By Gina Alvarez, Local 743 Steward, CSPF Office, Chicago There are 335 Teamsters who work at the Central States Funds office, and we had not had a steward’s election for over four years. A group of us contacted Local 743 regarding holding elections, and as usual there was no response. We started a petition to hold an election for new stewards. When we were done, more than two-thirds of the membership had signed up to...

January 26, 2007: The “Fighting for the Future” slate is getting organized to make positive changes for all 4,300 Local 726 members in metro Chicago. Local 726 members work for the City of Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority the State of Illinois, Illinois Toll way, Police Departments, Fire Departments and other public sector work places around the state. The contract at City of Chicago expires July 1, 2007. Fighting for the Future“We’ve been reaching out to...

January 26, 2007: In a recent statement on UPS national contract talks, IBT Parcel Division Director Ken Hall announced he would also continue bargaining with UPS Freight on a contract covering 125 employees at the Indianapolis terminal—the only UPS Freight barn represented by our union. The outcome of the simultaneous contract talks will determine the future of benefits and contract standards for UPS and freight Teamsters alike for years to come. Will our union use...

January 26, 2007: Eight hundred Kroger Teamsters in Louisville, Ky. are still fighting for their jobs. On Jan. 13, Local 89 members voted unanimously to approve a strike if Kroger goes ahead with plans to outsource its Kentucky Distribution Center. As we reported in the last issue of Convoy, Kroger wants to outsource the management of its Louisville facility to two third-party logistics companies: Transervice Logistics would take over the trucking operation, while Zenith Logistics...

January 26, 2007: Teamster negotiators have given UPS until just March 31 to negotiate an early agreement. Now is the time to get involved and to stand strong and united. Management wants an early deal. We’ve got to Make UPS Deliver or say no to an early settlement. Our Teamsters National UPS negotiating Committee has scheduled seven weeks of intensive bargaining, beginning the week of Jan. 22, and given UPS until the end of March...

January 26, 2007: UPS Teamsters have launched a rank-and-file campaign to “Make UPS Deliver” the contract that working Teamsters deserve. “Our goal is to give UPS Teamsters a voice in these negotiations and to make sure that the company and our union negotiators deliver the contract we deserve,” said Michael Savwoir, a Local 41 feeder driver involved in the effort. The UPS Negotiating Committee kicked off early bargaining in September and has scheduled seven weeks...

December 6, 2006: Hit by a 30 percent pension cut, many New York Local 804 Teamsters feel it’s time to fight back. Local 804 President and fund trustee Howie Redmond voted against the cuts, but never informed members that UPS management was seeking cuts. “Local 804’s officers certainly knew we had a problem and that management wanted cuts. Why was that hidden from the members?” said Local 804 alternate steward Jim Reynolds. “Now they’re going...

December 5, 2006: When is an increase actually a cut? Teamsters in the Western Conference Fund are finding out the hard way. Fund trustees voted to raise the pension multiplier. But a typical Teamster will lose $100 a month off of their pension check every year that the new multiplier is in effect. Trustees of the Teamsters Western Conference Fund voted to slightly increase the pension multiplier, the number that determines the amount of pension...

“The union plans to address pensions and healthcare first.” IBT press release on UPS early bargaining, Oct. 2, 2006 December 6, 2006: Less than two months after the IBT announced that it would “address pension and healthcare first” in UPS bargaining, the company imposed a 30 percent pension cut on thousands of UPS Teamsters in New York City (see article on page 3). In pushing through the cuts over the objections of Local 804, management...

December 6, 2006: The IBT election is over, and James Hoffa won the power to oversee the union’s bargaining with UPS. A centerpiece of Hoffa’s election strategy was to win big at UPS, our union’s largest employer. He didn’t. Despite outspending Leedham 10-1 and with 90 percent of local officials campaigning for him, Hoffa had to settle for no better than half of the UPS vote. Tom Leedham won the majority of the UPS vote...