August 1, 2007: TDU supplied the ammo, and now Teamsters from coast-to-coast are shooting down the sell-out of DHL Teamsters. And they won’t stop shooting till this monster is dead.
Today we received the good news that the deal has been stopped, at least for now. The Hoffa administration saw that the Draft National Contract was dead-on-arrival because it would never get approved by the members, and today called off negotiations and sent the local officials in Washington home early.
Rank-and-file power has won this round. But the battle for a good contract has only started.
On July 26, TDU made available to DHL Teamsters the Draft National Contract that would pull DHL out of the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) and give the company its long-sought white paper contract. And the draft contract was a stinker.
Teamster members, stewards and local officers are taking action. They continue to contact TDU, and are starting to network with each other. Petitions are circulating in DHL stations. Calls have poured into the Marble Palace. Stewards have called meetings to inform members.
That’s how we won this round.
On Monday, July 30, DHL union reps from various locals arrived in Washington for negotiations. Hoffa sent International Rep Ed Keyser to meet with them to try to put the fire out. Keyser stated that maybe the Draft Contract needs to be improved (!).
Hoffa’s assistant Brad Slawson, the person most responsible for this mess, didn’t show up till Wednesday, August 1. Slawson has been on the phone telling stewards and members that the Draft Contract doesn’t exist, that TDU made it up. (Earth to Brad: no one believes you.)
By the end of the day on August 1, the International suspended negotiations and sent the local officials home, with the statement that the Draft National Contract would be scrapped and a meeting would be held soon in Detroit with all affected locals, to start over. Stewards should be invited to that meeting, as they were in the previous DHL bargaining.
This movement now has to grow fast to prevent the return of the monster, and to lay the basis for a contract that protects our jobs and also uses our Teamster Power to organize the large non-union DHL sectors.
DHL Teamsters who want to get the latest news and learn what can be done, should contact TDU today. Call (313) 842-2600 or click here to send a message.
Download the bulletin, “Don’t Let DHL Pull Out of the NMFA”
Download the petition, “Preserve the NMFA at DHL”
Read the Draft National Agreement and the Draft Pick Up and Delivery Supplement.