UPS Freight National Panel Set for June 9-11 Subcontracting Still on the Table
June 1, 2010: Teamster representatives will meet with UPS Freight management in Providence, Rhode Island for the quarterly national panel on June 9-11. Many Article 44 subcontracting grievances are still on the table. Tampa Local 79, Phoenix Local 104, Columbus Local 413, Nashville Local 480 and Reno Local 533 all have cases that were delayed from previous dockets. Cases on “committee hold” addressing Article 44 remain from North Carolina Local 61, Phoenix Local 104, Seattle...
Feeder Driver Beats UPS on Safety Violation
June 1, 2010: OSHA has ordered UPS to pay more than $100,000 for “reckless disregard for the law and complete indifference” to driver safety rights. John Youngermann, a TDU member and UPS feeder driver out of the Earth City, Missouri hub, won an important OSHA ruling that supports a driver’s right to refuse to drive unsafe equipment. On April 22, 2010, OSHA awarded Youngermann back pay with overtime and interest and compensatory damages. OSHA also...
UPS Profits Up 33 Percent
June 1, 2010: UPS announced that the company hauled in $533 million in profits after taxes in the first quarter of 2010. Brown’s profits are up by 33 percent or $132 million compared to the first quarter last year. The company increased its projections for the rest of 2010, saying they expect profits to increase by 32 to 43 percent for the year. That means they expect to make up to $3 billion in profits...
UPS Production Harassment and How to Fight It
June 11, 2010: Across the country, UPS is disciplining drivers for failing to maintain their SPOHR or maintain their “demonstrated work performance.” TDU’s “Protecting Yourself from UPS Production Harassment” workshop shows drivers how to protect yourself everyday. Find out: How to protect yourself everyday by following UPS’s methods. What to do on an OJS and when you get called into the office. How to dismantle the company’s case and win your grievance if management comes...
Members Beat Coke in Puerto Rico
June 1, 2010: Teamster solidarity and legal action by TDU take on Coca-Cola and corrupt Teamster officials—and win. When Local 901 members at Coca- Cola in Puerto Rico went on strike, the company retaliated and so did their own union officers. More than three dozen Teamsters were fired. Three reform leaders, who did not even work at Coke, were expelled from the union on trumped up charges of organizing an illegal strike. Now Teamster solidarity...
Former Teamster Power-Broker’s Plea Deal: Billy Hogan Pays $10,000 Fine
June 3, 2010: Billy Hogan Jr, the former Teamster vice president and head of the Chicago Joint Council, has made a plea bargain to settle contempt charges in federal court. But he vows to continue to press for relief from the Independent Review Board’s ban on his involvement with Teamster members. On May 27 Hogan appeared in federal court in New York for approval of a settlement in which he agreed to abide by the...
Head to Head in the BLET
June 1, 2010: BLET National President Paul Sorrow and rank-and-file engineer Tom Brennan are running for the union’s top job in the BLET’s first ever one-member, one-vote direct election. Everything is in place now for the BLET national election: rules, a nominating convention, and now candidates. Tom Brennan, a rank-and-file engineer, became the first official candidate when he announced his bid for the top spot in the union back in April. Paul Sorrow, the current...
Local 743 Members Say "We Won't Go Back"
June 1, 2010: “We ran for office on a platform of making our union work for the members. But now we’ve been run out of office by staff who thought change was just a campaign slogan. “This fall, members will get to vote for new Local 743 officers. They have the power to stop the power grab. “The New Leadership Team will be running a reform slate of candidates this fall. We’ll be behind them...
Will YRC Teamsters Re-Enter Pension Plans?
June 1, 2010: The union and YRC are in talks to let the company re-enter Teamster pension funds at greatly reduced rates. Teamster Voice has learned that the IBT and YRC are discussing the possibility of the company re-entering Teamster pension plans at a greatly reduced contribution rate. The concession agreement approved a year ago requires management to resume full participation in the pension plans on January 1, 2011. On August 1, 2010, the NMFA...
TDU Convention
To TDU Convention Attendees: To complete convention registration, of for questions regarding the Convention, contact the TDU staff in Chicago. The hotel phone number is 773-693-5800; ask for the O'Hare Boardroom, which is the TDU convention office. -- The TDU Steering Committee and Staff. Are you concerned about where our union is going, and ready to do your part? Now is the time for you to register for the TDU Convention, Nov. 5-7 at the...