May 9, 2007: Teamsters in the Freight Division are determined not to be ignored in the upcoming bargaining. It is time for the voices of the members and locals to be heard.

A network of freight Teamsters is forming, initiated by members of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, and will become visible in the days to come in the shops, local unions, and on the internet.

Initial plans call for a website and a series of conference calls to be held nationally and by supplemental region, to share information and arrive at a target list of critical issues for Teamsters to rally around.

Some initial issues being discussed include:

Compiling the Best Benefits and Conditions in Various Supplements. If the carriers are already living and profiting with better bidding procedures, more paid time off, or better protection against abuse of casuals in some supplements, then it can be spread nationally.

Winning Fair and Equitable Wages. Freight Teamsters have fallen far backward in the past decade. In May 1997, 10 years ago, a city driver who made $18.68 per hour makes $22.11 today. Just to have buying power equal to 1997, that driver would have to make $23.97, nearly $2 more. A UPS package car driver now makes $5 per hour more than a freight driver. It’s time for some serious improvement in wages.

The Tiered Wage Structure Should End. Experienced Teamster drivers who are hired in freight start at $16.50 per hour (75 percent of scale) and will lose at least $20,000 over the next two years. It’s time to end it.

Working Conditions Need To Improve. Dispatch procedures have broken down by playing locals against each other and through changes of operations. We must put limits on forced overtime for dock hands and local drivers. Not only will Teamsters have more time for their families, more Teamsters will be put to work.

Winning Back and Protecting Good Pensions and Health Benefits. The current UPS bargaining may set the pace here, but if it falls short of what is needed, it will be up to freight Teamsters to take the lead.

These are only starter ideas, and by no means a comprehensive program. The Freight Committee needs far more input and discussion to arrive at a program and plan to win it. Call 313 842-2600 or email letters [at] tdu.org for more info and to get involved.

We are committed to winning real gains. We are not powerless. Some 60,000 freight Teamsters now work for YRC, DHL, or ABF. These are profitable corporations, and it’s time for freight Teamsters to join hands in unity and determination to win.

May 9, 2007: My freight brothers and sisters, a call to action. It’s time to dig out those National Master Freight contract books that expire March 31, 2008…the names of the union negotiating committee members are in there, thirty-three of them plus Hoffa. Many will be back at the table this time around. If one of these guys is in your local, it’s time to get to them in union meetings with our contract demands.

The time to start is now, to make sure our issues get on the table. I guarantee you that the employers are already making their plans. Parity in supplements should be one of our demands. We have benefits and language that is better from one supplement to the other. For example, you get three personal days in the East, two in the South, and only one in the Central.

Michael P. Schaffer
Local 769, Roadway
Miami, Fla.

May 9, 2007: Over the past couple years, over 200 new positions have been created at freight carriers in Georgia, thanks to Local 728. They used Article 3, Section 2 of the freight contract to turn casual workers into Teamsters with seniority, benefits and union protection. Prior to the present leadership taking office in 2005, this part of the contract was rarely enforced.

The NMFA (Article 3.2) has enforceable language requiring every terminal to provide the local union and stewards with a detailed monthly report listing the name of every single casual who worked on every shift and the name of the regular worker replaced. If no one was replaced, that shift counts as a supplemental casual, and leads to required hiring. But the union has to enforce it, or it won’t happen. In the South, and in most NMFA supplements, for every 30 supplemental shifts worked in a two-month period, one full time Teamster must be hired. Some have additional language.

Enforcement Is Key
This contract language isn’t perfect, and it should be improved in the upcoming bargaining. But it is clear, unambiguous language, so the union can use it effectively at the grievance panels. Some locals do a good job, but some don’t even bother to review the monthly reports and create more Teamster jobs. Some local officials will get a friend hired, and then give the company a pass on hiring more Teamsters.

Management sometimes serves up the excuse that they can’t find good workers to hire. The contract does not allow this loophole, so the argument has no merit. It does remind us, however, that we need to get rid of the 75 percent starting rate in freight; it will be easier to hire good drivers when they don’t have to start at $16 per hour.

