December 7, 2009: Seventeen locals brought cases to the last national grievance panel charging UPS with violating Article 22.3 of the contract which requires UPS to maintain a minimum of 20,000 full-time combo jobs. These are the full-time jobs we won by striking the company in 1997.

Not a single one of these grievances was heard at the national grievance panel.

It’s well documented that UPS has eliminated thousands of these positions by laying off combo Teamsters and refusing to put up vacant jobs for bid.

That national grievance panel, held at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa, was the last chance for these grievances to be heard in 2009.

June 5, 2009: Grievance action by UPS Teamsters across the country has forced the National Grievance Committee to hear almost a dozen cases on the elimination of full-time combo jobs at the national grievance panel, June 8 to 11 in Philadelphia.

Just three of the locals on the docket account for more than 250 full-time combo jobs that have been eliminated: Dallas Local 767, Sacramento Local 150, and Los Angeles Local 63.

TDU and Make UPS Deliver has documented full-time job elimination in violation of the contract in more than 30 local unions.

Fewer than half of these local unions will have cases heard at the national grievance panel. Thousands of UPS Teamsters signed a national petition urging the International Union to consolidate all Article 22.3 job elimination into one united national grievance.

UPS has eliminated thousands of full-time combo jobs in violation of Article 22.3. UPS is required by the contract to maintain 20,000 full-time combo jobs.

Combo jobs are full-time positions that are created when two part-time positions are combined. These are the full-time jobs UPS Teamsters won in our 1997 strike.

Will the Hoffa administration finally take action to make UPS deliver all 20,000 full-time combo jobs that members are owed under the contract?

Click here to download the docket of cases to be heard by the UPS National Grievance Committee.

May 26, 2009: Thousands of UPS Teamsters have signed a petition calling on the International Union to take up a national grievance on the company’s elimination of Article 22.3 full-time jobs at the next national grievance panel in Philadelphia, June 8 to 11.

Our 1997 UPS strike victory won contract language that requires UPS to maintain a minimum of 20,000 combo jobs—full-time jobs that are created by combining 40,000 part-time jobs. Management is violating this language and eliminating full-time combo jobs through layoffs and by not filling vacant positions.

Enforcing the contract would make UPS create thousands of more good full-time jobs.

UPS stewards have contacted Package Division Director Ken Hall to request a meeting before the national grievance panel to deliver the petitions, provide information about full-time job elimination in more than 25 local unions, and discuss what union action can be taken to enforce the contract.

Click here to read the letter to Ken Hall.

TDU will inform members of Brother Hall’s response and continue to monitor UPS full-time job elimination.

April 30, 2009: UPS Teamsters are petitioning the International Union to protect full-time jobs at the national grievance panel in June.

Petitions are due May 15. There is still plenty of time to circulate the petition and stand up for the full-time jobs we won in the 1997 UPS strike.

Management is violating Article 22.3 of our contract which requires the company to maintain 20,000 full-time combo jobs. The company is thousands of jobs short of the 20,000 quota—and is eliminating more full-time combo jobs every day.

The International Union has the power to make UPS return laid off Teamsters to work and create more full-time combo jobs.

The goal of the petition drive is to get the International Union to use this power by taking up a national grievance on Article 22.3 violations at the next national grievance panel, June 8-11 in Philadelphia.

Please return signed petitions to Make UPS Deliver by May 15 so they can be delivered to International Union Vice President and Package Division Director Ken Hall in advance of the national grievance panel.

Click here to download the petition.

Send completed petitions to Make UPS Deliver, 104 Montgomery St. #4, Brooklyn, NY 11225, or fax them toll-free to 1-866-860-9331.

Concerned members are working hard in these final weeks to get as many petitions signed as possible. Here’s what they’re doing:

“There are about twenty missing jobs in Sharonville—and we’re taking action to get the jobs we deserve.”

