Our Union’s Future in Freight Is Up to Us
February 21, 2008: Die-hard Freight Teamsters swallowed a bitter pill when the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) was approved by a two-to-one margin. When the most concessionary freight agreement in history was first proposed, freight Teamsters were shocked by the givebacks. That shock turned to anger and a nationwide Vote No movement. In freight locals across the country, working Teamsters rejected the contract, including New Jersey Freight Local 641, Worcester Local 170, Philadelphia Local 107,...
Local 89: Ready Mix Drivers Beat Pension Grab
February 21, 2008: Ready mix drivers in the metro Louisville area have won a new contract that keeps them in the Central States Pension Fund—despite the company’s threat to replace their defined-benefit pension with a 401(k). Local 89 members at Irving Materials Inc. started gearing up a year early to head off the pension threat and win improvements in their contract. “We went through the contract line-by-line and wrote better language,” explained Louis Bowling, an...
A Proud Agitator: Local 804 Member Stirs Up Unionism
February 21, 2008: An “agitator” is the device in your washing machine that stirs things up and gets the dirt out. That’s also the role played by Local 804 member and UPS package car driver Ken Reiman. Better known by the name of his newsletter and website, the Local Agitator, Reiman exposes corporate greed at UPS and what working Teamsters can do about it. Never one to duck controversy, Reiman uses his newsletter both to...
Local 249 President Found ‘Guilty’ by E-Board and NLRB
February 21, 2008: Wayne Shatkoff, president of Pittsburgh Local 249, was suspended from office on Feb. 8 for a year by the Local Executive Board, after the Board heard charges of blacklisting Teamsters in the movie industry. On February 13, a judge found the Shatkoff administration guilty of the same offense. An administrative law judge who heard charges filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered Local 249 to pay some $70,000 plus interest...
Letters from Our Members
Report from the Freight Vote CountIt was an honor to represent working Teamsters as an observer at the freight contract vote count. Members can rest assured that the process was monitored and on the up and up. But many members have questions about who got ballots, and why? The explanation we got at the count was that all locals were responsible for creating the mailing list for the ballot. The IBT put it on the...
Detroit News: Teamsters to Endorse Democrat Obama
February 21, 2008: The 1.45-million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters union today will endorse Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president, a union spokesman confirmed. Teamsters President James P. Hoffa will meet with Obama about 5 p.m. E.S.T. in Austin, Texas, after the union's executive board meets to formally approve the endorsement, spokesman Bret Caldwell said. "The union has been paying attention to what has been going on nationally with the election. There have been a lot...
International Union Denies Deal on UPS Drop Boxes
Members who have contacted the Parcel Division have been told that our union has made no agreement with UPS to allow the company to use Air Drivers to pick up ground packages from drop boxes. The Parcel Division has advised members to file grievances on all violations. Article 40 of the contract prohibits Air Drivers from handling ground packages except under a narrowly defined “exception basis.” This language exists to stop the company from exploiting...
First Big Contract Test at UPS
February 18, 2008: UPS has launched a new contract-busting program to use air drivers to pick up ground packages at a substandard rate of pay. This is the first big test of the new UPS contract. Our International Union must answer the call and stop the company from undermining high-paid, full-time jobs at UPS. UPS announced on Feb. 15 that it now accepts ground packages in its drop boxes and that Air Drivers will pick...
Pittsburgh President Charged with Blacklisting Members
February 15, 2008: The president of Pittsburgh Local 249 has been suspended from office for a year after the Local Executive Board heard charges of blacklisting Teamsters in the movie industry. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has charged Wayne Shatkoff with the same offense. The NLRB does not have the power to suspend union officers, but could order the union to pay the three affected members lost wages for movie jobs in late 2006....
Reuters: CP Rail Canadian Train Crews Ratify New Contract
February 15, 2008: Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd's train operating crews in Canada have ratified a new five-year contract, the union said on Wednesday. Read more at Reuters.com