September 19, 2008: When Consolidated Freightways closed its doors in 2002, the company owed over $400 million in withdrawal liability to Teamster pension funds. CF’s nonunion parent company Conway never paid a dime of that money. Now Conway has filed a federal lawsuit against the Central States Pension Fund demanding a judgment that it does not owe Central States—or any Teamster fund—any withdrawal liability. They claim that since Conway spun off CF long before CF...

September 19, 2008: The new UPS Pension Fund covering 44,000 Teamsters in the Central States not only offers the lowest benefits; it also has no reciprocal agreements with Teamster pension plans around the country. That means that UPSers in the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest who have substantial years worked under other pension plans will face stiff pension reductions when they retire. Most (though not all) Teamster pension funds have reciprocal agreements. For example: a Teamster...

September 19, 2008: The Central States Pension Fund lost $3.1 billion during the first six months of this year, which is half as much as the $6.1 billion that the fund received in December from UPS as a pay-out to leave the fund. The fund lost $2.1 billion on its investments in the first half of 2008, or eight percent of its assets. At the same time, the fund suffered a $287 million loss of...

A large group of Teamsters attended a recent meeting hosted by the Fighting for the Future slate in Local 726. Many work for the City of Chicago and responded to recent headlines that threatened major layoffs. The meeting discussed how an active membership could address the issues. Vince Tenuto, a leader of Fighting for the Future, outlined plans to continue to inform and educate members on developments in Local 726. He reported on continued efforts to...

After A Fair Vote, A Strong Contract? I want to thank TDU for all the effort that went into ensuring that every ballot in the carhaul contract vote was accurately counted. The Western Supplement and the Master Contract were overwhelmingly voted down by Teamsters here in the Bay Area. We’ve been guaranteed a fair vote—now we need to get to work to make sure we get a strong contract. Kenneth Kontrath Local 287, PMT Milpitas,...

September 17, 2008: In an unprecedented move, James Hoffa has imposed International Union control over the bargaining of Local 705’s freight contract. Freight Teamsters in Local 705 are covered by their own contract which is separate from the National Master Freight Agreement. In ongoing bargaining, Local 705 has focused on protecting union jobs—including guarding against the diversion of work to YRC Logistics. The same issue is being contested in other areas where it has been...

September 16, 2008: A stalled economy is propelling the nation's largest trucking company to combine the operations of its two long-haul LTL operations, extending the restructuring of a trucking industry that has been redrawn by consolidation, changing shipper demands and a growing field of nimble regional competitors. Yellow Transportation and Roadway, run as separate brands by parent YRC Worldwide, will be combined into one company called Yellow Roadway. Local sales teams will join forces immediately...

September 12, 2008: Attempts by the Minneapolis Star Tribune to wrest major concessions from three Teamster unions, representing pressmen, drivers and mailers, hit more roadblocks on Thursday. Teamster officials representing the drivers in Local 638 notified the Star Tribune that a concession plan that members earlier approved was “null and void” because the Teamster pressmen voted down the giveback plan earlier in the week. Officials for the mailers, represented by Teamsters Local 120, have also...

September 12, 2008: Our solidarity and our No vote stopped disastrous concessions, but the companies are coming back after us at the Sept. 16-19 negotiations. International Union officials are planning to use our right to strike as a threat against us, not against the employers. Watch out for: “If you don’t vote Yes, we will put you on strike!” No one wants a strike (certainly not the employers!). But watch out for the threat. Our...

September 12, 2008: The leaders of Teamsters Local 200 said Thursday that they have made no decision yet on whether to take Waste Management Inc.’s “last, best and final offer” to union membership for a vote. Speaking out in detail for the first time since the strike of union trash haulers began Aug. 26, union leaders said they learned only late in the negotiating process of Waste Management’s proposal to drop the Central States Pension...