October 18, 2006: The misnamed “Pension Protection Act” of 2006 will go into effect in 2008. Here we provide a summary of some of its impact on Teamsters. Thanks to attorney Ann Curry Thompson and the Pension Rights Center for their help interpreting this law for Teamsters. For a copy of “Frequently Asked Questions” about the PPA by Ann Curry Thompson, contact TDU. What Are Some Positive Aspects of the New Law?There are more negatives...

October 18, 2006: It’s up to Teamster members to lead the fight for pension justice. The past three years have proven that the Teamster leadership’s approach is a complete failure. They lied to sell us contracts, let the employers take over our pension funds, slapped Teamsters with the first-ever cuts, and tried to cover it all up. Members have learned to fight back, and in some cases, gain ground. We need action around the upcoming...

October 18, 2006: "Our last contract was terrible. Can we get the right to elect our bargaining committee?" "Our local officers keep raising their salaries. Can we put limits on them?" "Our local elections are a joke. Can we get some protections that will make them more fair?" Yes, there is a way to gain new rights and protections like these. Over the years Teamsters in many locals have organized to change the bylaws of...

Pension Legislation Loss August 9, 2006. Late in the evening of August 3, the U.S. Senate voted to approve a piece of pension legislation which contains much of the “Red Zone” cut-back language that rank and file Teamsters have fought hard to get removed from the bill. President Bush is expected to sign it. Thanks to rank and file action, a portion of the red zone was cut that would have let funds cut benefits...

UPS won critical new leverage in their campaign to take over our pension funds when the House and Senate passed the misnamed Pension Protection Act. The Act includes UPS’s baby, the “Red Zone” amendment, which legalizes cutting pension benefits that employees have already earned. The New York Times called UPS “another of the bill’s winners”. The Times reported that, “U.P.S. had been eager to increase its control over such troubled plans as the Teamsters’ Central...

Teamster members are not the only ones concerned that Hoffa would undercut the National Master Freight Agreement by negotiating a substandard deal at UPS Freight (Overnite). The CEO of Yellow-Roadway, the largest employer of Freight Teamsters, recently warned that any deal between the Teamsters and UPS Freight, covering one terminal of 125 workers in Indianapolis, will 'set precedent' for the National Master Freight Agreement. Yellow Roadway employs 50,000 Teamsters. Yellow-Roadway CEO William Zollars made this...

August 8, 2006: The Hoffa campaign has retained the same firm used by union busting corporations to spread lies for his campaign via his websites. The Bivings Group, a PR firm whose clients are a who’s who of anti-unionism, is paid Teamster money by Hoffa’s campaign to lie about TDU, Tom Leedham and anyone else who is part of building a new direction for our union. By the end of May, Hoffa’s campaign had already...

August 8, 2006: James Hoffa officially ducked out of the August 25 debate between the two General President candidates, by notifying the Election Officer on August 7 that he would send his stand-in, Tom Keegel. The debate will go forward in Washington DC on August 25, with an impartial moderator, questioners, and an audience of Teamsters. Thousands of DVDs will be made available to Teamsters for watching at home, and it will be available for...

July 28, 2006: On July 14 the Independent Review Board (IRB) charged John Kikes with a long period of purposeful association with Billy Hogan after Hogan was banned from the Teamsters in 2002. Kikes has been a Hoffa International Rep for six years and is the president of Oakland, Calif., Local 78. His boss is Local 78 Secretary-Treasurer Steve Mack, the brother of International Vice President Chuck Mack. Kikes testified under oath to the IRB...