Sam Bucalo, Local 100 Steward Sharonville, Ohio

 “I took time off and got hundreds of signatures. Members know in this economy we’ve got to protect full-time jobs.

John Collins, Local 509 Steward Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

“We’re retired, but we still want to help our union. We got a lot of support for this petition drive in Local 71.”

Brad Colesworthy and Wayne Turner, Retired Charlotte, North Carolina

April 10, 2009: Good full-time jobs are at a premium in this economy.

Enforcing Article 22.3 would make UPS create thousands more full-time jobs.

So why isn’t the International Union doing it?

In 1997, UPS Teamsters went on strike to tell the company, “Part-Time American Won’t Work.” Today, UPS Teamsters are teaming up in a national petition drive to make UPS create the full-time jobs we’re owed under the contract.

The 1997 strike forced UPS to combine 40,000 part-time jobs into 20,000 full-time “combo” positions by August 1, 2008.

Article 22.3 of the contract requires the company to maintain the 20,000 full-time combo jobs no matter what. Declining volume does not allow UPS to lay off combo Teamsters or to eliminate these full-time positions through vacancies and attrition. But UPS is doing just that.

Grievances Deadlocked

The International Union has left it up to individual members and local unions to file grievances. Management is deadlocking these grievances and eliminating more full-time jobs.

The International Union has the power to put a stop to this by filing one national grievance and demanding that UPS fill all 20,000 full-time combo positions immediately. The result would be an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 more full-time jobs for Teamsters who need them.

National Petition Drive

Members have launched a national petition drive that calls on the International Union to file a national grievance and to conduct a national audit to document full-time job elimination.

The contract requires UPS to give the International Union a detailed list of the 20,000 combo jobs the company is maintaining under Article 22.3. The International Union should give every local union a copy of this list to document the status of each of these jobs.

That way the International Union can present indisputable evidence to win the national grievance and force full-time job creation.

The next national grievance panel is June 8-11 in Philadelphia. The International Union has plenty of time before then to put a national grievance on the docket and complete a national audit.

Good full-time jobs are at a premium in this economy. Our union is in the unique position of having contract language at UPS that legally requires the company to create more full-time positions. Enforcing this language is a no-brainer. It’s time for the International Union to act.

Do you have question or a comment about the petition drive? Would you like to set up a meeting or conference call in your area with other UPS Teamsters? Click here to send us a message and we will get back to you.

Click here to download the petition and an informational leaflet to pass out to other Teamsters.

No Excuses

“Part-timers deserve a chance at a full-time job and a real career. There’s no excuse for not enforcing the contract and making UPS create all 20,000 full-time combo positions.”

Landy Butler, UPS Local 804 Shop Steward, New York

Hope for Our Future

“The company has eliminated some full-time combo jobs by not filling vacant positions. Now management is talking about layoffs. I’m worried about the future. The petition drive and the information from TDU gives me hope that we can enforce the contract and win full-time jobs.”

April 16, 2009: UPS’s attack on full-time combo jobs has moved to Chicago. Local 705 Teamsters are fighting back to protect the jobs we won in the 1997 strike.

Local 705 members on strike for full-time jobs in 1997.UPS has laid off 13 full-time combo Teamsters in Chicago Local 705 and eliminated more than 20 other full-time combo jobs by not filling vacant positions.

The layoffs and job eliminations directly violate Local 705’s contract, which requires UPS to maintain 1,100 full-time combo jobs in Local 705’s jurisdiction. Local 705 negotiates its own contract covering 10,000 UPS Teamsters—which is separate and independent from the national agreement.

The 1,100 combo jobs that UPS has to maintain in Chicago are over and above the 20,000 full-time combo jobs that UPS has to maintain under Article 22.3 of the national agreement.

Local 705 has filed grievances and is demanding that the company immediately fill 1,100 full-time combo positions with full backpay for members who have been denied full-time work in violation of the contract.

