January 23, 2013: Strengthening our 9.5 rights and protections from excessive overtime is one of the issues on the table in contract negotiations with UPS. In the meantime, peak is over and our 9.5 rights are back in effect. If you want UPS to understand that excessive overtime is a key issue, or if you just want a chance to see your family and eat dinner at a decent hour, now’s the time to get...

January 23, 2013: UPS management is flexing its muscles in bargaining. In late December they sent a notice threatening thousands of Teamster retirees in the company healthcare plan with drastic payment hikes. It was a mean-spirited Christmas letter to our UPS retirees. "I retired with an understanding of affordable health coverage, now I get a letter saying it's going up to $495," a recent retiree in San Diego, California, told us. He's distributing TDU's bulletin...

January 23, 2013: UPS has told the Negotiating Committee it wants to expand into same-day deliveries. The Postal Service is experimenting with same-day delivery of online orders in San Francisco, with a new service called Metro Post. Amazon, eBay and Wal-Mart are also testing same-day delivery. In order to deliver a package on the same day it's shipped, the Post Office will have to get the pick-up request from the company between 2:00 and 3:00...

February 1, 2013: Using your union's legal right to acquire information from the employer can help you defend your rights and win grievances and arbitrations. This right is established by the National Labor Relations Act. Unfortunately, many members don't know about this right, and many union representatives don't use it unless members specifically ask them to. This article outlines some of the basics of the right to information and how to use it. You will...

January 23, 2013: Know your rights and stay informed with resources from TDU. Running for Local Union Office $20. This comprehensive guide covers building your team, campaign do's and don'ts, phone and email lists, flyers, mailers, websites, Facebook, fundraising, negative attacks, observing the vote count, and much more. Click here.   The Complete Union Steward's Guide $27.95. The indispensable survival manual for labor's frontline troops.Click here.   Grievances $8. The mechanics of the grievance procedure...

January 18, 2013: The annual TDU Convention will be the weekend of November 1-3, inChicago. The biggest Teamster educational and reform event of the year will once againbe hosted by the Chicago Chapter.Save the date now so you can join Teamsters from across the country who are organizingto win stronger contracts, enforcing our rights on the job and taking back our union.The Steering Committee of Teamsters for a Democratic Union made the decision to return...

January 16, 2013: Interstate Distributor Company agreed to pay $4.85 million and signed a consent order to settle a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of several employees. According to the EEOC's suit, if an employee needed more than 12 weeks of leave, Interstate automatically terminated them rather than determining if it would be reasonable to provide additional leave as an accommodation. This is an important point. Twelve weeks per...

January 16, 2013: Nearly 10,000 union school bus drivers and matrons are on strike across New York City to fight for critical safeguards that ensure children's safety and the rights of union workers. Mayor Bloomberg forced the strike by putting out bids that do not include safeguards, called the Employer Protection Provisions, that guarantee that school bus drivers and matrons are hired based on their seniority in the industry. The provisions ensure that the most experienced drivers...

January 16, 2013: UPS management always cracks down on discipline after peak. Drivers, protect yourselves when filling out your Motor Vehicle Driver Certification Form (MVDC). UPS is having drivers fill out the annual Motor Vehicle Driver Certification Form (MVDC).  January is also the time when management starts to increase write-ups and discipline.  A Center Manager who is looking for any excuse to exploit a mistake on an MVDC to discipline and even terminate a driver...

January 16, 2013: Once again a claim has been made regarding the location of Jimmy Hoffa's body in Michigan, some 38 years after his July 1975 murder. This time, it is from the one-time under-boss of the Detroit mafia, Tony Zerilli, so the FBI may be looking into it. Zerilli is claiming the body is on land owned by Jack Tocco, Zerilli’s cousin and enemy. And Zerilli is promising a forthcoming book (of course). If...