July 21, 2009: There will be no cost of living raise this year for UPS Teamsters. Last year, UPS Teamsters should have gotten a 15¢ cost-of-living increase but our bargaining team gave UPS a pass on any COLA raise in the first year of the agreement—a giveback that cost UPS Teamsters $1,950 over the life of the contract. (Hoffa gave himself a $12,500 COLA raise last year.) This year we won’t get a COLA raise...

July 17, 2009: The decisions are in from the June meeting of the National Grievance Committee in Philadelphia and the results aren’t pretty. If the National Grievance Committee was a UPS employee it would be fired for poor job performance. In four days of hearings, the highest UPS grievance body under the contract ruled in favor of the union just four times. The company won 13 cases outright. Another 42 cases were deadlocked. An incredible...

July 17, 2009: Nearly 50,000 freight Teamsters are being forced to make a terrible choice, thanks to a decade of misleadership at the top of our union. By next week, ballots will arrive at YRC Teamsters’ homes asking them to choose to accept the biggest concessions in Teamster trucking history, or risk pushing the corporation into bankruptcy and closure. Teamster members have been put into this position by top union leaders that are more interested...

July 17, 2009: The ballots for the tentative agreement on economic concessions between the International Union and YRC are being mailed to some 50,000 Teamsters. They face a huge decision, for themselves and their families, and for our union in the freight industry. YRC Teamsters, who voted in January to accept a ten percent wage cut, are being asked to approve additional big concessions. The new agreement contains an 18-month pension contribution termination period, an...

If this deal passes, what does it mean for the pension? Will Central States make changes to our benefits going forward? What does it mean for recent retirees or those who will go during the 18 months? What does it mean if YRC never makes another contribution? It’s these questions that need answers if we’re going to know the real deal on our vote. James Biese Local 200, Milwaukee, WI USF Holland This bogus crap...

A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers. The so-called card-check provision — which senators decided to scrap to help secure a filibuster-proof 60 votes — would have required employers to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union. Currently, employers can insist on a secret-ballot election, a higher...

July 16, 2009: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters will begin mailing ballots July 17 to some 40,000 of its members employed by YRC Worldwide Inc. to vote on modifications to the terms of its collective bargaining agreement that call for a cut in gross wages, reductions in employer contributions to health and welfare benefits, and a temporary suspension of the company's pension contribution, the union said in a July 14 statement. “We are confident this...

July 14, 2009: The tentative deal with YRC contains an additional 5% wage cut, a reduction in H&W contributions, and an 18-month pension contribution termination period, as well as union proposals. If approved in a membership vote, the additional pay cut (approximately $1.16 per hour) will go into effect immediately; the pension termination period will begin July 1 and end Dec. 31, 2010; and the contractual health and welfare contribution increase due on Aug. 1...

July 14, 2009: The tentative deal with YRC contains an additional 5% wage cut, a reduction in H&W contributions, and an 18-month pension contribution termination period, as well as union proposals. Click here to read the IBT’s two-page summary of the agreement. Click here to read the IBT's Memorandum of Understanding with YRCW. If approved in a membership vote, the additional pay cut (approximately $1.16 per hour) will go into effect immediately after ratification; the...

July 10, 2009: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has reached a tentative agreement with YRC Worldwide Inc. on modifications to the terms of their current collective bargaining agreement that would reduce the company's cost structure while protecting IBT members' jobs, the company and union announced July 9. “This is a tough situation for the company and our members,” Tyson Johnson, Teamsters freight division director and co-chairman of the National Freight Industry Negotiating Subcommittee, said in...