Will UPS Freight Deal Undercut Our Union?
May 23, 2007: The Hoffa administration may make drastic concessions to UPS Freight management in exchange for a contract in Indianapolis and the right to organize the company nationally. In a recent report, International Rep and Hoffa Assistant Brad Slawson stated that the UPS Freight contract will not meet National Master Freight Agreement standards and will not be in the Central States pension or health and welfare funds. A deal could be cut as soon...
Is This Yellow? Or Roadway?
May 22, 2007: YRC is acquiring trailers with flip-signs that say Roadway on one side, and Yellow on the other. This will provide a pool of switchable trailers, especially for rail use. A number of Teamsters have expressed concern that it is a sign that merger of Yellow and Roadway may be on the horizon. But no major integration of operations is expected soon. New YRC trailers: Just flip the placard and switch the company....
Traffic World: Canadian Pacific Workers Strike
May 21, 2007:Traffic World, Journal of Commerce: Unionized track maintenance workers with Canadian Pacific Railway went on strike Wednesday after contract talks failed to produce an agreement. Canada's second-largest railroad deployed managers to replace the 3,200 striking workers, represented by the Teamsters. The railroad said Wednesday that train service was operating normally despite union pickets, Bloomberg reported. Canadian Pacific, headquartered in Calgary, offered wage increases of 3 percent this year, 4 percent in 2008 and...
BNA Daily Labor Report: House Passes Legislation Establishing Curbs on Mexican Truck Pilot Program
May 17, 2007:The House passed legislation (H.R. 1773) May 15 that establishes strict requirements for an administration pilot plan to let Mexican trucks operate inside the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) said the "Safe American Roads Act of 2007" would assure in-depth audits and oversight of the Department of Transportation program to allow Mexican trucks to cross into the United States. DeFazio said he wished the...
UPS Pension Grab: New Information Available at Make UPS Deliver
A new bulletin and a detailed Q&A on management’s plan to split 42,000 UPS Teamsters from the Central States Pension Plan is available online. Click here to get the latest info at MakeUPSDeliver.org
Ken Hall Video: Don’t Mess With Our Members’ Pensions
May 16, 2007: Jim Hoffa and Ken Hall promised that early negotiations would send a message to every Teamster employer not to mess with our pension funds. With UPS and other employers trying to break out of the Central States, what message will we send now? See Ken Hall’s pledge to the Teamster Convention.
Ron Carey: "Get Answers from Your Leaders."
May 16, 2007: Ten years after the 1997 UPS strike, former General President Ron Carey spoke in New York about some of the keys to the union's contract victory. "You don't keep members in the dark, you don't have secret negotiations," Carey said. Carey’s advice for members? "You have the right to get answers from your leadership. Responding in a very activist way is the way to go." Carey Looks Back: Ex-Teamster Head Still Driving...
ABF CEO Calls for Quitting Teamster Pension Plans
May 11, 2007: “We believe there is an opportunity in this negotiating cycle to withdraw from some or all of these [Teamster pension plans] and provide benefits directly to our employees, and we’re prepared to negotiate that with the Teamsters in the coming negotiations.” “We view the multiemployer [Teamster pension] withdrawal opportunity to be the most significant thing facing us.” -- Robert Davidson, CEO of ABF, Interviewed on May 8, 2007 by transportation stock analysts...
Canadian Pacific track workers to strike Wednesday
May 14, 2007: MONTREAL (Reuters) - Some 3,200 workers who maintain track at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, Canada's second-largest railway, are set to strike early on Wednesday, the company and union said on Saturday. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Maintenance of Way Employees Division said it had served a 72-hour strike notice on CP Rail over failed talks on wages and other issues. The union represents about 3,200 employees who inspect, maintain and build the...
Traffic World: ABF Wants Out of Pension Funds
May 11, 2007: by John Gallagher in Traffic World Online --Arkansas Best Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Davidson said he's willing to take the financial hit necessary to negotiate with labor an end to its multiemployer pension fund contributions. "We can provide the same benefits that we're providing now directly to our employees at significantly less cost than we're now paying," Davidson told Wall Street analysts at a conference sponsored by Bear Stearns...