Frank Halstead Local 572, Ralphs Grocery Los Angeles The Hoffa Unity Slate is cracking into two. More and more members are seeing that we won’t stop the decline of Teamster power until we change our union’s leadership at the top. Now, even members of Hoffa’s own team are realizing the same thing.Hoffa, the candidate, promised to restore Teamster power. But when the Hoffa train left the station, his platform stayed behind. Instead of restoring the...

Under Hoffa, multiple salaries and political patronage are at an all-time high. • Hoffa pays multiple salaries to 148 political allies. • Multiple salaries are up 722 percent under Hoffa. • A record 119 officials on the International payroll make $100,000 or more—80 percent get multiple salaries. The salary gap is widening between the majority of local union leaders and a layer of super-compensated officials—most of whom are on Hoffa's payroll. • Half of all...

December 5, 2005: TDU members who filed a class action lawsuit against Tyson Foods have won a landmark victory at the Supreme Court that will put millions in the hands of more than 800 meatpacking workers and help tens of thousands of poultry workers win litigation for unpaid wages. In the first decision of the court under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court cleared the way for 815 Tyson employees to receive...

The following is an interview with Bill Gibson, the President of Local 96 in Washington, D.C. Why is it important for your local to be involved in this activity? Basically to help out other locals that are having problems with employers. In turn we expect their help when we have problems. We do that through the Washington metro Central Labor Council (CLC), AFL-CIO and through other community agencies such as the Gray Panthers, ACORN and...

The following is an interview with Frank Halstead, a grocery worker at Ralphs in Los Angeles Local 572. What are some examples of solidarity, within the IBT and without, that your chapter has been involved in? Our solidarity work is all within the Teamsters. We have our hands full right here! Currently we have a project around organizing a contract campaign for the Sysco facility. This has tremendous promise because we have numerous issues to...

Teamster members are taking action now to protect our pensions from dangerous proposed legislation that makes it easier for multi-employer plans to cut retirement benefits. Your urgent action is needed to contact the leaders of the Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — and your Congressional Reps and Senators — to ask them to stand up for our retirement security. he Red Zone Amendment to the Pension Protection Act would allow troubled pension...

The Western Conference Pension Fund has announced a big cut in pension accruals, effective July 1. This cut, if it stands, will seriously diminish pensions of those who retire in the coming years. (By law the fund cannot decrease pension credits already earned.) Teamsters in the West have formed the Western Teamsters Pension Improvement Committee (WESTPIC) and are calling on the trustees to rescind the cut. The trustees are insisting that they must have “full...

The pension justice movement has won an important victory for UPS Teamsters in the Central States Pension Fund. After refusing for 2 years to respect language in the 2002 UPS contract, Central States has now agreed to fully credit members for years they worked as part-timers. This will mean earlier retirement and larger monthly checks for many Teamsters who have worked as both part-timers and full-timers at UPS. Agreement Broken Central States and the UPS...

Article Content: Members of Local 407 received the letter below from their local. It’s a short summary of information provided to the local by the Central States Pension Fund. From the letter, its clear that the CSF is still spinning the numbers—if the fund’s financial situation is improving, isn’t it time to improve Teamster retirees’ financial situation? Of course spun information is better than none at all. Thanks to member pressure over the last two...

September 15, 2005: The federal Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled on Sept. 8 against Teamster retirees who were fighting to broaden their right to work to supplement their Central States pension. The appeals judges upheld a decision that favored the Central States Fund, which a few years ago started to crack down hard on retirees taking jobs at boat marinas, golf courses, family farms, auto repair shops, or hardware stores. The trustees of the...