April 12, 2012: Get grievance advice and essential resources from TDU today. Grievances: Using the Grievance Procedure to Defend Our Rights and Build Power on the Job. Available in English and Spanish, a handbook on the mechanics of the grievance procedure and organizing tips for involving members. $8. How to Win Past Practice Grievances by attorney Robert Schwartz. This book unlocks the mystery of using past practices in the grievance system and at the Labor...

1. A grievance can only be based on a violation of the contract? False. A contract violation is a key ground for a grievance—but not the only one. A grievance can be also be filed over a violation of company policy or the law—safety and discrimination laws are common examples. You also have the right to file a grievance if management engages in unequal treatment or violates a past practice. 2. Stewards and members are...

March 14, 2012: TDU celebrates the contributions of Teamster women to our union and to labor struggles for social and economic equality. Building strong unions has paid off for women workers—literally. Women in unions earn higher wages, have better health care coverage, more rights to paid sick leave and vacation, pension plans, and more rights and power on the job. Women union members make $2 an hour more than nonunion women workers. The difference for...

March 9, 2012: Hoffa has appointed Rome Aloise as the Director of the Teamsters Dairy and Food Processing Divisions. Aloise replaces Fred Gegare who retired from his Teamster positions after running for General President in 2011 against Hoffa. Aloise will now collect four Teamster salaries as an International Union Vice President for the Western Region, Joint Council 7 President, Secretary Treasurer of Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., and now Teamsters Dairy and Food Processing...

March 8, 2012:  Speaking at the UPS National Grievance Panel in Florida this week, Ken Hall confirmed the International Union is looking to early contract negotiations with UPS. Hall, the head of the IBT Package Division and our union’s lead negotiator at UPS, was vague about the timeline, but mentioned October as a possible date for entering early contract negotiations. The current contract at UPS does not expire until July 31, 2013. Hall told Teamster...

March 9, 2012: Join Teamsters and 1,500 union activists at the Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, May 4-6, for three days of labor education and strategizing on how to win the war on workers. The conference features workshops on everything from Bargaining Tactics to Labor Fighting Back in the Public Sector to Protecting Our Pensions. TDU members will be speaking in workshops on Assertive Grievance Handling, Running for Union Office, Secrets of Successful Organizing and...

February 17, 2012: The Westin Beach Resort will host the Teamster National UPS Freight Grievance Committee in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 7-9. Click here to see the docket. Twelve cases were carried over from previous meetings. Forty cases (many addressing subcontracting) remain on committee hold. Thirty grievances are listed as new cases. A number of these address subcontracting. The next arbitration hearing on the Local 745 Dallas grievance on subcontracting is to be held...

February 8, 2012: Teamsters are voting nearly unanimously in locals across the country to authorize a possible strike against Hostess Brands, which is threatening to use bankruptcy court to force horrible concessions on some 7,000 Teamsters. Hostess, which makes and distributes Wonder Bread, Twinkies, Dolly Madison and other labels, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 11, and simultaneously asked the bankruptcy court in New York to tear up Teamster contracts and impose cuts in...

February 2, 2012: A bad economy. A presidential election. All eyes are on good jobs and how to create them. The Teamsters Union can stand up for good jobs—starting right in our own contracts. It’s a presidential year and all eyes are on the economy, good jobs and how to create them. President Hoffa has done a good job in the media speaking out for jobs—including a federal Jobs Bill that would put construction Teamsters...

February 2, 2012: UPS wants early contract negotiations. But what will the company give up in return? UPS is reportedly interested in early contract negotiations—and why wouldn’t they be? It’s a good time for any corporation to be at the bargaining table. The economy is down and unions are on the defensive. “Ken Hall told the Teamster Convention there would be no early negotiations unless the economy turns around,” said Steve Kelly, a UPS driver...