2011 August 9, 2013: The UPS and...
UPS Freight Teamsters Stand Strong
August 9, 2013: A 69% No Vote and a company that made billions in profits adds up to a strong bargaining position for our Teamster negotiating committee. But after the members did the heavy lifting in the coast-to-coast rejection of the first offer, Hoffa and Hall went missing. Hall sent a short memo to local officials saying the Negotiating Committee had met, but reports from that meeting indicate not much happened. Hoffa and Hall hired...
Is YRC Going for a Two-Year Extension?
August 8, 2013: Reports indicate that YRC executives have asked Hoffa and Freight Director Tyson Johnson for a two-year extension to the present five-year deal, with a wage and pension freeze extending until 2017. And Hoffa's appointee to YRC's board, Harry Wilson, is trying to broker the deal. An August 7 press release, following YRC's second-quarter earnings announcement, referred to a potential refinancing of debt arranged by Credit Suisse and the Maeva Group. This announcement...
Plan to Cut Pensions Coming to Congress
August 27, 2013: Workers' pensions are under attack. Chicago's mayor says earned pensions must be cut. Detroit has declared bankruptcy, and Michigan's governor says 21,000 retirees should pay the bill for it. One of the biggest attacks is aimed straight at Teamster retirees, especially the 211,000 in the Central States Pension Fund. And if corporate America gets away with cutting their pensions, it's going to spread like cancer. And the worst part is, the Hoffa...
Standing Up to UPS
August 9, 2013: UPS Teamsters have shown they have more fight than Hoffa-Hall and the International Union when it comes to taking on concessions. After voting down 18 supplements, members are continuing to organize to rebuild union power at UPS. Philadelphia: Taking on UPS. Taking Back Their Local. After rejecting their supplement 756 to 227, Philadelphia Local 623 launched a petition drive to defend their healthcare and win improvements in their supplement, including more full-time...