July 9, 2007: In a June 28 letter to all UPS Freight employees, Senior Vice President Jack Holmes lashes out at a “campaign of deception” by some Teamster locals.
Management's anti-union diatribe requires a strong response by our union.
Stating that the company needs to “deal with the untruths spread by Teamster locals,” Holmes states “there is no current card check agreement with the Teamsters” and that no master agreement will be signed.
Holmes further says no significant gains will be won by joining the Teamsters and denounces as “rhetoric, pure and simple” Teamster statements that UPS Freight employees will win “positive changes in wages, pension, health benefits and working conditions.”
He goes on to denounce the Teamsters for “making their usual promises” including “positive changes in wages, pensions, health benefits and working conditions.”
Holmes says that all unions rely on “rhetoric and empty promises to find members and build [their] bank accounts with dues and initiation fees” and that the road to a strong future at UPS Freight is for employees to continue to work with management.
Contrast with Hoffa Line
Holmes is UPS Freight’s Senior Vice President for Operations. His hard-core antiunion rhetoric doesn’t jibe with the happy talk from our International Union which has issued a steady stream of press releases bragging about how we’re “making steady strides” at UPS Freight.
The most recent update on the Teamster website brags that “based on the work we’ve accomplished so far” Teamsters can expect to celebrate a “historic moment” and “achieve a strong contract” at UPS Freight.
So, the IBT says it’s all smooth sailing in bargaining. Meanwhile, UPS Freight management viciously attacks the Teamsters Union. Do you see a problem with this picture?
Maybe our International Union is so optimistic about reaching a deal because Hoffa and Hall have already conceded that 1) UPS Freight Teamsters will not get NMFA or UPS National Contract standards, 2) Management will keep UPS Freight employees out of our existing Teamster pension plans and 3) Management will continue to dominate the workplace with few improvements in working conditions.
Concerned Teamsters need to make our voices heard.
Our officers need to know that victory at UPS Freight means winning a contract that includes Teamster benefits and wages and standards that match the National Master Freight and UPS agreements.
Teamster members are prepared to back our International Union in winning a model contract at UPS Freight. That’s how we’ll protect our master contracts at UPS and in freight. That’s how we’ll strengthen our benefits and our union for the future.
And that’s how we’ll win the support of a clear majority of employees at UPS Freight.
Read the complete June 28, 2007 letter from UPS Freight here.