Diana Kilmury Remembers Ron Carey
Diana KilmuryThe passing of former Teamster president Ron Carey has left me with mixed emotions. Sadness, of course, that the charismatic leader who headed the greatest revolution in Teamster history has left us. But also frustration at how it ended. It has been over a decade since that awful day when we learned that the machinations of some Washington operatives involved in Ron Carey’s 1996 campaign had embroiled him in an illegal contribution scheme that...
What Will Management's Cuts Be?
December 12, 2008: There’s one thing everyone agrees on—CEO Bill Zollars and other top brass at YRCW have badly mismanaged the company. If concessions are needed to save the company, it stands to reason that the managers responsible for the problems should take the biggest hit. That is not what’s happening. Zollars issued a memo to management personnel and other nonunion YRC employees outlining what their salary cuts will be and it does not add...
Memorandum from Bill Zollars on Management's Salary Cuts
From: Office of Bill Zollars Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 4:53 PM To: All_YRCW_NonUnionEmployees [at] yrcw.com Subject: Cost-saving measures that impact non-union employees To: All non-union YRC Worldwide employees In follow up to today's Town Hall Meeting, I want to recap the cost-saving measures we're putting in place - especially for those who may not have been able to participate in the meeting. It's important you understand how your total compensation will be affected and...
Teamsters Remember Ron Carey
Read remembrances of Teamster President Ron Carey by Teamster members who knew and worked with him. Pat Pagnanella Swears in Ron Carey as General President of the Teamsters in 1991Pat Pagnanella Former Local 804 Secretary-TreasurerUnion workers have lost one of the greatest leaders in the labor movement. It was an honor and a pleasure to work alongside Ron Carey as his Secretary-Treasurer and as a very close friend for many years. Read more. Ken PaffKen...
Ken Paff Remembers Ron Carey
Ken PaffI first met Ron Carey in the early 1980s. We always met at a diner in Queens, New York, where he would order his signature tuna sandwich. We discussed how reform of the Teamsters could be possible, and we were checking each other out, too. By 1984, Ron was ready to start to make some national connections, and he traveled to a few cities to talk about the upcoming UPS contract. In Cleveland, we...
Tim Sylvester Remembers Ron Carey
Tim SylvesterMay God Bless Ron Carey and his family at this at this tragic time of his passing. He was taken too early, not just with his death, but he was taken from us ten years ago by a system that didn’t allow anyone as good as he was to remain in power in our union. He knew that it was time to change the way unions operated, to create strategies that could beat corporate...
Alex Adams Remembers Ron Carey
Alex AdamsRon Carey was the real thing. He inspired me, and got me active in our union. I miss him, and the union misses him. I got in touch with Ron Carey through TDU. I was distributing his campaign literature and Convoy Dispatch all over Ohio and East—I was a road driver then at Yellow Freight. When I got a chance to meet him, after a TDU Convention, my support took on new meaning. I’m...
Sandy Pope Remembers Ron Carey
When I became a Teamster in 1978, our union was on the defensive. A terrible economy, deregulation and anti-union politicians had the entire labor movement on its heels. What a breath of fresh air Ron Carey was and what an inspiration he was in those days—winning strikes at UPS as the president of Local 804 and negotiating the best pensions in the country. When Ron became our General President, he showed our entire International Union...
Hard-Fought Victory at Smithfield Comes at Last
December 12, 2008: A long fight at the world’s largest pork processing plant has come to an end, as workers at the Smithfield Tar Heel plant voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers. The fight to organize the Tar Heel plant began from day one, when Smithfield opened the facility in 1992. In 2006, the NLRB ruled that Smithfield was guilty of unfair labor practice during two unsuccessful organizing drives in the 1990s,...
Pat Pagnanella Remembers Ron Carey
Pat Pagnanella Swears in Ron Carey as General President of the Teamsters in 1991Union workers have lost one of the greatest leaders in the labor movement. It was an honor and a pleasure to work alongside Ron Carey as his Secretary-Treasurer and as a very close friend for many years. Ron was a very honorable man who accomplished many improvement as well as the best contracts during his administration for union members. Ron will truly...