March 27, 2008: After years of apathy and neglect, members and new officers in Chicago Local 743 are working together to turn their union around. Last year, the Local 743 president resigned and his replacement was indicted for stealing the 2004 election. In October, the membership of Local 743 elected a reform slate of officers to the union’s top spots. “For years, members got no information from our union. No one ever talked to them....

March 27, 2008: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is once again under fire from Corporate America. On Feb. 11, the Department of Labor issued proposals for changes that would open up new loopholes for employers to deny leave to workers who need to take time off for an illness or to take care of a family member. These new rules are not a done deal. We have until April 11 to make our...

March 27, 2008: Teamster sanitation workers across Los Angeles have launched a solidarity campaign in support of Jose Morales, a shop steward who was fired for opposing Waste Management’s attacks on members’ rights. On March 10, Waste Management terminated Jose Morales, a shop steward who was a rank-and-file leader during a Local 396 strike against the company in Los Angeles last fall. The dispute with Waste Management began after the company distributed digital cameras to...

March 27, 2008: Warehouse Teamsters in Washington state are fighting union-busting tactics at AmerisourceBergen—a major pharmaceutical supplier to Teamster Health & Welfare funds. Now our union is turning up the heat on the company to bargain in good faith. The Teamsters are turning up the heat on AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC) after the drug wholesaler broke the law and refused to bargain in good faith with our union. ABC is one of the biggest pharmaceutical distributors...

This year has gotten off to a busy start for Teamsters for a Democratic Union. We’ve been breaking the news about the details in important master contracts, helping members get organized to protect their benefits in New York and Baltimore, and developing and supporting new leadership in our union. We’re expanding our network of working Teamsters who are committed to building a stronger Teamsters union. But to bring more members into the fold and expand...

Railroad Workers United Founding Convention On Friday April 11, railroad workers from across North America will gather in Dearborn, Mich. for the founding convention of Railroad Workers United (RWU), a cross-craft inter-union caucus of railroaders drawn from the ranks of all crafts and all unions. Rank-and-file members and many local union leaders are fed up with lousy contracts in the face of year after year of record profits for the carriers, and they are angry...

March 25, 2008: Don Hahs has been removed from office as head of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). A three-member Teamster panel has removed Don Hahs from office and suspended him from Teamster membership for one year for violating his fiduciary duty to the union. Last year, Hahs was charged with embezzling over $58,000 in members’ money for basketball tickets, fishing trips, hotel-room movies, and unauthorized travel for his wife. Hahs is...

March 20, 2008: A Teamster mechanic is a quarter million dollars richer after settling an OSHA whistle-blower complaint at UPS. Teamster Local 687 member Dan Petersen was fired by UPS after he reported trucks in its Watertown, NY building were unsafe. Petersen successfully won his job back through his local union and then took on the company for violating federal whistle-blower protections. According to OSHA, UPS has paid Petersen $254,000 and pledged “not in any...

Why did TDU get involved with this DHL contract? Like many Teamsters, the members of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) are concerned about the decline in our national contracts that we are seeing in the 2008 bargaining round. Many times when contracts have been negotiated, including some previous DHL and Airborne contracts, TDU has not taken a position one way or the other. But the 2008 national bargaining round is very different: the Teamster...

Join Teamsters from across the country for the annual Teamsters for a Democratic Union Convention, Oct. 24-26 in Cleveland. The convention will feature over 20 workshops for Teamsters who want to learn more about winning grievances, bargaining strong contracts, and protecting our benefits. “TDU has the best workshops for Teamsters who want to turn our union around.” Bill Zimmerman, President Local 206, Portland, Ore. Workshops will include: Legal Rights on the Job Pension Rights Winning...