July 17, 2006: In May, a delegation of Teamster local officers and members, some of them pictured above, converged on Washington to meet with Congressional reps about dangers for Teamsters in pending pension legislation. In particular they were on Capitol Hill to deliver a message: the Red Zone Amendment, which would allow pension funds to cut benefits already earned, must go. “The Bible says ‘confront the devil and he will flee from you,’” North Carolina...

July 17, 2006: Effective August 1, all Michigan cartage Teamsters covered by the NMFA will have major cuts in medical coverage, as a result of moneys diverted from their fund to the Central States Pension Fund. The Michigan Fund informed all affected members of the cuts in a July 3 letter. The Michigan Fund reported that the Hoffa freight leadership diverted money from health coverage over “emphatic objections” of the health plan. For the third...

July 17, 2006: Hoffa is playing politics with UPS Bargaining and Overnite/UPS Freight. “We won it—card check, neutrality. UPS Freight. Wow!” Hoffa kicked off his reelection drive at the Teamster Convention by announcing that our union had won a card check agreement to organize UPS Freight (Overnite). Hoffa waved a document to the crowd and declared, “This agreement between the Teamsters and UPS Freight is a letter for card check and neutrality at Overnite.” The...

July 17, 2006: Do you want to see a change in leadership in the Teamsters? Beating Hoffa in the 2006 election will take two things: a strong reform slate and a well organized campaign network. TDU is committed to making both of these happen and making sure Teamsters have a positive alternative to the failed administration that’s in power right now. No reform slate has announced it is running for office. That needs to come...

July 2006. Louisville Kroger management thought they had a bright idea when they forced workers from a five-day week to four ten-hour days. Their move, combined with other mistakes, only made matters worse. Local 89 members are paying the price. Four ten-hour days quickly became five ten-hour days—and more. “Some guys have worked 60-70 days straight, ten or more hours per day,” Local 89 member Mark Horsley said. “We’ve had a guy get his foot...

June 6, 2005: Teamsters covered under the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust received a statement in May detailing how much benefit they earned in 2004. That was the first full year of the cuts that pension trustees imposed in mid-2003. Every Teamster should look at that report to see what you accrued in 2004. Then look back at your 2002 statement, before the cuts. The difference is what you lost in just one year....

“From the company’s viewpoint, this was a great strategy, other than the fact that it was illegal.” —Human Resource Expert July 2006. The Ralphs Division of Kroger pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts in a case stemming from the 2004 lockout in Southern California. The company will pay $20 million in criminal fines and $50 million for a fund to provide back pay to locked-out workers and reimbursement to the union for strike benefits and...

Two Local 174 Waste Management members, (D.J.) Thomas (South Sound)and Jeff Michalak (Northest) attended Waste Management's annual Shareholder Meeting in Houston Texas May 3rd to protest the giant firm's attacks on workers including slashing health benefits for members of local 813 in New York who have been on strike since April 3. The two Local 174 members met with members of Local 813, New York and Local 639 in Washington D.C. "There was a lot...

The fight by Local 174 Teamsters shows that coordination and solidarity can beat back employer demands for healthcare concessions. The attack on Teamster health benefits is national, strategic and coordinated. The fight back has to be the same. As we go to press, Waste Management Teamsters are on strike in New York City fighting for affordable healthcare. Members in Washington, D.C. were recently forced to end their strike and accept healthcare concessions at Waste Management....

  Hoffa Jr. Lacks the Teamster Experience Why are there so few examples of Teamsters secure in their jobs? I don’t mean that the national union has not been there fighting for fairness and contracts in companies like UPS or DHL, I mean language and improvements in the small companies that make up the heart and bone of our union. UPS and the rest are important, the muscle of our brotherhood. But not all of...