Money There to Restore Our Pensions in the West
April 2, 2007: Assets at the Western Conference of Teamsters (WCT) Pension Trust now top $29 billion and the trust is 100 percent fully funded. But hundreds of thousands of Teamsters covered by the plan are still facing a nearly 40 percent cut in their pension multiplier. Why? And when will our pensions be fully restored? The already-flush WCT Pension Trust is headed for another major influx of cash. In the next UPS contract, the...
Allied: Real Leadership Is Needed
April 2, 2007: Allied Teamsters are currently voting on concessions that could gut the carhaul national contract. The votes will be counted on April 16. Thanks to action in federal court by TDU’s attorney, there will be pro and con observers. Allied Teamsters have a difficult choice. They know a bankruptcy judge could impose concessions even if they vote No. Even worse, they have gotten no leadership from the Hoffa administration. Teamsters have been fed...
Local 814 Movers Smacked with Healthcare Cuts
April 2, 2007: Commercial movers from Teamster Local 814 in New York City have been hit with healthcare cuts—following a concessionary contract that diverted millions of dollars in contributions from their health and welfare fund into their pension plan. Under the terms of the 2005 contract, the $3.96 per hour contribution that was supposed to go into members’ health and welfare fund went into the Pension Fund instead. Poison Pill“We said at the time that...
Connecticut Teamsters Organize for Healthcare Reform
April 2, 2007: Healthcare costs are skyrocketing, putting union members on the defensive at the bargaining table. Local 559 Teamsters are doing something about it by joining forces with labor and community allies to fight for affordable, universal healthcare in Connecticut. They won an important victory last month when the State Legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee approved a bill for single payer healthcare. The vote surprised both supporters and opponents of healthcare reform. Connecticut...
Arming Teamsters with Information to Fight for Our Pensions
April 2, 2007: The 2008 UPS and Freight contracts are our chance to win the contributions we need to protect and increase our benefits. TDU is bringing together Teamster members and pension experts to talk about what working Teamsters can do to protect our benefits.To succeed, we need to understand the challenges we face and put together a plan that can win the pension protections and improvements we need. That’s why Teamsters for a Democratic...
UPS Feeder Drivers Demand Snow Plan
April 2, 2007: After a late-winter blizzard pounded the Midwest, Feeder Drivers in the Kansas City area are asking UPS management to institute an emergency road plan for winter weather conditions. Road drivers are fed-up with a policy that intimidates and coerces operations in impossible or hazardous winter storm conditions. UPS drivers are routinely forced into winter storms, even blizzard conditions, under threat of firing (for job abandonment). Then, if there is an accident, the...
U.S. Border May Open to Mexican Trucks
April 2, 2007: Mexican truckers may not be running U.S. highways in greater numbers any time soon. Funding for the Department of Transportation pilot program that would monitor this traffic was delayed by a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The IBT claimed victory after a major lobbying effort to scuttle the program. The Bush administration decision to open up limited cross-border truck traffic raised concerns over drivers with lesser qualifications and potentially unsafe equipment,...
Teamster Corporate Campaign Pressures Coke
April 2, 2007: Coca-Cola has been stepping on Teamsters’ rights—attacking members’ healthcare and pensions and threatening to eliminate union jobs. Now our union is stepping up a corporate campaign against Coke. Teamsters have rallied at NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games through the March Madness playoffs to pressure the NCAA to drop Coke as an advertising partner. Teamsters have leafleted fans to inform them about Coca-Cola’s labor, environmental, and human rights violations here and abroad. Examples...
Chicago Teamsters Want to Elect Their Bargaining Committees
April 2, 2007: On March 21, it was no normal monthly meeting at Chicago Local 726. The hall was packed with hundreds of members, with many people in the hallway. They wanted to change their local union bylaws to have the right to elect working Teamsters to their bargaining committees. Fighting for the Future, the grassroots movement in Local 726, put forward three bylaws changes and encouraged members to attend. The union leadership brought people...
Canadian Trainmen May Leave UTU for Teamsters
April 2, 2007: Last month’s strike on the Canadian National shows why we need to have unity on the rails—and why having a democratic union is so important. Over 2,800 trainmen, members of the United Transportation Union, went out on strike Feb. 10. They stayed out for two weeks, and their strike had a huge impact on the Canadian economy. With support from the UTU International and solidarity from other rail unions, they may have...