Star Tribune Workers Fire Back
June 05, 2009: Star Tribune management and strike-ready drivers continue to square off, both at the negotiating table and in bankruptcy court. Barring a agreement, a Strib brief defending its request to abrogate the drivers' contract is due Friday, with a court hearing next Tuesday. Click here to read more at MinnPost.com.
FedEx Taking $1.2 Billion in Charges
June 04, 2009: FedEx will take some $1.2 billion in charges against its fiscal fourth quarter earnings, including charges against its purchased Kinko’s and Watkins Motor Lines businesses, the company announced Wednesday. Click here to read more at The Journal of Commerce.
YRC Still Negotiating with Pension Plans
May 29, 2009: Yellow Roadway (YRC) is still in talks with various Teamster pension plans regarding their proposal to post real estate as collateral, in lieu of pension payments for the rest of 2009. Talks are being coordinated by the Central States Fund for a group of pension funds. Teamsters close to the talks have not been able to give us a timeline for a resolution to the pension issue. YRC is two months behind...
Active Takes Over Jack Cooper
May 29, 2009: Jack Cooper Teamsters got a new boss in May, when Active Acquisitions bought a majority stake in Jack Cooper Transport. Michael Riggs in the principal owner of Active. But Tim Cooper, in a letter to Jack Cooper employees, says that he is retaining his role with the new company. The new company will be called Cooper Active and employ about 1,000 Teamsters. The combination could make it a stronger union company. Active’s...
Thousands Sign Petition to Protect Full-Time Jobs
May 26, 2009: Thousands of UPS Teamsters have signed a petition calling on the International Union to take up a national grievance on the company’s elimination of Article 22.3 full-time jobs at the next national grievance panel in Philadelphia, June 8 to 11. Our 1997 UPS strike victory won contract language that requires UPS to maintain a minimum of 20,000 combo jobs—full-time jobs that are created by combining 40,000 part-time jobs. Management is violating this...
Stand Up For a Union That Will Stand Up for Us
Union action is needed to defend our contracts, jobs and pensions. Hoffa can’t and won’t deliver. It’s time to work together for change. The economic crisis is putting the squeeze on working Teamsters in every industry and local. At UPS, management is using new technology to harass and discipline drivers in a production push. Freight and carhaul Teamsters have seen their job security go up in smoke. Teamsters in many industries face layoffs and concessions....
Hoffa Appointee's Boston Goon Squad
May 22, 2009: Hoffa’s Trade Show Director John Perry is in court on charges of assaulting a Teamster member for filing a grievance. JoJo Burhoe and International VP John MurphyWill Hoffa take a stand against violence and for seniority rights in the Trade Show industry? As an IBT Division Director, John Perry is supposed to coordinate our International Union’s efforts to defend Teamster members’ rights in the Trade Show industry. Instead, Perry faces criminal charges...
YRCW Pension Deal Still in the Wind
May 22, 2009: YRCW plans to put up real estate instead of pension contributions. There’s no deal yet. YRC’s proposal to put up real estate in lieu of payments to Teamster pension funds is still not finalized, as of late May, but the company, the International Union and at least one major pension fund are acting as if it’s a done deal. YRC has made it clear they do not intend to make pension payments...
Temporary Help for Pension Funds
May 22, 2009: Most members covered by Teamster pension plans recently received an Annual Funding Notice in the mail, and some of those letters have been pretty scary. Many of them contain terms like endangered, underfunded, or critical status. References are made to rehabilitation plans, and members are told that early retirement plans could be cut or eliminated. The good news is that in the short run, pension plans received a reprieve via the Worker,...
YRCW Pensions Frozen in Central Pennsylvania
May 22, 2009: “This [real estate in lieu of pension payments] approach would have no effect on pension benefits for employees.” — Bill Zollars, April 14, 2009 “This means that, for YRCW participants, pension benefits will not increase as a result of service during the Freeze Period.” — Central Pennsylvania Pension Fund, May 14, 2009 The Central Pennsylvania Pension Fund has frozen pension accruals for all YRCW Teamsters from June 1 through the end of...