July 9, 2010: Teamsters who work the movies, commercials, TV and other productions in the Philly area, that includes Atlantic City work, are getting rolled by the IBT and their own local leadership led by International Vice President Bill Hamilton. An investigation by the Independent Review Board found that movie jobs in Philadelphia Local 107 were doled out to friends and relatives of Hamilton and other union officials. Now rank-and-file Teamsters, not Hamilton, are paying...

July 1, 2010: Hoffa let UPS pull out of the Central States and gave UPS Freight a free pass on paying Teamster benefits. Now Teamster members are paying the price. THE PENSION DIVIDE See how your pension stacks up on the Benefits Comparison Chart Teamster members are paying a high cost for the pension concessions negotiated by the Hoffa administration. Hoffa’s decision to let UPS pull out from Central States saved the company billions. It...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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’...