New Technology Threatens Rail Jobs, Public Safety
February 17, 2005: Like many others, the railroad industry has undergone dramatic restructuring over the past few decades. For train and engine crews, perhaps the biggest threat of the new century is the recent advent of remote control operation of trains in the rail yard and more recently, employers’ calls for single-person operation of over-the-road trains. Remote control operation was implemented on a broad scale on most of the nation’s major railroads in 2002. The...
Seattle Teamsters Back Railway Workers Fighting One-Person Train Crew Operations
February 17, 2005: In Seattle, rank and file engineers and trainmen are joining together with their Teamster brothers and sisters in the fight against the railroad carriers. The National Carriers Conference Committee, the negotiating body for most of the nation’s railroads, issued their “wish list” for the new national agreement last November. Among the most alarming demands was a plan to combine the duties of engineer and conductor into one “transportation employee” position (see article...
Labor Notes Releases Second Version of Popular Manual on Workplace Organizing
February 17, 2005: In January Labor Notes released A Troublemaker’s Handbook 2, edited by Jane Slaughter, the second edition of the popular manual on how to fight back at your workplace and win. Like the first edition, Troublemaker’s 2 is a strategy guide to organizing lessons, tactics, and strategies from the viewpoint of unionists on the front lines. Labor Notes is a Detroit-based newsletter publisher and education center for reformers in all unions. Many Teamster...
Info Blackout Continues Six Months Into UPS Talks
March 13, 2007: From MakeUPSDeliver.org—Next Monday will mark six months since our National Negotiating Committee kicked off bargaining with UPS—and the blackout on meaningful information is as bad as ever. It’s time for the International Union to tell us what’s happening with our contract.Our union has now been in intensive negotiations with the company for nearly three months. During that time, the IBT has issued just two bulletins. Each one has told us nothing, except...
It's Up to Allied Teamsters Now
March 15, 2007: Ballots on the tentative concessionary deal covering 3,300 Teamsters at Allied Holdings are now re-scheduled to be mailed on March 19, and should be in the hands of Allied Teamsters soon after that. The decision is now in the hands of Allied Teamsters. Allied Teamsters who are opposed to the concession deal will observe the vote count on April 16, thanks to a stipulated consent order won in federal court by Teamsters...
Rebuild Teamster Power in Freight
“We’ve got to get moving now on our next contract. In TDU, we’re the ones who are going to be asking the tough questions and pushing for stronger standards and better benefits.” Jimmy Rickert, Roadway Local 429, Lancaster, Penn. Contact our rank-and-file network in Freight. Click here to join an email list for news on the 2008 NMFA contract campaign. UPS Freight StickersGet it Straight at UPS Freight TDU members in Freight are launching a...
Make UPS Deliver
"We can't sit back and leave it to Hoffa and Hall. Members need to be informed, united and involved. TDU's UPS network is our tool for making that happen."Darwin Moore, Local 243 Steward, Detroit Contact our rank-and-file network at UPS. UPS Teamsters in Milwaukee sign a Make UPS Deliver banner.Make UPS DeliverMake UPS Deliver is a national network of UPS Teamsters working together to win the contract we deserve. Click here to visit MakeUPSDeliver.org. Buy...
TDU Welcomes BMWE Members to the Teamsters
November 4, 2004: On October 27, members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE), who lay and maintain railroad tracks, voted by a large margin to merge with the IBT. They are now the BMWE Division (BMWED) of the Teamsters Rail Conference. Following is a message to these new Teamsters from TDU International Steering Committee member Frank Halstead. Dear Brothers and Sisters of the BMWED, Welcome to the Teamsters! We are honored that...
TDU Elects New Leadership
November 4, 2004: TDU members at our organization’s convention took time to do a little campaigning and to elect the TDU International Steering Committee (ISC) for the coming year. The committee has 15 members and three alternates. Six of them will be new to the ISC. The new brothers and sisters represent the strengths and diversity of the Teamster reform movement. Joining the ISC will be: Richard Berg, a hospital worker in Chicago Local 743,...
history test
TDU History How the Reform Movement Has Changed the Teamsters Union (1976-1979)In 1976 the Teamsters Union was in big trouble. Union leaders had allowed organized crime to infiltrate the highest levels of the union. Read more. Winning the Fight for Democracy (The 1980s)The 1980s were a difficult time for working Teamsters. They were years of economic recession, freight industry deregulation, and concessionary bargaining. Read more. Rebuilding Teamster Power (1991-1997)Rank-and-file Teamsters won the right to vote...