This Thanksgiving we're thankful for dedicated Teamsters who stand up for working families in these tough times. Runaway corporate greed has created the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. And working people are paying the price. Our benefit funds are facing record losses due to the Wall Street meltdown. Teamster employers, who got record concessions even before the economic crisis, are coming back for more. Thankfully, tough times don't last. Tough people do. TDU wishes...

November 26, 2008: The International Union has reached a tentative deal for concessions at Yellow Roadway (YRC). Now it’s up to the 40,000 YRC Teamsters to decide. Details of the deal are not yet available. Teamsters for a Democratic Union will provide updates as details become available. Click here to sign up for email updates from the TDU Freight Committee. Union officers from all affected locals will meet to review the proposed deal on Dec....

November 25, 2008: YRC Worldwide management is seeking to cut Teamsters wages as it tries to arrange new financing to pay off debt. The Teamsters union said it has been in talks for several weeks over givebacks on the National Master Freight Agreement, the labor contract that was renewed earlier this year. Click here to read more at Traffic World.

The Freight Committee of TDU will convene a short informational conference call for freight Teamsters on proposed concessions at YRC and what this means for freight Teamsters. The call will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. The call will last for approximately 20 minutes and will cover: the corporation’s request for concessions our union’s process for bargaining and ratifying any changes to the contract what protections can be negotiated for...

November 25, 2008: The International Union has entered into talks with Yellow Roadway (YRC) over wage concessions for some 40,000 Teamsters. A deal could come soon. The union has set a meeting for officers from all affected locals on December 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona. On a Nov. 24 conference call with local officials, IBT President James Hoffa and Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel indicated that they are ready to give wage concessions, because union auditors agree that...

November 25, 2008: On Nov. 18, DHL presented the IBT with a change of operations proposal that will severely reduce Teamster jobs covered under the recently ratified national contract. The company estimates that 420 to 550 Teamster jobs will remain under the DHL agreement, which is a loss of over 90 percent. The proposal will be heard in Sarasota, Fla. on Dec. 1-2. The proposal includes a severance package that would provide up to 11...

November 24, 2008: Even when the National Labor Relations Board gains a Democratic majority in the upcoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, the board can be expected to make only incremental improvements in labor law, and Congress instead is the starting point for labor law reform, Member Wilma B. Liebman said Nov. 20. Speaking at a conference sponsored by the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, Liebman said the board “operates...

November 21, 2008: Local 705 members rallied at the Federal Building in Chicago to demand fairness for laid-off DHL Teamsters. ABC News was there to cover the rally of Teamster members, Chicago Aldermen and other community supporters to pressure DHL to stop its discriminatory treatment of union workers. Following the rally, the crowd marched to the National Labor Relations Board where a Teamster delegation filed charges against the company. The charges accuse DHL of diverting...

November 20, 2008: On Nov. 19, the 3,500 members of Local 249 voted current President Wayne Shatkoff out of office by a vote of 1,178 to 884. The Respect, Experience, Dedication Slate (R.E.D. Slate), headed by Joe Rossi and made up of some of the existing executive board and rank and filers, won all ten positions. Earlier this year, the Local 249 executive board found Shatkoff guilty of blacklisting members in the movie industry. Charges...

November 20, 2008: Teamster freight officers have signed off on new changes of operations for Yellow Roadway that marks the first phase of their merger. The change addressed a number of smaller areas that already had cohabitation terminals or planned to combine operations. The combined seniority list will be a dovetail with seniority based on present bidding and layoff seniority dates. Click here to view the new Yellow Roadway Change of Operations. Click here to...