January 12, 2008: Unions at the Star Tribune have been given the royal brush-off by the company which has refused to negotiate seriously, setting the stage for the company to file for bankruptcy. Concerned about the future at the Star Tribune? Click here to send a message to TDU. Avista, the private equity firm that owns the newspaper, has indicated to the unions that it is likely to file for bankruptcy. The proposals Avista made...

January 10, 2009: James Hoffa took office ten years ago, promising to Restore Teamster Power. Instead, we’ve suffered a decade of decline. How can working Teamsters get our union back on track? It’s been ten years since James P. Hoffa took the oath of office as Teamster General President. Instead of delivering the Teamster Power he promised, Hoffa has managed our union through a decade of decline. Hoffa promised “Real 25 & Out Pensions.” He...

January 10, 2009: Under a contract loophole, UPS and the International Union have agreed to new restrictions that will make it harder for drivers to file grievances against excessive overtime. Our contract is supposed to protect package car drivers from unwanted excessive overtime. But in a memo dated Dec. 18, the International Union announced that it had negotiated new guidelines that will make it tougher for members to file excessive overtime grievances. Click here to...

January 10, 2009: UPS will shut down the night sort operations at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) in February—a move that could eliminate 70 or more full-time Article 22.3 jobs. The midnight sort at the Columbia, S.C., air hub will be shut down around the same time. UPS previously eliminated more than 30 Article 22.3 jobs in Seattle at Boeing Field. The contract requires UPS to maintain a minimum of 20,000 Article 22.3 full-time jobs nationwide...

January 10, 2009: YRCW Teamsters have spoken and the 10 percent wage cut is now a fact. Its impact will be felt in ways beyond the loss of income for 40,000 Teamsters. More TDU Freight Coverage • Freight Teamsters Coming Together to Make a Difference • Local-by-local vote count results • Concerned About the Future? Do Something About It ABF is waiting in the wings. Management is bombarding ABF Teamsters with the need for a...

Freight Teamsters talk about what they are doing to make a difference in our union. We Need a Union Plan That's Different Than Management'sWe look at the Yellow Roadway merger and we wonder what’s next for Holland. Yellow buying Roadway and Holland has done nothing but make a mess of things for working Teamsters. There’s a lot of anger and frustration. That ten percent cut better mean more than lining the pockets of upper management....

January 20, 2009: Workers who try to join our union get threatened and sometimes even fired by employers who want to stay union-free. In December, workers at the Smithfield meat plant in North Carolina voted to unionize after a 16-year long campaign. The Employee Free Choice Act would enable more such victories. Click here to sign a petition supporting EFCA. Share your thoughts on EFCA with TDU. In December, workers at the Smithfield meat plant...

January 10, 2009: Local 848 Secretary-Treasurer Jim Santangelo is pushing to absorb Local 896, the California brewery and soft drink local. But Local 896 members are fighting to keep their local proud and independent. Local 896 Secretary-Treasurer Rene Medrano supports the merger, and he says the local will be stronger as a part of Local 848. But members are skeptical. In 2003 and 2005, the two locals bargained together for contracts with Pepsi and Coke....

January 16, 2008: James Hoffa sent a memo to all local unions offering their officers the opportunity to get hotel rooms for the Presidential Inauguration, at local union expense. The cost to the local union: $3,201 per room. Hoffa’s letter states that the union will not be able to provide tickets to the Inaugural or any other events, but they still anticipate a “large demand” from locals for the rooms. President Obama’s inauguration is an...

January 10, 2009: Teamsters in Las Vegas and Buffalo have new officers in 2009. In Las Vegas Local 631, members voted in a slate led by Kevin Hardison and John Phillipenas. The local represents 6,500 Teamsters at UPS and in freight, waste, convention services, and more. Earlier this year, members in the Las Vegas convention industry blew the whistle on a scheme where the union set up a nonunion hiring hall inside the union hall....