Roll Call: FedEx, UPS Battle Over Labor Organizing Rules
May 18, 2010: As they continue to wage a high-dollar and nasty lobbying campaign, archrivals FedEx and UPS are awaiting final delivery of legislation that will determine whether they must abide by the same union organizing rules. The two giant transportation companies have been at loggerheads for years over federal rules that make it harder for FedEx drivers to organize and strike. Click here to read more at Roll Call.
Chicago Public Radio: Hoffa Allies Oust 2 Chicagoans from Teamsters
May 18, 2010: The international Teamsters board has ousted two of its critics from the helm of a large local in Chicago. Teamsters Local 743 represents about 11,000 workers. Two years ago, Richard Berg and Gina Alvarez helped unseat local leaders eventually jailed on corruption charges. That made Berg president and lifted his profile as an opponent of Teamsters leader James P. Hoffa. Click here to read more at Chicago Public Radio.
BNA Daily Labor Report: IBT Ousts Two Reformer Officers From Chicago Local
May 18, 2010: CHICAGO—The General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters upheld charges of official misconduct by the two top officers of Local 743 in Chicago and imposed penalties removing the pair from office, sources told BNA May 17. In a decision dated May 6, the GEB sustained a single charge of misconduct against former Local 743 president Richard Berg and former secretary-treasurer Eugenia Alvarez. Berg was removed from office and suspended from...
Local 743 Members Say “We Won’t Go Back”
May 14, 2010: Hoffa has signed off on a power grab that ousts reformers Richard Berg and Gina Alvarez from office in Teamsters Local 743. But members continue to fight for their local. Local 743 members are already meeting to launch a reform campaign in this fall’s local union election. “We’re going to use our voice and our vote to make sure Local 743 is a union that puts members first,” said Jean Moore, a...
Who Says You Can’t Win Big in a Bad Economy?
May 13, 2010: By uniting the members and mounting a credible strike threat, Local 814 members in New York City have won a contract that delivers big in a bad economy. Local 814 and the employers of the Moving & Storage bargaining group were at loggerheads in contract talks and it was getting close to midnight. The employers were demanding huge concessions and telling the union to take it or leave it. The Local 814...
Kansas City Star: Transportation unions hail new rule
May 11, 2010: A 76-year-old transportation law was swept away Monday under a rule change announced by a federal agency. The National Mediation Board, which oversees labor-management relations in the transportation industry, said future elections will require a simple majority of employees voting in favor of union representation. The upshot is that workers in the airline and railroad industries will have an easier path to organizing. The previous rule, under the Railway Labor Act, counted...
Central States Notice and the Future of YRC Pensions
May 5, 2010: As required under the Pension Protection Act (PPA), Central States has mailed an Annual Notice regarding the plan’s funding status. Teamster participants employed at YRC and Holland also received a letter from Executive Director Thomas Nyhan. The letter raises concern about whether YRC will honor their contractual obligations and resume pension contributions on January 1, 2011. Nyhan admits that, “We cannot guarantee that YRC will resume participating in the Pension Fund at...
YRC Worldwide considers looming financial hurdles
May 4, 2010: While YRC Worldwide Inc. CEO Bill Zollars said the company is making headway in its comeback bid, he acknowledged that pension expenses loom as a hazard. “That’s the biggest single cost that would return to us in 2011,” Chairman and CEO Bill Zollars said during a Tuesday conference call to discuss YRC's first-quarter earnings. Click here to read more at the Kansas City Business Journal.
ABF Teamsters Speak Out
UPDATED May 20, 2010: Ballots are in the mail for proposed concessions at ABF, and members are speaking out. Here’s what some of them are saying. Yeah! What happened? ABF, so they claim, is #1 in the industry in pricing, if the freight doesn't pay, they don't haul it. ABF claims to be #1 in the industry in cargo claims and at the present time at a historical low claims cost for the company. ABF...
YRC stacks its board with turnaround experts
May 3, 2010: YRC Worldwide Inc. outlined an overhaul of its board of directors on Friday. The move is part of a deal the trucking carrier struck to entice bondholders to swap debt for equity. Seven members of the YRC board will resign effective May 11, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Five new members — most with experience in turning around companies — will join the board while four current directors...