Minneapolis Members Weigh Cuts at Star Tribune
August 1, 2008: As Convoy goes to press, Teamster drivers, pressmen, and mailers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune are facing separate proposed contract reopeners that would cut their wages by 10 percent. The three new contracts are supposed to help the newspaper financially. But some members are suspicious, especially because the company has been making statements this year that it is solvent and making good profits. The new deal was negotiated in secret, with International...
Local 804 Members Still Looking for Straight Talk on Benefits
August 5, 2008: Months after New York UPSers approved new bylaws for their local, members are still having trouble getting straight information about their benefits. This spring, UPS Teamsters in New York Local 804 voted by over 90 percent to require the Local 804 Executive Board to provide members with information about their pension and health funds. In July, the Local 804 Pension Fund finally responded to members’ requests for pension documents—and turned over some...
Is Baltimore Pension Fund Driving Blind?
August 6, 2008: Ever since the Baltimore Local 355 fund cut the pension accrual rate to zero, members have been asking why the cuts happened, and what the local is doing to restore the cuts. Now their fund is telling them it won’t answer their questions. But members aren’t taking No for an answer. In February, Local 355 President Denis Taylor said the fund would be in the Red Zone, the worst funding level, if...
Chicago Local 705 Contract Negotiations
August 1, 2008: Little progress has been made in negotiations for a new contract covering freight Teamsters in Local 705. Members overwhelmingly passed a strike authorization vote and lent their support to the bargaining committee. However representatives for Yellow, Roadway, Holland, and ABF are stonewalling the union. The next negotiating sessions are scheduled for August 5 and 7. Updates are posted at www.teamsterslocal705.org.
Kansas City Rejects APWA for the Third Time
August 1, 2008: UPS Freight Teamsters in Kansas City have rejected the Association of Parcel Workers of America for the third time by a vote of 157-58. This outfit is a wrong turn down a blind alley for Teamsters who want positive change.
New Drug Testing Regs: Company Reps May Watch
AugustThe Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a new regulation effective August 25 that allows for “observed collections of urine samples.” Direct observation is required for all prior positives currently requiring testing and includes all return to duty and follow-up drug testing. This does not affect normal random testing. The new regulation also lists new refusals to test in addition to those already existing. They include “confrontational behavior during testing,” “failure to follow instructions on...
DHL Cuts Jobs
August 1, 2008: Less than two months after members ratified a concessionary contract that IBT officials touted as saving jobs, DHL has implemented layoffs, which could be permanent cuts. Those with sufficient seniority are being offered the option to bid on part time positions, which the new contract allows. It seems clear DHL got what they wanted from those negotiations.
Early Deal for Bud Teamsters?
August 1, 2008: A new report speculates that Anheuser-Busch management may seek an early contract before the InBev takeover even takes effect. The Teamster contract covers 7,000 Teamsters at A-B, and it expires on March 1, 2009. Talks on the new contract are scheduled for this August in Cincinnati. A-B Teamsters are still reeling from the news that their company is being bought by Brazilian-Belgian brewing giant InBev. The new company will be the largest...
Fundraisers Net $15,000 for Our Movement
August 12, 2008: TDU members and supporters have raised over $15,000 for the Teamster reform movement this year at house parties and get-togethers in Boston, New York, and Chicago. More events are being planned now. The fundraising events bring together Teamster members with other unionists, labor educators, community activists and other supporters of the Teamster reform movement. “Our meeting was positive, upbeat—and a real success. We got together in a bar, ate good food, and...
Wearing Teamster and TDU Pride
August 1, 2008: More than 80 Teamsters wear TDU T-shirts to work every Thursday at the UPS hub in Manhattan. Our message? We are informed and united Teamsters working together to enforce our rights and rebuild union power. There is a question being asked by the Local 804 rank and file at the 43rd Street Hub and the question is: “What happened to the local that we were once proud of?” The recent giveback contract...