UPS Freight Clerks Hit with Two-Tier Wage Deal
November 29, 2012: The International Union has given UPS Freight a new Letter Of Agreement (LOA) which allows the company to have two different wage scales for clerks at various terminals. This is supposedly a national master agreement. The surprise deal gives clerks at a number of terminals a 2.5% lower wage scale than the master provides for; they also lose five months of 3.5% retroactive pay. A full-time clerk making union scale will lose...
IBT Gives ABF Concessions in the West
November 28, 2012: On the eve of bargaining with ABF, the International Union has given the company a 65¢ per hour concession in the 13 western states. Members were not consulted, and most are still unaware of the giveback. The concession was quietly implemented on August 1, by prior arrangement between ABF and the Hoffa administration. On that date, ABF was required by the contract to increase pension and health and welfare payments by $1...
Hoffa Can't Kick the Corruption Habit
November 26, 2012: A report uncovers an embezzlement scandal by Teamster officials. It's a new chapter in an old story. Why can't Hoffa kick the corruption habit? The Independent Review Board has issued an exhaustive 139-page report detailing scams to divert union funds to Minnesota Local 120 officials and their family and friends. Click here to download the report. The corruption occurred right under the nose of the Hoffa administration, which turned a blind eye....
Teamster History: How the "Club" Changed Our Union
The first "$100,000Club" in 1976.(Copies of thishistoric book areavailable from TDU.) November 26, 2012: It started in the mid-1970s, with an organization called PROD, the Professional Drivers Council. PROD collected hundreds of LM-2 financial reports on Teamster locals, joint councils and the International and began to analyze them, tracing all the multiple salaries, family connections, and more. The "$100,000 Club" was born. In 1979 PROD and TDU joined hands in one organization. TDU has published...
Wal-Mart's Black Eye on Black Friday
Wal-Mart workers are planning a series of strikes and protests on Black Friday. We stand with them! An organization of Wal-Mart workers is launching a series of strikes on Black Friday to protest Walmart's retaliation against workers' attempts to organize at the anti-labor retail giant. Workers are planning to strike in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Washington D.C., Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Minnesota. Employees and supporters are organizing 1,000 protests around the country at...
Building Teamster Solidarity at the TDU Convention
November 21, 2012: Hundreds of members from every Teamster industry attended the three-day 2012 TDU Convention in Chicago, October 26-28. New activists attended workshops on union rights and grievance handling to build union power. Stewards, officers and local reform committees led and participated in sessions on running for office, contract campaigns and defending healthcare and pensions. UPS and freight members met throughout the weekend to lay out plans for winning stronger contracts in 2013. Karen...
New York Dairy Teamsters Fight Illegal Layoffs
November 21, 2012: The biggest Teamster dairy in New York, Elmhurst Dairy, has been trying to cut costs by dumping higher-paid senior workers for years. This fall, the company offered Teamsters a buyout, but few members took the offer. So management turned to union-busting instead. Last month, the company laid off the 42 highest seniority Teamsters at the Dairy and replaced them with new hires who start at just $10 an hour. "Elmhurst thinks they...
Why Hoffa Won't Take On Corruption, IRB Hits Corruption in Local 120
November 21, 2012: Skimming union money. Sham contracts. Non-union contractors. Misusing credit cards. The whole ugly story is in a 139-page report issued on November 9 by the Independent Review Board (IRB). Click here to download it. The deals have been going on in the 11,000-member Local 120 for years, but the Hoffa administration either couldn't find it or didn't want to. The IRB report details a series of long-running schemes to divert union funds...
Annual $150,000 Club Report
Teamster Money Should Build Teamster Power In a tough economy, many Teamsters are taking concessions. But top Teamster officials are riding high. In the worst recession of our lives, many Teamsters are being hit with concessions, pension cuts and layoffs.Our union has been hit hard, too. The Teamsters have lost 100,000 members in just three years according to union reports filed with the Department of Labor. But one group of Teamsters has not felt any...
UPS Contract Bargaining Update
November 21, 2012: The Teamster National Negotiating Committee has met with UPS four times, Sept. 27, Oct. 15-18, Oct. 22-25 and Nov. 12-15, to negotiate over language and operations issues. The Union has put forward key proposals on harassment, excessive overtime, and technology. The company has countered with concessionary proposals–including more ability to subcontract out jobs. Contract negotiations are moving slowly and are suspended until after the second week of January. Negotiations are expected to...