It was an ugly start for electronic voting on national contracts. For the first time in more than a decade, the Hoffa administration tried to deny members and vote count observers the right to see the ballot count results from each local union. But after a week of delays and inquiries by TDU attorney Barbara Harvey, the IBT relented, and turned over the ABF vote totals to TDU's designated observer John Palmer.

In today’s dysfunctional economic climate, straightforward bargaining frequently comes up empty. Employers come to the table with lengthy lists of takeaways and refuse to compromise. Claiming impasse at the earliest opportunity, they threaten to carry out their final offer or impose a lockout.

Ballots are being mailed today on voting to give strike authorization to the IBT at UPS and UPS Freight. We urge all Teamsters to Vote Yes—download and distribute new UPS and UPS Freight bulletins to spread the word.

[Reprinted from ABF Teamsters United]Teamsters at ABF have ratified the proposed contract by 58% which restores some of what had been lost in the 2013 contract, but falls short of what most ABF Teamsters expect and deserve.

We will post a link to the local by local results as they become available.

In a Friday morning massacre, Hoffa’s chief negotiator Denis Taylor threw off multiple members of the UPS National Negotiating Committee, including International Union Vice President Avral Thompson, for opposing givebacks.

Did Hoffa and other top Teamster officials rig the bidding on contracts with Teamster benefit funds and take improper gifts and payoffs? Corruption investigators are in federal court and asking for subpoena power to find out the answer.

The IBT Package Division is holding a conference call for local unions on May 8 to approve holding a strike authorization vote by UPS Teamsters. A second call for UPS Freight locals will be held on May 9. Once approved by the locals, then UPS and UPS Freight Teamsters will vote by electronic balloting on giving the IBT authorization to call a strike.

Hoffa's lead negotiator Denis Taylor has put a contract proposal on the table to allow UPS to create a new category of second-class drivers.

Central States participants – both retirees and active Teamsters – have been invited to a conference call – Voices for Pension Security – to be held Wednesday, May 2 at 7:30 pm Eastern, 6:30 pm Central, and 5:30 pm Mountain. The call-in number is 877-229-8493 and the access code is 114828.

The year-end Central States Pension Fund financial report has been obtained by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), and shows that the Fund ended 2017 with $15.0 billion in assets. This is down from $15.27 billion one year earlier; the loss of $267 million during 2017 was modest, due to the run-up in the stock market.