July 25, 2006: The National Labor Relations Board has charged FedEx Ground with engaging in a pattern of illegal activity against New Jersey drivers. The case stems from work that Teamster Local 177 has been doing with FedEx workers for a number of years. In 2005 the local won an NLRB ruling that FedEx drivers were employees, not contractors. Similar decisions have been issued over the years, which have confirmed that FedEx “contractors” are actually...

October 18, 2006. Tom Griffith was a freight driver before he was elected president of Harrisburg, Pa. Local 776 a little over 20 years ago. He was Eastern Region Freight Director for several years. He knows the Hoffa administration from the inside and talked about the reason he retired. The following is adapted from his address to the TDU Convention. I started working at the IBT, it didn’t take me long to realize that this...

October 18, 2006: The grocery industry outsourcing trend continues with Kroger’s announcement that they will be transfering warehouse and delivery operations in Louisville to TransCorp Inc. and Zenith Logistics. The new third-party operators quickly set the stage for their bargaining strategy by handing Local 89 members packets with job applications and info on wage and benefit cuts. Neither Local 89 nor the Warehouse Division have taken steps to counter these scare tactics, or put in...

By George Kieffer, adapted from the www.denverbrown.com website. October 18, 2006. UPS continues to get good press concerning its PAS system. Everyone from technology journals to the main stream press have sung the praises of Package Flow Technology and the Preload Assist System. Let’s look at a few of the stories about PAS to see how they compare to reality. Optimize Magazine: “It helps managers ensure that drivers are not overdispatched and that last-minute load...

October 18, 2006. This summer in California, UPS tried to enlist Teamsters in their effort to undermine litigation over the company’s practice of forcing employees to work off the clock. Faced with a major lawsuit involving violations of California wage and hours laws, UPS got the legislature to pass a bill giving unionized transportation companies an exemption from laws requiring lunch breaks during specified times in work shifts. A law designed for UPS! In an...

At the September 21 Multi-Region Change of Operations meeting in Chicago, Yellow Transportation’s VP of Labor Relations announced that the Yellow clerical Change of Operations was “withdrawn without prejudice” and that it would be “resubmitted before the end of the year.” This was in response to a barrage of questions from Yellow’s Teamster clerical members at terminals across the country. They demanded more information from the company about the change, how it was calculated, and...

Canadian Rail Teamsters Set for First Election A rank and file activist has set his sights on one of the top spots of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. This summer, members won the right to vote for their top three national officers by voting for bylaws changes proposed by Gerry Ranson of Division 320 in Vancouver. Subsequently, Ranson was nominated at the TCRC Convention in September to run for the office of vice president. He...

October 18, 2006. Don Hahs, President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division of the Teamster Rail Conference, has spent more than $6,000 flying his wife to Alaska for a cruise, footing the bill for her airfare to various events, and paying for her meals on trips, according to documents obtained by TDU. Other expenses for which Hahs has obtained reimbursement include use of a hotel mini-bar and in-room movies. Hahs, who receives a $35...

October 18, 2006. When the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers merged into the Teamsters two-and-a-half years ago, they added the words “and Trainmen” to the end of their name to signal that they welcomed conductors, brakemen, and switchmen (collectively know as trainmen). But now events in El Paso have led some to question how deep the commitment goes to these new Teamsters. Two Unions Compete for Membership Most trainmen are currently represented by the United Transportation...

October 18, 2006. UPS learned a major lesson in 1997: that working Teamsters can unify and use their power. Then, like now, UPS did everything possible to divide members and keep our union on the defensive. Despite management’s best efforts, members took a strong and clear stand that got the attention of the entire world. We have that same potential—and more even—today to take on and win a contract fight at UPS. Here are five...