January 7, 2013: New York City is the latest battleground in corporate politicians’ war against workers. This latest assault is led by Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of NYC who got rich providing media services to Wall Street. NYC has faced budget problems ever since Bloomberg’s Wall Street buddies drove the economy over the cliff in 2008. Now Bloomberg, who has long resisted higher taxes on Wall Street, wants to balance the budget shortfall on...

January 7, 2013: UPS contract negotiations resume this week, Jan. 7-10 in Washington, D.C. General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall, our union's chief negotiator with UPS, has issued a memorandum to local unions that he is "outraged" at UPS's letter threatening to increase retiree healthcare costs for Teamsters in the company plan. Hall says the National Negotiating Committee is meeting and formulating a response. Click here for a report on UPS's threat to raise retiree healthcare costs...

January 4, 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. UPS Teamsters need a pension increase, not a retiree healthcare hike. Teamster retirees in the company health plan pay $50/month for individual or family coverage. But UPS is threatening to raise premiums to $247.50/month for individuals, $495 for spouse or dependent coverage, or...

December 28, 2012: Administrative Law Judge Bruce Rosenstein has ruled that Ford contractor Voith Services conspired with the United Auto Workers (UAW) to deprive over 100 Louisville Teamsters of their jobs and their union contract. The decision orders Voith to put 85 of the Teamsters to work, pay them nearly a year's back-pay, reinstate the superior terms of the Teamster contract, and void the bogus deal the company signed with the UAW. The December 21 ruling is a...

December 28, 2012:  ABF management issued an angry press release which tried to blame Teamster benefits for their low profits. The International union issued a response, which is available here. The IBT negotiating team needs to stand firm and keep members informed and involved at every step of the negotiating process. ABF Teamsters voted down concessions in 2010 and are prepared to do so again. Concerned ABF Teamsters – and other freight Teamsters, too – can stay informed...

In 2012, TDU launched new campaigns to win stronger contracts, hold the line against  concessions, take on corporate greed and rebuild Teamster power. Now we’re gearing up for more in 2013!   Making UPS Deliver a Fair Contract   TDU launched a national petition drive to demand higher wages, stiffer penalties for sups working, and more full-time job opportunities for the 150,000 part-time UPSers who’ve been forgotten by Hoffa.   Thanks to TDU organizing, UPS members...

December 28, 2012: At the end of December in 1936 -- exactly 76 years ago -- brave unionists took over the mother-plants of General Motors, the largest corporation in the world, in sit down strikes which within months would win a contract, and help launch the modern labor movement.  It was four years after militant Teamsters in Minneapolis invented their own tactics of "flying picket squads" to follow trucks and make Minneapolis a union town. And they did...

TDU wishes you and your family a warm, happy and healthy holiday season. In the coming year, Teamsters and workers everywhere will face new challenges. TDU will be there. We’re proud to stand with you—and wish you and your families the very best in this holiday season.

December 20, 2012: ABF management reacted with an angry press release at the start of negotiations for a new contract. Negotiations will resume in January.   A City Wire report and an IBT bulletin are available here.  

UPDATE, December 19, 2012: We recently reported on the illegal layoff of 42 Teamsters from Elmhurst Dairy in Queens, NY. Now, 138 more Local 584 Teamsters are out of work as Beyer Farms suddenly closes. Read more on the Beyer Farms layoffs from the Wall Street Journal or the New York Post. Click here to read TDU's story on the firings at Elmhurst Dairy.