Confusion Under the IBT-UPS Pension Plan
December 22, 2009: UPS Teamsters in the former Central States have more questions than answers about the new UPS pension plan. UPS Teamsters in the Central and Southern Regions and the Carolinas have more questions than answers about the new UPS pension plan they were moved into on January 1, 2008. With 44,000 active participants, you might think UPS could put up a website to help spread information, but they have not. Issues that were...
NY Movers Choose A New Direction for Local 814
December 22, 2009: After years of sell-out contracts and benefit cuts, members of New York Local 814 have voted for a new direction and a reform slate in their local union election. Jason Ide (center) and Richie Johnson (third from right) headed the 814 New Directions Slate.Members elected Jason Ide and the New Directions Slate by a whopping 72 percent in big turnout among the local’s 1,000 members. The new team will take office on...
Reuters: YRC trucking makes headway on needed debt deal
December 22, 2009: U.S. trucking giant YRC Worldwide (YRCW.O) said on Monday that it had received the needed approvals from lenders and pension funds to allow it to proceed with a critical debt-for-equity exchange offer that could keep the company out of bankruptcy. YRC, the largest U.S. trucking company in the "less than truckload" category, has been trying to get a majority of its bondholders to agree to swap about $536.8 million in debt for...
Local 896 Members Save Their Union
December 22, 2009: At the beginning of 2009, the head of Local 896 tried to merge his 3,000 members into Local 848—a local with a history of bargaining substandard contracts for SoCal beverage Teamsters. Local 896 members got organized, spoke up and stopped the merger. Local 896 is based in Los Angeles and represents 3,000 brewery and soft-drink workers across California. In 2008, Local 896 principal officer Rene Medrano and Local 848 head Jim Santangelo...
Teamsters Who Made a Difference in 2009
Read about Teamsters who made a difference in 2009—stopping bad mergers, protecting your right to information, and electing new leadership. Let's resolve to work together to make our union stronger in 2010. You can help TDU members keep making a difference in 2010. Click here to join TDU and support our work. 804 Members Unite for Change Three years ago, Local 804 members launched a grassroots movement to fight benefit cuts and contract concessions. In...
Southtown Star: YRC Closes Chicago Ridge Terminal
December 21, 2009: Trucking giant YRC has closed its Chicago Ridge terminal and sold the property, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is locked in a dispute with the company over additional salary concessions. The parent of Roadway, USF and Yellow Transportation, YRC has parceled out work to other Yellow and Roadway terminals in the Chicago area, including Chicago Heights, according to the union. Click here to read the full article in the...
848 Members Tell Santangelo: “You Gotta Go!”
December 18, 2009: For years, Jim Santangelo ruled Joint Council 42 with an iron fist. But when Santangelo used union resources to settle a sexual harassment suit against him, hundreds of members organized and forced him to resign. Until this Fall, Santangelo was one of the most powerful and well-paid Teamster officials in the union: the principal officer of Local 848, the head of southern California Joint Council 42, and one of Hoffa’s International VPs....
BLET Members Stand Up for the Right to Vote
December 18, 2009: Just two months after the head of the BLET was arrested for taking a $20,000 bribe, some rail officials are trying to take away the Right to Vote for BLET officials. Now BLET members are teaming up to protect their Right to Vote. They’ve launched a committee called BLET Members for Democracy. They’re educating members about how the Right to Vote lets them hold top officials accountable. Click here to download a...
Bloomberg: YRC Has Until Yearend to Corral Bondholders
December 18, 2009: YRC Worldwide Inc. has less than two weeks to persuade bondholders to accept a debt exchange and prevent a bankruptcy filing that its employees’ union says may force the biggest U.S. trucking company to liquidate. YRC, which has pushed back the deadline for the swap three times this month, must complete the tender by Dec. 31 to avoid a $19 million payment of interest and fees that would leave the trucker in...
Bloomberg: Hoffa Says Goldman Sachs Driving YRC Into Bankruptcy
December 17, 2009: International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa said Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is creating derivatives trades that would profit from the bankruptcy of YRC Worldwide Inc., the trucking company trying to avert failure with a debt exchange. The most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history “is actively soliciting bond trades for clients and underwriting credit-default swaps to benefit from a failed exchange and resulting bankruptcy,” Hoffa, the union leader, wrote in...