Freight Teamsters and the Pension Divide
July 1, 2010: The biggest factor at the present time in the pension divide is the threat to the pensions earned by Teamsters at YRC—our union’s largest employer of freight Teamsters, and the largest contributor to the Central States Fund. YRC Teamsters have not had pension contributions paid for the past year, due to concessions made in 2009 to help save the company. The wage cut continues until the end of the contract, but the...
Pension Bill Stalled in US Senate
July 1, 2010: A bill that could provide help to troubled pension plans is now stalled in the U.S. Senate, but it could still move forward this year, with a push from below. The Create Jobs & Save Benefits Act (S 3157), sponsored by Senator Robert Casey (D-Pa), would allow multiemployer plans to segregate the benefit liabilities attributable to participants of bankrupt former employers who pull out of the program without funding their withdrawal liability....
Upstate New York Teamsters Face Pension Cuts
July 1, 2010: The New York State Teamsters Pension Plan will end 25-and-out and 30-and-out benefits at the end of the year, due to the fact that the plan is underfunded and in the “red zone.” The fund, which covers Teamsters in most of New York State (but not New York City), has good benefits. For example, UPS workers can retire with 30-and-out at $5,500 per month. This is nearly double the amount paid by...
Freight Teamsters and The Pension Divide
July 1, 2010: The biggest factor at the present time in the pension divide is the threat to the pensions earned by Teamsters at YRC—our union’s largest employer of freight Teamsters, and the largest contributor to the Central States Fund. YRC Teamsters have not had pension contributions paid for the past year, due to concessions made in 2009 to help save the company. That deal expires at the end of 2010, when the contract snaps...
Chicago Local 743: Power Grab Won’t Stop Contract Campaign
July 15, 2010: Teamsters at the University of Chicago are united and mobilized for a decent contract. So why is their local trying to pull the plug on their contract campaign? In February, the contract representing nearly 1,000 members of Teamsters Local 743 expired at the University of Chicago—and members were ready. They talked to other Teamsters about contract demands, held rallies, and reached out to the community. Then a new set of officers seized...
More Shake-Ups at the BLET
July 1, 2010: The third BLET president in a row has resigned. The initiative to take away the Right to Vote is headed to a vote. The power to shape the future of the BLET is in the members’ hands. Last month, Teamster Voice predicted that Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) president Paul Sorrow was headed for a showdown this fall against rank-and-file challenger Tom Brennan in the union’s first ever one-member, one-vote...
Warehouse of the Future: Inside Ralphs' New Automated Facility
July 9, 2010: This year, Ralphs grocery opened a brand-new automated warehouse that uses new technology to select cases, prepare orders, and wrap pallets. Local 572 steward Frank Halstead got to tour the new facility. Here’s what he saw. Frank Halstead works at Ralphs warehouse in Compton, Calif. Teamster Voice interviewed him about his tour of the new automated facility in Paramount, and what’s at stake in grocery negotiations this year. Teamster Voice: What was...
Allied Pays Contract Rate; Asks for New Concessions
July 1, 2010: Allied Automotive Group is paying the contract wage rate for the first time in three years, but will now come to carhaul Teamsters asking for a fresh concession package. The International Union insisted that Allied pay the full scale, as a condition to bargain over new monetary relief. However, Allied CEO Mark Gendregske, in a letter to Allied Teamsters, said he will seek an agreement to suspend making pension contributions on employees’...
Will the real Freight Teamster leaders please stand up
July 1, 2010: James Hoffa came into office promising freight Teamsters he would “Restore the Power.” A decade later, what he has delivered is a power outage. The NMFA has been decimated. UPS Freight was put under a white-paper contract without Teamster benefits. Other trucking organizing has been thin to none. Freight Teamsters’ pensions are in danger. Hoffa has taken freight—the heart of our union—and driven it off the road. Remember when he told us, “The Hoffa...
Will YRC Re-Enter Pension Plans?
July 1, 2010: Will YRC Teamsters start earning pension credits again when the concession agreement expires? When the concession agreement with YRC expires on December 31, will Teamsters start getting pension credits again? This question is critically important to thousands of Teamsters and to our union’s future in freight. The International Union is aiming to get some partial pension payments out of YRC. On the June 29 IBT conference call, James Hoffa said they hope...