To back up the grievances, Local 705 is conducting a local-wide audit to track the status of each and every one of the 1,100 combo jobs required by the contract. As we go to press, management has signed off on grievances and begun to put vacant 22.3 jobs up for bid.

March 23, 2009: The national petition drive to make UPS create more full-time times is picking up steam.

UPS is violating Article 22.3 of our contract which requires the company to maintain 20,000 combo jobs nationally. The company is thousands of jobs short of the 20,000 quota—and is eliminating more full-time combo jobs every day.

Petitions are circulating in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Sacramento, San Diego—and other locals large and small.

The petition calls on the International Union to file a national grievance to make the company create all 20,000 full-time combo jobs that UPS Teamsters are owed under the contract. Click here to learn more about the issue and see how it’s affecting members across the country.

You can help. Click here to download the petition and a leaflet that explains UPS’s contract violations and the petition drive.

Completed petitions can be returned by fax to 1-866-860-9331 or mailed to Make UPS Deliver c/o TDU, 104 Montgomery St, Brooklyn NY 11225.

Do you have question or a comment about the petition drive? Would you like to set up a meeting or conference call in your area with other UPS Teamsters? Click here to send us a message and we will get back to you.

Click here to download the petition and an informational leaflet to pass out to other Teamsters.

March 2, 2009: UPS is destroying full-time jobs that are guaranteed by our contract.

Members are uniting to tell the company: ‘Part-Time America Won’t Work.’

It’s the worst economy in more than 75 years and good full-time jobs are an endangered species.

Our union’s largest freight employer, Yellow Roadway Corporation, eliminated thousands of jobs in February. Many other Teamsters are threatened by downsizing.

In these tough times, our International Union leaders should be working overtime to save full-time jobs. Instead, they’re writing off guaranteed full-time jobs at our union’s largest and most profitable employer: UPS. What is wrong with this picture?

UPS Full-Time Jobs Takeaway

Our Teamster contract requires UPS to maintain 20,000 “combo” jobs—full-time jobs that are created by combining two part-time jobs. Members won these jobs in the historic 1997 UPS strike.

The company is thousands of combo jobs short of the 20,000 required by the contract. And UPS is destroying more every day.

Across the country, management is breaking full-time combo positions into part-time jobs and cutting Teamsters back to part-time pay. UPS is also eliminating full-time jobs by not filling combo positions when they go vacant.

Our map in this issue gives a national picture of UPS’s Full-Time Jobs Takeaway. Click here to view the article, or click here to view it as a map.

Citing loss of volume, UPS is also laying off package car drivers and air drivers. Supervisors continue to do Teamster work including shuttling packages.

Time for Action

Members have had enough. They’ve launched a campaign to demand that the International Union enforce the contract and make UPS create all 20,000 full-time combo jobs required by the contract.

Every Teamster has a stake in this fight. If our union officials won’t take action to protect good full-time jobs when we have unambiguous contract language, then we can all kiss our job security goodbye.

Our union, our country needs good full-time jobs. We can have them at UPS if we just enforce our contract. Few problems in this economy are easy to solve. This is one of them. Let’s work together to make it happen.

March 2, 2009: UPS is denying thousands of Teamsters full-time job opportunities—in violation of our union contract. Now, working Teamsters are getting together to do something about it.

Article 22.3 of our contract requires the company to maintain 20,000 combo jobs nationally. The company is thousands of jobs short of the 20,000 quota—and is eliminating more full-time combo jobs every day.

Texas Teamsters Take Action

At the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, UPS dissolved more than 100 full-time combo positions in February. Members filed grievances, but got the brush off by Local 767 officials.

Instead of getting discouraged, members got active. They contacted TDU and organized a meeting with TDU Southern Region organizer Willie Hardy.

National Effort to Save FT Jobs

The following day, Local 767 members joined concerned UPS Teamsters from 25 locals on a national conference call organized by TDU. Members on the call launched a national petition drive to press our union to make UPS create all the full-time combo jobs required by the contract.

