February 26, 2013: The Hoffa administration has signed on to a joint employer-union proposal to allow "deeply troubled" pension funds to slash accrued benefits, even for Teamsters who have already retired. This proposal, which could be aimed squarely at the Teamster Central States Fund, comes from the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans, a committee of employers, unions and pension plans. UPS is a prominent member of the group, which also includes several pension funds,...

February 26, 2013: Teamsters Local 705, which represents some 9,000 UPS Teamsters in the Chicagoland area, has opened bargaining with UPS. Local 705 has a separate contract, and is not part of the national UPS agreement being negotiated. The powerful Chicago local has a bargaining committee led by secretary  treasurer Juan Campos and other officers, and includes a number of rank and file stewards and two retirees as well. The initial union and company proposals are...

February 25, 2013: Harassment, subcontracting and healthcare are on the table as national negotiations resume at UPS and UPS Freight. The National Negotiating Committees at UPS and UPS Freight returned to the bargaining table after wrapping up a second consecutive weekend of contract rallies.  UPS Teamsters packed rallies in Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando.   In New Jersey, Local 177 members stuffed the meeting room far beyond capacity. Ken Hall addressed more than...

February 20, 2013: Ken Hall and the International Union have dug in and said NO to members paying toward our healthcare premiums. Find out where we stand on other key contract issues. Technology / Dishonesty The company has dug in at the bargaining table on "dishonesty." UPS wants to preserve the loophole in Article 6 that enabled management to terminate drivers for "dishonesty" based solely on information from technology. Ken Hall says UPS is abusing...

February 19, 2013: UPS and UPS Freight Teamsters turned out in big numbers at contract rallies this last weekend, demonstrating members are ready to stand up for our contract. Teamsters jammed packed halls in Indianapolis, Toledo, St. Louis, Seattle, Oakland and Ontario, Calif. The largest of the rallies in Southern California drew nearly 2,000 Teamsters. More rallies are scheduled for next weekend, including in New Jersey, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando and Tampa. "It felt...

February 14, 2013: Nearly two months after putting a long list of concessions on the bargaining table, ABF management refuses to take any of them off the table. That's the report IBT freight negotiator Gordon Sweeton gave on a February 13 conference call for Teamster local union officers. Management's threat is that if they don't get the concessions they want, they will consolidate some terminals and downsize the network.  But they are free to do...

February 11, 2013: Negotiations between the International union and UPS Freight are getting serious – the time is now for members to stand united and strong for a good contract. On a conference call with officers last Friday, IBT Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall stated that two key issues are ending subcontracting, and health care premiums the company forces onto members. On the health care issue, the union is demanding at UPS Package that members retain fully...

February 8, 2013: The third quarter financial report on the Central States Pension Plan indicates that the fund had $18.0 billion in assets as of the end of September 2012.   This means the fund held its own for the first nine months of 2012, but surely fell behind in the fourth quarter, when the stock market made no gains. The fund has 30% of its total assets pegged to the S&P 500 index of the...

February 8, 2013: In an effort to put our union on the defensive in contract negotiations, UPS management has put a proposal on the table that members pay up to $90 a week for health benefits. General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall drew a line in the sand on the issue on a national conference call of local officers yesterday and announced a series of union actions by the International and local unions. "We're not paying $90....

February 1, 2013: UPS Teamsters stand up for a better contract as the company announces its 2012 profits. In a tough economy, UPS continues to make huge profits. On Jan. 31, the company announced it hauled in $2.05 billion in profits in the fourth quarter of 2012—not counting a one-time accounting charge. Click here for TDU's detailed coverage. The company was making record profits in 2007 but the Hoffa administration gave UPS contract concessions. This...