March 15, 2013: Does a ten-year freeze in pension benefits sound too long to you? That is what half of all UPS full-time Teamsters could face, unless there are improvements put in Article 34 of the UPS National Contract. The IBT-UPS Pension Plan covers Teamsters in 24 states (the southern region, the Carolinas, and most of the central region), but this plan has the lowest benefits of all Teamster pension plans! Fortunately, that situation can...

March 15, 2013: Instead of parroting the employers who want to cut our pensions, our Teamsters Union should be proposing positive legislation to protect workers' hard-earned benefits. How about these ideas: Build a coalition of unions, retiree groups, AARP to push for positive legislation to protect and shore up pensions. Propose enhanced protection from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). It is presently funded by tiny contributions from various pension plans: increase them to provide...

February 26, 2013: The Hoffa administration has signed on to a joint employer-union proposal to allow "deeply troubled" pension funds to slash accrued benefits, even for Teamsters who have already retired. This proposal, which could be aimed squarely at the Teamster Central States Fund, comes from the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans, a committee of employers, unions and pension plans. UPS is a prominent member of the group, which also includes several pension funds,...