The petition calls on the International Union to file a national grievance and to conduct a national audit of full-time job elimination.

More UPS Teamsters are planning TDU meetings and petitioning at their UPS buildings. For more information on how to get involved, go to www.MakeUPSDeliver.org, or call TDU at (313) 842-2600.

Part-Time America Won’t Work, but rank-and-file power will. Let’s work together to enforce our contract and make UPS create the full-time jobs that so many Teamsters need.

This month’s Convoy Dispatch centerfold gives a national picture of UPS’s Full-Time Jobs Takeaway. Click here to view the article or view it as a map here.

March 2, 2009: In 1997, UPS Teamsters went on strike to tell the company, “Part-Time America Won’t Work.” And we won! Our contract requires UPS to combine 40,000 part-time jobs into full-time jobs—and to maintain 20,000 full-time combo jobs no matter what.

But the company is thousands of jobs short of the 20,000 quota—and management is eliminating more combo jobs every day.

Thousands of Teamsters are being denied full-time jobs that are required by the contract. Some combo Teamsters are even being forced back to part-time.

What the International Union Can Do

Up until now, the International Union has left it up to individual members and local unions to file Article 22.3 grievances. Management is simply deadlocking these grievances and buying time for more violations.

The International Union can end the stall tactics and enforce the contract by filing a national grievance. The International Union can back up this grievance by conducting a national audit.

The contract requires UPS to give the International Union a detailed list of the 20,000 jobs it must maintain under Article 22.3. The International should provide every local union with a copy of this list to document exactly how many more full-time combo jobs UPS has to create to come into compliance with the contract.

The International Union has power that no local has to win full-time job creation. It’s time to use it.

What You Can Do

UPS Teamsters from across the country have launched a national petition drive to make UPS create more full-time jobs.

The petition calls on the International Union to file a national grievance to make UPS create all 20,000 full-time jobs that members are owed under the contract. And it calls on the International Union to conduct a national audit.

Do your part to make UPS create more full-time jobs. Pass out leaflets so members are informed. Collect petition signatures so our International Union gets the message that it’s time to enforce our contract.

Go to www.makeUPSdeliver.org to download leaflets and petitions. Or call Teamsters for a Democratic Union at (313) 842-2600.

To view the following article as a map, click here.

RHODE ISLAND

“The company has designs on 22.3 jobs. We’ve had jobs eliminated because they’re not filled when they go vacant. If management can ‘move’ these jobs, or just outright eliminate them, they will. The lives of Teamsters who need full-time jobs hang in the balance.  We’re petitioning so the International Union sees members care about this issue and want something done.”
Matt Taibi, Local 251

NEW YORK CITY

Full-time combo jobs have been destroyed because vacancies were never posted or filled.

“Part-time America does not work. It’s a disgrace to have so many work so hard for so few hours, for such a meager ‘salary.’ It’s no longer the working class but rather the working poor! Hoffa, Hall and Redmond should enforce the contract!”
William Riley Fernandez, Local 804

PHILADELPHIA

“When Article 22.3 positions have gone vacant in our building over the past year, they’ve just disappeared. We hear that they’ve been relocated, but we get no solid indication of what the International is doing to make sure the relocated jobs still exist. When members hear rumors, I want to be able to tell them, ‘Eliminating 22.3 jobs is against the contract. It will never happen.’ But it’s hard to say that when we can’t verify that it hasn’t already happened.”
Howard Hall, Local 384

BALTIMORE

“Management has refused to bid some vacant combo positions—eliminating full-time jobs. We’re getting members to sign the petition and take a stand for full-time jobs. We won these jobs by standing together, and that’s how we’ll protect them for the future.”
Bill Paul, Local 355

FLORENCE, S.C.

