Help Elect Sandy Pope!
February 1, 2011: Members are spreading the word about Sandy Pope’s campaign for Teamster General President.
Can you do your part?
It starts 1-on-1
“If you want to get Sandy elected, start where you work. Talk to members about their issues and why you support Sandy Pope.
“The best way to convince other members is to talk to them personally, face-to-face.
“We’ve been going from building to building to talk to members about the election and our effort is really starting to pay off.”
Nicole Halliday, UPS Local 150, Sacramento
Spread the Word
“Sandy came down to Philly and we’ve taken her to meet Teamsters at US Foods, New Penn, Waste Management, VWR Scientific, UPS, and more.
“Most members we talk to still don’t know we’re going to have an election–but they’re excited to meet Sandy and hear about her campaign.
“We can win this election if we keep talking to members and let them know how they can make a difference.”
Jim Price, YRC
Join Sandy’s Team
“Do you want new leadership in the Teamsters? Then join Sandy Pope’s team.
“Go to www.sandypope2011.org and sign up for email updates. You’ll get the latest campaign updates that you can share with other members.”
Mike Spruill, Kraft Local 807, New Jersey
The Best: Sandy Pope Takes on Hoffa
Fed up with Hoffa’s givebacks and empty promises, Teamsters are building a campaign to vote out Hoffa in 2011 and put our union in a new direction.
“Members are saying YES to our campaign because they want a General President who will say NO to employers when they come after our jobs, our wages and our benefits,” Pope said.
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We're Backing Sandy Pope!
January 3, 2011: Members from across our union our coming together to support Sandy Pope. Find out why.
“We gave concessions to help YRC survive but not to gut the contract. The company seems to think it has a green light to do whatever they want. “We need leadership—not doormats. Hoffa has to go.”
Jim Crunkilton, YRC Local 40, Mansfield, Ohio
"Waste Management has a plan to weaken our union—and they’ve been putting it into practice.
“Hoffa doesn’t have a plan to fight back. He makes big promises but he won’t deliver.
“Sandy Pope is a leader who knows how to get results. She’s got my vote.”
Isidro Valdivia, Waste Management Local 396, Los Angeles
“UPS Teamsters are mad and are looking for solutions.
“With production speedup, excessive workloads, and diminishing job protection—and the 2013 contract just around the corner—Sandy Pope is our best hope to restore dignity and an equal playing field.”
Mike Carano, UPS Local 348, Akron, Ohio
“Petitioning for Sandy showed Teamsters want a change of direction for our union. We’re organizing a campaign committee to focus efforts in St. Louis. We’ll make a month by month plan to make sure Sandy’s message gets heard.
“We’ll be there for members to get more active in the campaign. We know a committed group of Teamsters can make a big difference in our union.”
Roziland Coleman, UPS, Local 688, St. Louis
“Hoffa made a lot of big promises when we joined the union. But he split our bargaining unit in San Francisco into two separate locals, so that we wouldn’t be able to have a real voice in our union.
“Sandy Pope will put our SFO members into one united local, so that we can make this union our own.”
Greg Sullivan, Local 986, United Airlines, San Francisco
“While UPS management has been cutting full-time jobs and violating our contract, Hoffa and Hall have been making excuses.
“We’ve got members laid-off and working split shifts, and part-timers who’ve been waiting for a full-time job for over a decade.
“The time for excuses is over. That’s why I’m supporting Sandy Pope.”
Mark O’Neal, UPS, Local 391, Greensboro
“We have been losing jobs every year and we can not get any help to stop it.
“We need someone who is motivated and willing to fight, and Mr. Hoffa just isn’t willing. He doesn’t care about the brothers and sisters losing their jobs, because he never was one of us! It’s just time for Mr. Hoffa to quit and let a true Teamster take over.”
Carl LeDonne, Construction, Local 341, Pittsburgh
“I’m sick and tired of Hoffa giving away our pensions and leaving members with no support.
“The time has come to send a message to our leaders at the top that we will not tolerate this anymore.
“We need to elect delegates to the Teamster Convention who will send a message from all members that we are taking our union back!”
Joe Konetz, Roundy’s, Local 200, Milwaukee
The Power In Our Hands
December 20, 2010: Our right to vote for top Teamster officers gives us the power to win a stronger union.
A lot of working people feel helpless in today’s economy. Fortunately, Teamster members don’t have to.
Unlike many workers, Teamsters have the power to do something to protect our jobs, our paychecks, our benefits, and our future.
We’re Teamsters—and our union can be a powerful force for fairness when we get our act together.
Our right to vote in this year’s International Union election gives us the ability to elect leaders who will put Teamster power to work for us.
The change we need is within our grasp. But it won’t happen by itself. It’s up to Teamster members to seize the moment.
It’s starting to happen. A thousand Teamster volunteers collected more than 50,000 signatures to make Sandy Pope an accredited candidate for General President.