Local 728 agents have had to stand their ground and do their homework to enforce this clause. Often they get a back-dated seniority date, so the member gains time in the progression, sick days and in earning vacation time.
Like any contract enforcement, when it is done regularly, it gets easier. Employers come to expect to live by the contract they signed.

If your Local Union is not enforcing the freight contract requirement on hiring casuals, it’s time to start. It will put more Teamsters to work and strengthen our hand in the upcoming bargaining.

The Transportation Department bowed to congressional pressure Monday and said it would allow more public scrutiny of a proposed demonstration project that would permit Mexican-based trucking companies to operate throughout the United States.

Read the full story in Forbes.

April 24, 2007: Public Citizen joined environmental and labor groups late Monday in suing the federal government to challenge an illegal pilot program that will authorize up to 100 trucking companies based in Mexico to perform long-haul operations within the United States. The groups contend that the project violates federal requirements that the public receive notice and time to comment, and that it would have significant environmental and public safety repercussions.

Click here to read the full story at Public Citizen.

April 2, 2007: Mexican truckers may not be running U.S. highways in greater numbers any time soon. Funding for the Department of Transportation pilot program that would monitor this traffic was delayed by a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The IBT claimed victory after a major lobbying effort to scuttle the program.

The Bush administration decision to open up limited cross-border truck traffic raised concerns over drivers with lesser qualifications and potentially unsafe equipment, and the possibility of lowering the wage level in the United States. Teamsters should be concerned, especially about the long-term implications.

Short-Term and Long-Term Issues
First, this is primarily about U.S. corporations opening up shop in Mexico. In fact, Mexican truck companies are skeptical of the border opening, because they see U.S. truckload companies, such as Celadon, opening up south of the border to run cross-border freight into the U.S. Some U.S. companies already have 49 percent ownership in Mexican fleets.

Second, this is, at least for now, about truckload freight—highly nonunionized and something the IBT gave up on decades ago. Truckload drivers are already a highly exploited group.

Third, this opening only applies to international freight. Once delivery is made in the U.S., the Mexican-domiciled driver cannot pick up and deliver within the U.S. Analysts expect, at least in the short term, traffic will be near the border, such as to Dallas and Phoenix.

Analysts assert most current Mexican fleets are not ready to meet U.S. safety and environmental standards. The watchdog organization Public Citizen filed suit in early March on safety grounds.

So who really benefits? U.S. based nonunion companies in the TL sector. Instead of paying about 40¢ per mile (including benefits), Mexican-domiciled drivers will be paid about half that rate.

In the future the largest carriers will be interested in an expanded cross-border program, and that is where we need to be focused. UPS, FedEx, YRC, DHL are making long-term plans. Our Teamsters Union needs to think long run, as the industry does. We need to build ties and joint organizing programs with legitimate Mexican unions and organizations to build international solidarity.

“We’ve got to get moving now on our next contract. In TDU, we’re the ones who are going to be asking the tough questions and pushing for stronger standards and better benefits.”
Jimmy Rickert, Roadway
Local 429, Lancaster, Penn.

Contact our rank-and-file network in Freight.

Click here to join an email list for news on the 2008 NMFA contract campaign.

UPS Freight StickersGet it Straight at UPS Freight
TDU members in Freight are launching a campaign to build support for our union's efforts to win a strong national contract at UPS Freight—and to make sure that the Hoffa administration does not mortgage our future by settling short.

Click here to order stickers.
Click here to download the flyer.

April 2, 2007: Before UPS Freight could change its corporate culture, it had to make sure its truck drivers could change their socks.

Read the full story at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“We’ve got to get moving now on our next contract. In TDU, we’re the ones who are going to be asking the tough questions and pushing for stronger standards and better benefits.”
Jimmy Rickert, Roadway
Local 429, Lancaster, Penn.

Contact our rank-and-file network in Freight.

Click here to join an email list for news on the 2008 NMFA contract campaign.

UPS Freight StickersGet it Straight at UPS Freight
TDU members in Freight are launching a campaign to build support for our union's efforts to win a strong national contract at UPS Freight—and to make sure that the Hoffa administration does not mortgage our future by settling short.

Click here to order stickers.
Click here to download the flyer.