Letter from the TDU Trustees
January 18, 2010: Will 2010 be better than 2009? Let’s hope so. Thankfully, Teamster members are coming together from across our union to organize for positive change. TDU’s staff, leaders, and activists are getting down to work to help members organize for change. They’re getting on the road, holding meetings, reaching out to new Teamsters, and sponsoring educational workshops and conferences. We’re reaching out across our union to build the army of activists we need...
YRC Rolls into 2010
January 18, 2010: Like a cat with nine lives, YRCW rolled into 2010 with its debt-reduction plan implemented. The International Union got some credit for closing the deal by threatening to expose any hedge funds which refused to tender their YRC bonds because they could profit from a bankruptcy. The YRC situation has highlighted the need for new financial regulations to make such instruments illegal. Why give brokers and bankers incentives to close companies and...
“Let’s Warm Up by the Coke Machine”
January 18, 2010: While record cold temps are hitting the country, management at UPS Freight in Atlanta is taking penny-pinching to an absurd level. They turned off the heat in the break room entirely. Management said that the Coke machines would keep the room warm. It didn’t work. The water cooler froze solid.
Union Can Take a Stand on Subcontracting at March Panel
January 18, 2010: The dates are set for the three national UPS Freight grievance panels for 2010. The first panel will be in Ft. Lauderdale, March 3-5, at the Westin Beach Resort. It immediately follows the first UPS panel of the year. The other panels will be on June 9-11 and Oct. 13-15, at locations to be announced. The deadline for getting on the docket is Feb. 8. Our union can use the March panel...
“We Won’t Go Back!” Battle for Reform Continues in Local 743
January 18, 2010: Teamsters in Chicago Local 743 have been battling to free their 11,000-member local from mob and old guard control for many years. Now the top Chicago officials are escalating the fight. But members are uniting to say “We Won’t Go Back.” Local 743 members are saying “We Won’t Go Back” to the old guard ways, after elected president Richard Berg and secretary-treasurer Gina Alvarez were ordered out of office by the leadership...
BLETers Team Up to Save the Right to Vote
January 29, 2010: Some rail officials are trying to take away the Right to Vote for BLET officers before members ever get a chance to use it. Now members are coming together to save the Right to Vote. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), now part of the Teamsters, is one of the oldest unions in the U.S. But they’ve never had a rank-and-file election for their top officers—until now. The first ever...
New York UPS Local Adopts Reforms
January 18, 2010: Reform leaders have taken office in Teamsters Local 804 and are setting a new direction for one of the largest UPS locals in the country. They’ve also inherited serious challenges. The 7,000 UPS Teamsters of Local 804 elected the Members United Slate last month with 68 percent of the vote. In their first official act, the new leadership adopted a Grievants’ Bill of Rights. “Deal-cutting and horse-trading of grievances are out,” said...
National Panels Set
January 18, 2010: The first UPS national panel will be in Ft. Lauderdale, March 1-3, at the Westin Beach Resort. The other panels are scheduled for June 7-9 and Oct. 11-13, locations to be announced. TDU will make the docket and decisions available online for members.
UPS Projects Higher-than-Advertised Profits
January 18, 2010: Management spent last year crying that the company was losing money. But as Teamster Voice goes to press, the company has told investors that fourth quarter profits per share will be 12 to 29 percent higher than previously announced. After taxes, UPS made $1.4 billion in profit in the first nine months of 2009 alone. Brown will announce its 2009 profit numbers on Feb. 2. TDU will post the info online at www.tdu.org....
UPS to Field Test New DIAD
January 18, 2010: UPS will start field-testing its latest DIAD later this year. The DIAD V is about half the size and weight of the current version. Brown has partnered with Honeywell to add new bells and whistles, some small and some that may dramatically change life at UPS—especially when combined with other new technology like telematics. DIAD V will include a color, auto-focus, flash camera to use for proof-of-delivery. (Hopefully, it will also help...