It will take ten thousand Teamster volunteers to turn out the 175,000 votes we need to win when the ballots go out in October.
A volunteer army of 10,000 out of 1.4 million Teamsters. That’s an achievable goal.
Our future is up for grabs. Will you be on the sidelines or will you get involved? It’s up to us.
Sandy Pope Speaks Out On The Issues
December 20, 2010: Sandy Pope announced her campaign for General President on Oct. 10. Since then, she’s been taking her message to Teamsters across the country, listening to members concerns and addressing the issues.
Here are excerpts from what Sandy Pope has had to say at recent campaign meetings about where she stands on issues that matter to working Teamsters.
Close the Concessions Stand
“Hoffa gave concessions to UPS when the company was making record profits. That told every employer, ‘The concessions stand is open in the Teamsters Union.’ It’s time to send Corporate America a new message: The concessions stand is now closed. We’re done giving up and giving back.”
Enforce Our Contracts
“Winning strong contracts starts with holding the employers to the contracts they’ve already signed. The grievance panel system isn’t working for members or our union. It’s time for an overhaul.”
Put Union Power Before Union Politics
“Even my opponents will tell you that I work with everyone in this union. That won’t change because I’m a candidate and it won’t change when I’m General President.
“There is too much political b.s. in this union. To meet the challenges ahead of us, we need all hands on deck.
“If you want to stand up to the employers, then let’s stand together.”
Take On the Nonunion Competition
“The nonunion competition is eating us alive, nationally and at the local level. If we’re going to win good contracts and benefits, we can’t ignore the nonunion companies that are paying cut-rate wages and no benefits. We’ve got to take them on.
“Locals that put together a real organizing plan and dedicated organizing budget will get a rebate on their per capita payments so they can pay for organizing drives. We’re going to take the politics out of this. I don’t care who your local backed, if you’re behind organizing you’re going to get organizing funds to make it happen.”
Stand Up to UPS Management
“Hoffa gave UPS record givebacks in the last contract and has let management walk all over that agreement ever since.
“Production harassment, 9.5 violations, full-time job elimination, subcontracting, you name it. What Brown wants, Brown gets, because to Hoffa, UPS is a dues cash cow—plain and simple.
“UPS is making billions in profits. It’s time for national leadership that will unite our members and our locals and stand up for our contract and our future.”
Teamster Financial Reform
“Hoffa has given himself a raise every year, while eliminating International organizers and staff that we need to help members and locals stand up to employers.
“Teamster officers work hard and should be paid well for what they do. But last year, Hoffa paid himself more than $350,000. That’s an insult to Teamster members who are taking it on the chin. I’ll cut my salary and lead by example.”
No Blank Checks to Politicians
“We’ve got to stop writing blank checks to politicians who forget all about us.
“Instead of handing money over to politicians, we should use our political action funds to organize rallies, marches, phone banks and membership action that puts the heat on politicians.”
Bring Our Union Into 21st Century
“We need to put new technology to work for Teamster members.
“Teamsters who want to enforce our contract rights should have access to an online database of arbitration and grievance panel decisions.
“We’re taking on 21st Century employers with 20th Century tools. That’s got to change.”
Rebuild Union Power in Freight
“I started out as a freight Teamster when Teamster power meant something. Rebuilding that power starts with restoring our backbone.
“We need to rebuild the NMFA, build Teamster identity and power at UPS Freight, and give the nonunion competition a reason to join our union.”
Teamster Pensions
“There is one candidate in this race who has reversed Teamster pension cuts—and that’s me.
“When the president of my local sided with employers and cut members’ accrual to zero, I teamed up with other members, ran for office and won. We filed a lawsuit against the employer trustees and increased members’ pension accrual.
“Like everyone, the Local 805 pension fund took major losses in the stock market crash. We’ve put together an action plan that is taking us, over time, to full funding. We’ve negotiated record increases in pension contributions.
“In this economy, Teamsters don’t expect pension miracles. They want—and deserve—a plan to rebuild our funds and protect our retirement security.”
Sandy Pope Meets Teamsters in Sacramento
December 20, 2010: The weather was terrible with wind and rain when we brought Sandy Pope to meet with Teamsters here in Sacramento. Nevertheless, we got a great response from the members we met and we’ve formed a committee of members to put together a delegate slate supporting Sandy.
First stop was Campbell’s Soup, the second-largest employer in Local 150. We had already been petitioning there before, so members were familiar with Sandy and excited to meet her.
Sandy Pope at the West Sacramento UPS building. Local 150 Teamsters have launched a local campaign committee.The next stop was the West Sacramento UPS building. It was pouring down rain but we brought two pop-up canopies and set them up in front of the entrance. Almost every member who came through got a chance to meet Sandy, shake her hand and talk to her about the issues we’re facing at UPS.
On Saturday, we had a members’ meeting where Sandy spoke to 50 members about building support in our area, the changes she wants made and the future of the Teamsters. We gathered more petition signatures, collected donations for Sandy’s campaign and have a group organized to assemble a delegate slate supporting Sandy.
