April 9, 2013: "We're just like human machines," TDU member Phil Richards told the Los Angeles Times. "But with machines, they don't care whether you feel good, or if you're having a bad day." High unemployment rates from the economic recession are excuses for employers to undervalue and exploit their workforces, because there are thousands of people waiting for a job. Technology is being used by management to monitor the workforce 24/7 looking for any way...

April 3, 2013: Rhode Island Local 251 signs a substandard deal covering carhaulers in Kansas City, undercutting the national contract in the process. It reads like an April Fools story, but unfortunately it’s real, and Hoffa’s Carhaul Director signed off on it. Jack Cooper Transport’s goal is to have a mobile force of underpaid owner-operators who fill in all over the Midwest and the country, as needs arise to haul cars from plants and rail...

April 2, 2013: Financial reports for the year 2012 are now available for most Teamster locals, joint councils, conferences and the International union.  Federal law requires these reports to be filed by March 31, and most Teamster locals have complied. A guide on how to download and print a report is available here. Or you can call TDU at (313) 842-2600. The International union 323-page financial report is available here. Right away you will see...

March 28, 2013: ABF and the International Union have agreed to extend the contract until the end of April. The old contract terms will remain in effect. Bargaining continues with the company in the driver’s seat, focusing on concessions being demanded by management on operations, unbalanced freight lanes, and more.  Supplemental bargaining has proceeded also. Bargaining on economics (wages, pensions, health and welfare) has apparently not taken center stage yet. In a conference call with...

March 25, 2013: Eight hundred Teamsters packed their union hall in East Providence to vote on changes to give Local 251 members more rights. Members were there to vote on amendments to the Local 251 bylaws that would give members the right to elect their shop stewards and contract negotiating committees and to vote on increases in officer salaries. These democratic changes were put forward by the rank-and-file movement 251 United Action. Local 251 officials...

UPDATED March 28, 2013: Negotiations have been suspended until April 15. The company has proposed moving all UPS Package workers from company to union health and welfare plans, and the union expects a similar proposal from the company for UPS Freight. Hall stated that the company and union are "light years apart" on the economic proposals. The company is offering a $500 lump sum bonus for full time for each year of the contract and...

March 22, 2013: The International Union is holding two conference calls on Sat., March 23 to update shop stewards on contract negotiations at UPS and UPS Freight. UPS Conference Call Date: Sat. March 23 Time: 12:00 Noon (Eastern) Call-In Number: 888-673-8921, code 111566 Click here to download the UPS conference call announcement. UPS Freight Conference Call Date: Sat. March 23 Time: 1:00 pm (Eastern) Call-In Number: 1-800-762-4758 Click here to download the UPS Freight conference...

March 22, 2013: The contract buzz is on the company’s demand that UPSers pay for their healthcare and that’s exactly how management wants it. Early contract negotiations were supposed to deliver a contract that deals with harassment. Instead, the contract buzz is about the company’s demand that we pay for our healthcare. It’s understandable to a point: the company’s healthcare demands are outrageous. They’re also a trap. UPS management knows that members would vote down...

March 15, 2013: The International Union has kept a tight lid on the bargaining goals for the UPS, ABF and UPS Freight agreements. Keeping members in the dark doesn't win better contracts. Union leaders have two choices when it comes to communicating with members at contract time. The Hoffa administration's strategy has been to keep members in the dark. UPSers call it the Information Brownout. But it's not limited to UPS. Teamsters at ABF and...

Membership Rights at Contract Time Teamster members do have power and democratic rights when it comes to voting on their contracts. It was not always this way. But Teamster members united through TDU to win key rights at contract time. TDU won the Right to a Majority Vote on Teamster Contracts Teamster members have the right to vote on their contracts by majority rule. This might seem like a no-brainer. But before 1987, it took...