March 15, 2010: A memo from the YRCW VP for Labor Relations claims that the corporation has obtained a new union concession regarding the contract clause requiring the recall of laid-off Teamsters when excess overtime is worked. Bob Jones, in a memo distributed to stewards at some Ohio terminals, directs YRC and Holland management to essentially rewrite Article 5, Section 6 of the NMFA. The contract requires that when total overtime worked for a week...

March 12, 2010: Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in three locals in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Virginia March 11 ratified a new three-year contract with Costco Wholesale Corp. that increases wages by $1.50 an hour over term and provides twice-yearly bonuses totaling between $5,000 and $8,000, based on years of service, the union announced. Union members in February ratified a similar agreement with Costco at some 40 locations throughout California for...

March 11, 2010: The Independent Review Board (IRB) has released a devastating 125-page report detailing a “nepotism and favoritism” scandal in the home local of International Vice President Bill Hamilton. The IRB recommended that Philadelphia Local 107 be put in trusteeship. Instead Hoffa has moved to protect Hamilton and his political power base in Philadelphia. A lengthy investigation by the IRB found that movie jobs in Philadelphia Local 107 were doled out to friends and...

UPDATED March 10, 2010. The results are back from the March UPS Freight national grievance panel, but they aren’t pretty. Out of 27 grievances heard, the union won only five cases. The union referred back five more grievances for the local to resolve with the company. The panel postponed or put on hold 36 more grievances. After three days in Ft. Lauderdale, the union has little to show for its time except for a few...

March 9, 2010: UPS Freight Teamsters nationally have been demanding union action on widespread subcontracting violations. And they seem to have gotten the ear of our Teamster leadership. The International Union announced at the end of the national grievance panel that it will take a “lead case” from Dallas Local 745 to arbitration. A recent TDU special report documented subcontracting violations across the country that are putting Teamster members out of work while subcontractors take...

March 9, 2010: YRC has issued a company policy saying no cell phones, including hands-free types, may ever be used while operating a YRC vehicle. Most drivers we've talked to have not heard about it yet. We don't know if management intends to enforce this new policy or not, or what the union leadership will do about it. The policy statement indicates that they intend to force drivers to sign it. Since when do Teamsters...

March 9, 2010: In a vote tallied on March 8, Teamsters employed by Reddaway Truck Lines, a regional subsidiary of YRCW, rejected a contract offer including concessions. The Northwest Teamsters, members of Locals 162, 174, 206, 324, and 962 in Oregon and Washington, have had a contract with Reddaway for decades. The economics of the rejected deal were negotiated by IBT Freight Division representatives without involvement of Local Union representatives and stewards from the affected...

March 8, 2010: Teamsters can take a small step to protect our pensions. The International Union has started an online petition to build up support for legislation to strengthen multi-employer pension plans. Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would strengthen union benefits. Under House Bill 3936, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) would finance the pensions of some retirees whose companies have gone out of business. In its current form, this legislation, called the...

March 8, 2010: Senator Bob Corker, who represents FedEx Corp.’s home state of Tennessee, said he will block legislation funding the Federal Aviation Administration because a provision may be added later making it easier for workers at the company to join unions. Corker’s action extends a years-long fight in Washington between the mostly non-union FedEx and its unionized rival United Parcel Service Inc. over how workers at both companies should be treated under U.S. labor...

March 5, 2010: Union officers often think of union democracy as a threat to their power. But union democracy is about member power, and member power means union power. Click here to read two articles from the Association for Union Democracy, including a transcript of a talk by TDU counsel Barbara Harvey.