December 5, 2007: The national UPS contract may soon be settled if the rejected supplements gain approval after being improved. But nearly 20,000 UPSers work under local contracts that are independent of the national agreement—and far from settled. UPS Teamsters throughout Indiana, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa are covered by the Local 705 contract (Chicago area) or the Local 710 contract (covering the rest of Illinois, much of Indiana, and Davenport). Neither of these contracts is...

December 5, 2007: Local 174 members at Waste Management and Allied Waste are getting a pension boost of $1.18 per hour in 2008 thanks to strong language negotiated in their last agreement. Under the Local 174 wastehaul agreements, members won major annual increases in healthcare contributions for their medical dental and vision benefits—starting with a 12 percent in year one of the contract and going up each year. At the end of each year, if...

December 5, 2007: Nearly 450 Waste Management Teamsters in Los Angeles reluctantly voted to end a two-week strike on Oct. 31 and accept a substandard contract after being hung out to dry by Local 396 and International Union leaders. When Waste Management locked out 500 Teamsters in Oakland this summer to try to force through healthcare cuts and other concessions, Mayor Ron Dellums called the lockout a “dress rehearsal” for this fall’s contract negotiations in...

December 5, 2007: The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund, which covers most Teamsters in the Western Region, is ending cuts in pension accruals that were imposed in July 2003. The accrual rates will increase to the historic base figure of 2 percent of contributions for Teamsters with less than 20 years credit, and 2.65 percent for those with more than 20 years. This means a Teamster’s monthly pension amount will increase by 2 percent...

December 5, 2007: On Jan. 1, the 13,000 members of Chicago Local 743 will get a chance to build a stronger union as Richard Berg and the New Leadership Slate take office. Richard BergThis election victory comes after a long history of corruption. In September the current president and three former BAs were indicted for stealing the 2004 election. The old officers continue to try to obstruct democracy and block the winners from taking office,...

December 5, 2007: Rail labor activists from across North America are coming together to form a new cross-craft inter-union caucus that includes all rail workers in North America—Railroad Workers United. by Ron Kaminkow, BLET Division 51Amtrak, Reno., Nev. “We have been divided—craft against craft, union against union, terminal against terminal—for too long,” says Joe Wyman, UTU trainman in Tucson, Ariz. “We will be stronger by including all railroaders in North America.” The RWU will be...

December 5, 2007: Whether or not you attended the TDU Convention, you can help build a stronger union this year and for the future. In the coming year, TDU members will be working to expand our industry networks, recruit to TDU, and get Convoy out to more and more Teamsters. TDU members also elected a new International Steering Committee to guide TDU over the next year. TDU members will continue to build industry networks to...

Local 726: We'll Keep Fighting Thanks for all the support we got at the recent TDU Convention. We narrowly lost our local election, but that fight is far from over. We have filed post election protests and look forward to having our case heard because Local 726 members deserve to have an honest election. Our protest outlines numerous serious violations, including counting over 1,300 challenged ballots without verifying their eligibility. We will see this fight...

December 2, 2007: Ron Burkle says he has an “exclusive” agreement with the Teamsters for concessions at Interstate Bakeries Corp (IBC). But the billionaire investor and our top officials aren’t telling the details. On Nov. 30, a federal bankruptcy judge denied IBC management’s request for the details of Burkle’s secret deal with the Teamsters. Over 9,500 Teamsters deliver Hostess Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and other products for the bakery. The Teamsters agreed to concessions when the...

The International Union has announced that negotiators will return to the bargaining table to bargain over the supplements that were rejected. Click here to read more at MakeUPSDeliver.org. Click here for local-by-local results.