UPS Central Region Proposal: There's Nothing There
August 19, 2013: On August 16, the IBT's Central Region Negotiating Committee quietly reached a deal with management to make just two minor "tweaks" to the rejected first offer. Apparently Hoffa-Hall will keep this stinky deal under wraps until their PR machine puts perfume on it. Reportedly one change is a minor tweak in the notorious Article 17 (i), which allows Teamsters to be immediately fired for all "other serious offenses." This clause does not...
Teamster Organizers Petition for Solidarity
August 16, 2013: The organizers who work for the International Union have launched an online petition drive directed at the Hoffa administration. The petition was launched on MoveOn.org and calls on the Hoffa administration and organizing director Jeff Farmer to bargain fairly with the union of IBT organizers and to maintain their present benefits and terms of employment. Some organizers have been fired and have suits pending against the Hoffa administration. Fired organizer Tim Lewis...
Hoffa's Hidden Record Re-Visited
August 16, 2013: In online discussion forums, many Teamsters are asking where Hoffa came from and how he became Teamster President. In response to members' questions, TDU is re-issuing two documents on the history of James Hoffa prior to his election as Teamster President. These two thoroughly-researched documents were produced in 1996 for the Ron Carey Campaign. They document Hoffa's work and background over a long period of time. The facts in these reports have...
Building Teamster Power Conference
Building Teamster Power ConferenceSponsored by Teamsters for a Democratic Union Sunday, Sept 15.10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.CUNY Law SchoolLong Island City, N.Y. Join Teamsters from New York and throughout the Northeast for a day of union education and strategizing about rebuilding Teamster Power. Workshops include: Shop Steward Grievance Training Building Union Power by Getting Members Involved Labor Law for Union Members Defending Teamster Pensions & Benefits Beating Harassment and Enforcing Our Rights at UPS Fighting...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...