Now that the petition drive is over, we’re going to go back to Campbell’s and UPS with a Thank-You message for signing the petition, to let members know they helped make an impact.
From our perspective, it was a very productive weekend. We raised money for Sandy’s campaign, obtained hundreds of petition signatures and we introduced her to over a thousand members. It was well worth getting a little wet in the rain.
Teamster members are forming local campaign committees, planning campaign events and preparing to run for Convention Delegate.
To find out more about how you can get involved, contact TDU or the Sandy Pope Campaign.
By Ralph Merideth, UPS Local 150, Sacramento
Hoffa Announces Full Slate
December 16, 2010: James Hoffa has picked five more candidates to fill out his slate running for International officer posts next November.
His final five candidates are Sean O’Brien, Steve Pocztowski, Steve Vairma, Kevin Moore, and Jim Kabell.
O’Brien is the president of Boston Local 25 and Joint Council 10 and is running for International VP for the east; Pocztowski is the secretary treasurer of Chicago Local 705 and is running for VP for the central region; Vairma is the secretary treasurer of Denver Local 455, running for VP for the west; Moore is the president of Detroit Local 299, running for trustee; and Kabell is the secretary treasurer of Springfield, Mo. Local 245 and the president of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference, running for trustee.
Sandy Pope, who is running for General President, is at this point running against Hoffa head-to-head.
Fred Gegare, who is also running for General President, has picked a partial slate of six running mates.
Sandy Pope Campaign Petition Drive a Success
December 15, 2010: Teamster members collected 50,000 signatures to successfully accredit Sandy Pope as a candidate for General President.
The Sandy Pope Campaign turned in the petitions to the Election Supervisor on Tuesday, Dec. 14, easily surpassing the 33,437 signatures required by the election rules.
As a result, Sandy and the campaign will be able to reach out directly to 1.3 million Teamsters, including in the pages of the February issue of the Teamster magazine.
A third candidate, Fred Gegare, also submitted accreditation petitions to be tabulated by the Election Supervisor.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union members joined Teamsters across the country in the Sandy Pope petition drive. We should all celebrate this success along with the holidays, and rest up too, because 2011 promises to be a busy year.
We’ve got delegate races to win and a campaign army to build. The petition drive shows that and we have the national network we need to reach Teamsters members who care about our union and want a better future—without Hoffa at the helm.
We’ve got to build that campaign army in the coming year. We’re off to a great start. But this is just the beginning.
Dump Hoffa T-Shirts
Are you ready to do your part to Dump Hoffa? Get the t-shirt and help spread the word.
Get Ready to Run for Delegate
December 2, 2010: Are you thinking about running for delegate to the Teamster Convention? Now is the time to get started.
Almost all Teamster locals will hold an election early next year for delegates and alternate delegates to attend the Teamster Convention, which will be held in Las Vegas on June 27 – July 1, 2011.
Why delegates are important
The Convention will nominate candidates to run for Teamster president, and all the vice president positions. Sandy Pope, running for General President, needs the support of five percent of the delegates to get on the ballot.
The Convention also has the power to review and amend the entire Teamster Constitution. Reform delegates will put forward specific changes to make our union more accountable to members, and all delegates get a vote.
Click here to download a fact sheet about the delegate election.
How delegate elections are different
Delegate elections are a lot like any other Teamster elections—you’ll need to win support from members and turn out the votes you need to win.
But there are some differences:
- Many members prefer to send rank and file Teamsters to represent them at the convention.
- Most members want a choice in the election—not just a rubber stamp for Hoffa.
- The election is always conducted by mail ballot and supervised by the court-appointed Election Supervisor.
Many members find it easier to run and win for delegate than they do in a normal local union election.
Making your plan
How do you start planning your campaign?
Start with your goal: winning your election. Then ask yourself what you will need on the day the ballots go out to win:
How many votes do you need to win? How many votes did your opponent get in the last contested election? You should use that as a rough guide for how many votes you’ll need to win.
Who can you ask to help out? Make a list of the members you can ask to help out and a list of key worksites where you need to identify and recruit volunteers.
How many phone numbers and email addresses do you need? You’ll need to build up a list of phone numbers and email addresses from supportive voters so that you can reach out to them and turn them out to vote. A good rule of thumb is you’ll need to get as many phone numbers and emails as votes. That means if you need 1,000 votes to win, you should plan on getting contact info from 1,000 people.
How much money do you need? Make a budget and figure out how much you’ll need for campaign mailings, events, t-shirts, stickers, and more.
Get help from TDU
TDU has decades of experience running winning campaigns for local office. And TDU is your source for information on your rights and how to enforce them.
Contact TDU for advice or to set up a workshop on running for delegate in your area.
TDU’s new book Running for Local Union Office is the handbook for running a winning campaign. Click here to order your copy today.