Senate Takes Up Crucial Pension Legislation
May 28, 2010: On May 27, the US Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions held hearings on a piece of legislation of vital importance to Teamsters and retirees. The Create Jobs & Save Benefits Act of 2010, sponsored by Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa), if passed intact and with proper safeguards, could help protect Teamster pensions and aid some Teamster pension funds. The bill mirrors legislation introduced last year in the House by Reps....
Fred Gegare to Run for General President
May 28, 2010: On May 25, International Vice President Fred Gegare announced his candidacy for Teamster General President. Incumbent President James Hoffa announced his candidacy earlier, and is circulating petitions to become accredited. Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the Teamster reform movement which backed Tom Leedham and Ron Carey in previous elections, has not yet announced a candidate or made any endorsement. Gegare, contacted about this campaign, said that “members voices are not being...
Coke Plan Threatens Thousands of Jobs
May 28, 2010: Coca-Cola executives have a plan to eliminate thousands of Teamster delivery jobs. What is our union’s plan to fight back? Coke wants to eliminate Teamster jobs by moving toward nonunion, third-party distribution. The Hoffa administration vowed to draw the line against this “Alternative Distribution” by defeating the company’s pilot program in Southern California—if necessary, through nationally coordinated strike action. But one month after this tough talk, our union caved in without a...
ABF Teamsters Say No in Most Locals
Updated May 26, 2010: ABF Teamsters have rejected the proposed 15% wage cut, by a vote of 3,764 to 2,936. The local-by-local vote count is available here. Most large locals decisively voted No, including Chicago Locals 710 and 705, Atlanta Local 728, Carlisle Pennsylvania Local 776, Little Rock Local 878, Kansas City Local 41, Los Angeles Local 63, and even Dallas Local 745, the home base of Freight Director Tyson Johnson. Dayton Local 957 members...
ABF Local by Local Vote Count
VOTE BREAKDOWN ON ABF WAGE REDUCTION LOCAL UNION YES NO 5 0 4 7 5 3 17 48 46 20 4 4 24 4 4 26 3 6 29 6 3 30 1 9 40 2 5 41 83 123 43 9 5 61 8 0 63 49 142 70 12 20 71 20 24 79 31 7 81 20 35 87 3 1 89 16 11 92 4 2 100 13 24 104 52...
Obama Signs Order to Boost Trucks’ Fuel Economy
May 26, 2010: Flanked by truck manufacturers and trucking industry executives, President Obama signed a first-of-its-kind order Friday clearing the way for medium- and heavy-duty trucks to meet more stringent fuel-economy targets. Under the order, the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency are charged with collaborating on a rule setting limits on the fuel consumed and emissions produced by large commercial vehicles beginning with the 2014 model year. Click here to read more at...
Shaw’s strikers borrow from history
May 25, 2010: When striking Shaw’s warehouse workers embark on a five-day march this weekend to draw renewed attention to their nearly three-month fight against the supermarket company, they will also be evoking the civil rights and farm workers’ marches of the 1960s. “It’s interesting that the leaders are turning to the history of social movements to find tactics that will attract public attention,’’ said James Green, a labor historian at the University of Massachusetts...
UPS Freight National Panel Set for June 9th-11th
May 25, 2010: Teamster representatives will meet with UPS Freight management in Providence Rhode Island for the quarterly national panel on June 9-11. To view the grievance docket click here. 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...
ABF TEAMSTERS VOTE NO ON CONCESSIONS
May 24, 2010: ABF Teamsters have rejected the proposed 15% wage cut, by a vote of 3,764 to 2,936, according to reports from observers at the vote count. Most large locals decisively voted No, including Chicago Locals 710 and 705, Atlanta Local 728, Carlisle Pennsylvania Local 776, Little Rock Local 878, and even Dallas Local 745, the home base of Freight Director Tyson Johnson. ABF Teamsters will remain under the NMFA contract wage, as we...
YRC Worldwide will talk with Teamsters union about pension payments
May 24, 2010: YRC Worldwide Inc. plans to talk with its union about its pension payments, which are supposed to restart early next year but may need to be delayed. The Overland Park-based trucking giant (Nasdaq: YRCW) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, which has worked with YRC on roughly $2 billion worth of concessions to help keep the company in business and thousands of its members employed, have formed joint committees to “address...