August 17, 2011: On August 12, Ken Hall came to the Earth City hub near St. Louis to campaign, and so UPS management tidied the place up for him. There are usually a number of nonunion trailers in the yard with UPS packages, including Werner and Con-Way. Before Hall arrived, the trailers were held out of town at the Kingdom City truck stop. Management even told the guards not to allow Werner or Con-Way to...

August 12, 2011: I’m writing you from the campaign trail.  I’m in the middle of a Rust Belt Tour that’s taken me through Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and Detroit.  The response has been overwhelming.  Everywhere I go members tell me Hoffa’s time is up and we need a new General President that will stand up to employers, protect our contracts and benefits and rebuild our union’s power. I have no doubt we can win this election. ...

August 9, 2011: Take action to support 45,000 workers on strike to save good union jobs at Verizon. In the last four years, Verizon made $19 billion in profits. But management is demanding across-the-board concessions, including steep cuts in workers' healthcare and pensions. Sound familiar? Many Teamsters have faced similar demands for concessions. CWA members are saying No Way. They've put up picket lines at Verizon from Massachusetts to Virginia and they've launched a leafleting...

August 2, 2011: Hoffa has chickened-out of the official campaign debate, and has designated Ken Hall as his stand-in. Hall will debate Sandy Pope on September 7 in Washington DC, in the forum sponsored by the Election Supervisor. Click here to read more at Sandy Pope’s website, and to find out how to attend or get a DVD of the debate.

July 26, 2011: UPS made $1.06 Billion in profits after taxes from April to June this year. That’s an increase of 26 percent (or more than $150 million) over the $845 million in profits the company made during the same period last year. Overall, company revenue increased by 8.1 percent to $13.2 billion for the quarter. UPS released these figures in a quarterly earnings announcement. Profits from the company’s package division were up by 29...

July 23, 2011: YRC will soon have a new CEO, whose name will be familiar to many former Yellow Teamsters: James L. Welch. This will be announced tomorrow by YRC, but word has leaked out for the past two weeks. An article in DC Velocity is available here. Welch was the CEO of Yellow Transportation until 2007, so it appears to be a reunion of sorts, bringing a Yellow veteran back to the driver’s seat....

July 19, 2011: The ballots for Teamster General President and lesser offices will be mailed out on or about October 6, and must be returned by November 14, when the count will begin. All 1.3 million Teamsters across the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico will be entitled to vote. Help spread the word: let’s turn out a vote for change! The TDU Convention will be held September 30 – October 2, a week prior to...

July 15, 2011: Carhaulers are voting on a new contract. The future of union carhaul is on the line. In July carhaulers are voting by mail on a proposed new 51-month contract, which would expire on July 31, 2015. It is in large part a continuation of the current contract. The proposed contract deal was reached on May 31. Wage increases are small: 30¢-30¢-35¢-40¢, so real wages will almost certainly fall behind the rate of...

July 15, 2011: On July 6, ABF won a round in their court battle to win concessions equal to those given to YRC, but they are still not expected to prevail in the lawsuit. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the district court judge erred in tossing out ABF’s suit for lack of standing, and must consider the merit. So ABF gets to go back to the district court for a do-over, but...

July 15, 2011: Sandy Pope officially accepted nomination for General President in a speech to the Teamster Convention on July 1. Teamster Voice brings you excerpts below. I am the president of Local 805 in New York City. We’re a small local—but we fight big. And we defend Teamster jobs. When corporate real estate developers and the mayor announced they were going to close the Red Hook Piers in Brooklyn, I led a three-year campaign...