NY Daily News: Teamsters Fight to Unionize Online Grocery Site's Workers
February 19, 2010: "It will be quite a battle," said Sandy Pope, the president of Teamsters Local 805, referring to an attempt by employees of online grocer Fresh Direct to join the union. The Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342 launched a public campaign this week to focus attention on the workers' struggle to organize. Click here to read more at NY Daily News.
TDU On the Move
February 18, 2010: TDU members are coming together across the country to get educated and work together for union power. In January and February, TDU members are holding meetings and workshops in Baltimore, Springfield, Providence, Burlington Vermont, Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Los Angeles, and more. More than 125 Teamsters attended a TDU Educational Conference in New York. The conference featured workshops on UPS production harassment and handling disciplinary grievances. “TDU gives us the knowledge to be...
DOT Proposes Testing for More Drugs, Lowering Existing Threshold on Others
February 18, 2010: The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a proposed rule that would toughen its workplace drug-testing program for truck drivers and other transportation workers, including testing for the drugs “ecstasy” and heroin. The new proposed rule also would lower cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines and authorize employers to use test facilities certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct initial drug testing, according to a statement by...
YRC Worldwide shareholders approve measures needed after debt-for-equity swap
February 18, 2010: YRC Worldwide Inc. on Wednesday said its shareholders approved a series of measures required as part of a recent debt-for-equity exchange and a recent agreement by investors to provide YRC with $70 million in new liquidity. The Overland Park-based trucking and logistics company (Nasdaq: YRCW) said in a release that, at a special shareholders meeting, a majority voted in favor of increasing the total number of shares the company could issue and...
YRC, Teamsters lobbying for pension rule changes
February 17, 2010: As part of its drastic cost cuts in 2009, YRC Worldwide reached an agreement that allowed it to suspend monthly payments into its union pension plans. The next step is an effort to get Congress to address YRC’s problems with ballooning pension costs. Click here to read more at The Kansas City Star.
BLET Officials Halfway Over First Hump
February 15, 2010: Officials from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Trainmen and Engineers in the IBT (BLET) are getting closer to their goal: to take away members’ Right to Vote for top BLET officers. To clear the first hurdle, the officials are trying to get divisions representing 25 percent of BLET membership to approve their initiative. Unofficial reports say that they’re about halfway there. Members Slowing Them Down Officials announced their initiative back in December, and...
LN: Waste Management CEO Goes Undercover
February 15, 2010: Can your boss hack the job you do? If you saw the clever new CBS TV show “Undercover Boss,” you know Waste Management chief Larry O’Donnell doesn’t have what it takes to do Teamster work. He actually got fired. Read the review of the new show from Labor Notes magazine. Reality TV Gives Corporate America a Big Wet Kiss by Mark Brenner Waste Management President Larry O'DonnellWant to know what chutzpah means?...
BNA Daily Labor Report: Court Says UPS Violated Plan by Cutting Retiree Benefits
February 15, 2010: United Parcel Service of America Inc. violated the terms of a summary plan description when it imposed increased health care premiums on retirees who were represented by Teamsters Local 705 while not imposing the same increases on retirees of the Teamsters international union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled Feb. 10 (Green v. UPS Health and Welfare Package for Retired Employees, 7th Cir., No. 09-2445, 2/10/10). Affirming a...
Local 722 Officials Would Dissolve Local to Avoid Settling with Blacklisted Member
February 11, 2010: Can you imagine Teamster officials willing to dissolve their local union rather than settle a case with a member that they blacklisted from working? That’s LaSalle Illinois Local 722—but the members have said No to that plan. At the January 10 union meeting, when the officials tried to get the members to vote to approve the destruction of their local, the membership said No. The members’ consensus was to settle the issue;...
UPS Triples Profits in the Fourth Quarter
February 3, 2010: UPS raked in $757 million in profits in the Fourth Quarter—nearly tripling its profits over the same period last year. Overall, Brown made $2.15 billion in profits in 2009. That’s after taxes. The company’s revenue is down from the Fourth Quarter last year—$12.4 billion compared to $12.7 billion. But profits are up because of “cost-cutting” according to press reports, including Teamster layoffs. Brown is squeezing higher profits out of fewer employees. “UPS...