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.

UPDATED December 21, 2012: ABF this week handed the International Union their wish list of take-aways. They’re all there: more subcontracting, part-timers, expand the use of surveillance, and more. It’s a wish list which is dead-on-arrival, because there is no way members will accept any of it. Even the International union has said so. The Trucker has a report on management’s proposal available here. A City Wire report and an IBT bulletin are available here.  ...

December 14, 2012: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed suit against the officers of Los Angeles Local 848 to overturn the election held one year ago, and hold a new election conducted by the DOL. The DOL suit slams the leadership for holding a hearing on bogus charges attacking the challengers, the Walt Johnson Slate. The charges were illegal since they found Johnson's slate guilty for the content of its literature and website,...

December 14, 2012: Members have re-elected reformers to lead New York Local 804, one of the largest UPS locals in the Teamsters Union.  Tim Sylvester and the 804 Members United Slate swept a hotly contested three-way race.   Local 804 represents 6,000 UPS Teamsters in metropolitan New York. The 804 Members United team won office three years ago after they led a rank-and-file movement to vote down contract concessions and save 25 & Out pensions.    ...

December 11, 2012: Listen to the soon-to-be hit holiday single recorded by a Teamster "on a regularly scheduled break."  At least one driver is still in a good mood at peak. Hang in there UPS Teamsters. Peak can't last forever.

December 11, 2012: More than 12,000 union members and supporters flooded the State Capitol in Michigan to protest the passage of Right-to-Work (for Less) legislation. Police closed the Capitol to visitors when it reached capacity of 2,200 people. More than 10,000 Teamsters, Autoworkers, teachers, building trades workers, other union members and public supporters swarmed the outside. The House passed a Right to Work bill covering public sector workers by 58 to 51. The state's Senate...

Join Teamsters who are fighting back against Right-to-Work (for Less) legislation in Michigan. On Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 9 am, Teamsters, other union members and community supporters will rally in the State Capitol against the Right-to-Work legislation that is being rammed through the Michigan legislature.  If you live in Michigan, email your State Representative and State Senator today and urge them to VOTE “NO” on Right-to-Work (for Less) when it comes up for a final...

December 7, 2012: Michigan workers and unions have been hit with "right to work" legislation which would outlaw union contract clauses with employers that require all workers to pay dues or a fair share fee. The bill passed the Michigan House yesterday in a sneak attack; it was rushed through the lame-duck session with no hearings held on the important bill. Many of the bill’s supporters will not be in office next month when the newly-elected...

November 30, 2012: On November 29 officers from all freight locals met in Kansas City to hear the International Union's plans for bargaining with ABF, including a union proposal for a two-year contract. The meeting, which lasted only a little over an hour, was conducted by Gordon Sweeton and Tyson Johnson of the IBT Freight Division, who distributed the union's initial bargaining proposals. We encourage members to review these proposals. The union's economic proposals: A...