“As a part-timer, I know how hard it is to make ends meet at UPS. I’m working two jobs—and some of my co-workers are doing more. My Teamster brothers and sisters went on strike in 1997 to win more full-time job opportunities for members like me. I’m petitioning to do my part to make UPS deliver those full-time jobs.”
Antonio Jones, Part-Time Steward, Local 71

SYRACUSE

When 22.3 Teamsters have gone driving, their full-time combo positions are eliminated. Management claims to be “redistributing” the jobs but cannot explain where the positions have been moved. Combo positions have been reconfigured and one eliminated in Utica Local 182.

GRAND RAPIDS

Four air/preload combo positions eliminated in Grand Rapids building in November.

CINCINNATI

“Our local got the list of combo jobs the company claims it is maintaining here as part of the 20,000 jobs required nationally. My steward alternate and I found 11 jobs on the list that exist only on paper in our work area alone. Other stewards could identify another dozen or more full-time jobs that have been destroyed in our building.”
Sam Bucalo, Elected Steward, Local 100

KANSAS CITY

Twenty-two full-time combo positions eliminated through layoffs in Kansas City and Lenexa, Kan.

ST. LOUIS

Members have a grievance over 23 full-time jobs that were eliminated because management never filled vacancies.

LOUISVILLE

“Members in some cities have been told by management that their full-time combo jobs are being moved to Louisville. I can tell you that isn’t true. Under our local rider, the company is supposed to create 50 full-time combos this year. They haven’t created more jobs than that. Louisville can’t account for the combo jobs that have been eliminated elsewhere.”
Mark Huckleberry, Local 89

FLORIDA

“I took two days off work to ask members to sign the petition to create more full-time jobs. Almost every member I asked signed the petition. Part-timers want more full-time job opportunities. And full-timers remember what our union won when we stuck together in the 1997 strike. I work at Roadway—not UPS. But I know that our union is stronger when we all stick together and do our part.”
Mike Schaffer, Roadway, Local 769

SEATTLE

Management eliminated almost 40 full-time combo jobs last fall. The company agreed to return Teamsters to these positions but only after Local 174 rewrote the contract mid-term and gave up a multi-million arbitration award.

SPOKANE

Six full-time combo jobs eliminated. Members forced back to part-time.

SACRAMENTO

Fifty full-time jobs eliminated in West Sac building through unfilled vacancies. Other combo Teamsters have had their jobs reconfigured so they now perform 8 hours of loading and/or unloading. Seven more full-time jobs eliminated in the Rocklin building in January. Combo Teamsters forced to go driving or work 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. and then 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at part-time wages.

“The union seems to be putting no effort into 22.3 grievances. We’re tired of the company using the grievance procedure to stall while full-time jobs are destroyed. The International is the one that can get something done on this and it’s time to focus the pressure on them. The petition sends a clear message: it’s time to enforce the contract.”
Lee Michalek, Shop Steward, Local 150

LOS ANGELES

Sixty-one unfilled Article 22.3 full-time jobs at Ontario Airport alone. Members have been waiting for these jobs for six months.

“Our local claims they’re fighting for full-time jobs and puffs out their chest, but all that comes out is hot air—no results. The bottom line is that our officials are more interested in going along with Hoffa than demanding that the International Union take action. So instead of full-time creation, we get grievances dying on the vine at the panel.”
Dan Kane, Local 63

PHOENIX

More than twenty full-time combo positions eliminated through layoffs in Phoenix and Tempe, Ariz.

DALLAS / FT. WORTH

Management “dissolved” more than 100 full-time combo positions at DFW airport in February. Full-time combo jobs were broken into two part-time positions. Members forced to work sunrise and twilight shifts at part-time pay—a pay cut of $6 or more for many Teamsters.

“UPS is using the bad economy as an excuse to destroy full-time jobs. Management saw an opportunity and they’re taking it. Today, it’s huge pay cuts. Tomorrow, we could be losing our homes. There’s no excuse or reason for it other than corporate greed.”
Karen Berry, Local 767