March 11, 2009: More than 80 members packed the house at New York Local 814 on Monday. They were there to discuss proposed changes that would help New York movers win a strong contract.

At the meeting, members turned in petition signatures from 150 members who are proposing changes to the local union bylaws that would give members a stronger voice in contract bargaining.

Specifically, the proposed changes would:

• Give members the right to elect the rank-and-file members of the bargaining committee;
• Give members the right to information about what is happening in contract bargaining;
• Require Local 814 to mobilize the membership and support from the Teamsters and the public to win a strong contract;
• Give members time to review all changes to the contract in writing before we vote on it.

Members of the Local 814 Executive Board spoke out against these reforms despite the overwhelming display of support for the changes. The proposals will be read again at the next membership meeting and then voted on at the general membership meeting in September.

Local 814 movers work for some of the deepest pockets in the city: Fortune 500 companies, Wall Street banks and the U.N. But you’d never know it by their recent contracts. Givebacks have gutted members’ pay and benefits and divided the membership into tiers that are pitted against each other.

“Our contract negotiations next year are make or break for us. If we’re going to put an end to the concessions and return our union to sound footing, we’ve got to do things differently,” said Local 814 Teamster Walter Taylor.

Last year, Local 814 members put these principles into place in a successful, year-long rank-and-file contract campaign at Sotheby’s Auction House. As a result, they put an end to concessions and won their best contract in more than a decade.

Click here to see how they did it.

Are you happy with the way your local union negotiates contracts? Click here to send your comment or to get advice from Teamsters for a Democratic Union.

March 2, 2009: Teamster movers in New York Local 814 work for some of the deepest pockets in the city: Fortune 500 companies, Wall Street banks and the U.N. But you’d never know it by their recent contracts.

Givebacks have gutted members’ pay and benefits and divided the membership into tiers that are pitted against each other.

“Our contract negotiations next year are make or break for us. If we’re going to put an end to the concessions and return our union to sound footing, we’ve got to do things differently,” said Local 814 Teamster Walter Taylor.

That’s why Local 814 members have launched a campaign to win the right to elect their bargaining committee and institute other reforms that would change the way Local 814 negotiates contracts.

The new bylaws would:

• Give members the right to elect the rank-and-file members of the bargaining committee;
• Give members the right to information about what is happening in contract bargaining;
• Require Local 814 to mobilize the membership and support from the Teamsters and the public to win a strong contract;
• Give members time to review all changes to the contract in writing before we vote on it.

Last year, Local 814 members put these principles into place in a successful, year-long rank-and-file contract campaign at Sotheby’s Auction House. As a result, they put an end to concessions and won their best contract in more than a decade.

“The members at Sotheby’s have shown that it’s possible to reverse givebacks and win a strong contract when members prepare early and get organized,” Taylor said. “It’s time for us to do the same thing in moving and storage. This campaign to change the local union bylaws is a first step.”

Petitions supporting the changes will be submitted at the March membership meeting. A vote will be held at the fall meeting.

Make or Break

“Our contract negotiations next year are make or break for us. If we’re going to put an end to the concessions and return our union to sound footing, we’ve got to do things differently.”
Walter Taylor, Local 814
New York

Local 804 members beat concessions and pension cuts, won new rights in their local bylaws, and organized to rebuild union power.

Local 804 members got an early start on building Teamster Power in 2008—by defeating concessions and pension cuts in December 2007.

Members held a series of rank-and-file meetings and launched a Vote No campaign—after UPS and Local 804 negotiators cut a concessionary contract deal that included pension cuts.

Members voted the contract down by three to one and UPS was forced to take the concessions off the table—including its demand to eliminate 25 & Out pensions for new Teamsters.

Jim ReynoldsWinning New Rights

Members could have gone back to business as usual then, but they didn’t. Instead, they formed a rank-and-file committee called Local 804 Members United.

“We wanted to get to the root of the problem, one of which is the lack of information members were getting from our union,” said Jim Reynolds, an alternate steward and a founding member of Local 804 Members United.

Local 804 Members United launched a petition drive to change the Local 804 bylaws to require officers to keep members informed during bargaining and to report on the pension and health funds at every membership meeting.

They collected over 2,000 signatures on a petition to change the Local 804 bylaws and voted through the changes by a more than 90 percent.

Benefits Watchdog

Local 804 Members United have monitored the local’s benefit funds—and exposed serious problems to the membership.

An investigation by the group uncovered that the Local 804 Health Fund had lost $18 million in assets in just four years—and that Local 804 officials had diverted millions of dollars in contributions from the Health Fund to the Pension Fund without ever telling the members.

Using their rights under the Pension Protection Act, members have forced UPS and Local 804 to turn over financial documents that they had mismanaged the Pension Fund’s assets for years—putting members’ benefits at risk.

“The last couple of years have been a real wake-up call as far as our pension is concerned,” said Bill Reynolds, a package car driver on Long Island and one of the members who pressed the fund to release the documents.

Tim SylvesterLooking Ahead to 2009

“We all have a responsibility to leave our union stronger than it was when we got here. That’s what Local 804 Members United is all about,” said Tim Sylvester, a 29-year Teamster and Local 804 shop steward.

“Brown can’t move a package in New York City without a Local 804 Teamster: that gives us power. Our local used to use it to win top contracts and pensions.”

“Local 804 members used to feel that power. We want to bring the pride and the power back,” Sylvester said.

Working together, the members of Local 804 Members United are on the road to doing just that.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union is running a series of stories about Teamster members who made a difference in 2008. Click here to read more stories in our series.

You can help make a positive difference in our union in 2009. Click here to join Teamsters for a Democratic Union and become a part of our movement.

August 5, 2008: Months after New York UPSers approved new bylaws for their local, members are still having trouble getting straight information about their benefits.

This spring, UPS Teamsters in New York Local 804 voted by over 90 percent to require the Local 804 Executive Board to provide members with information about their pension and health funds.

In July, the Local 804 Pension Fund finally responded to members’ requests for pension documents—and turned over some information, including reports from various investment managers.

But the fund continues to violate federal law by refusing to turn over the most important documents that members requested—including the Actuarial Valuation Report and other actuarial reports, despite a specific request for this information from members’ legal counsel.

Members are legally entitled to these documents. Every other major Teamster fund has provided this information to members within 30 days or less—sometimes without charge.

In contrast, the Local 804 Pension Fund not only refused to turn over documents, it even charged members for documents it refused to provide. Local 804 shop steward Tim Sylvester was billed more than $125 for pension documents—but more than 25 percent of these documents were missing!

Sylvester and other leaders of Local 804 Members United are following up with the fund through their legal counsel, attorney Ann Curry Thompson.

Concern Over Health Benefits

Local 804 members are also still looking for straight answers about the Local 804 Health Fund and the future of members’ health benefits and retiree healthcare.

An investigation by Local 804 Members United revealed that the Health Fund lost $18 million over four years—according to the fund’s own financial reports.

Their investigation also revealed that Local 804 officials voted to reduce UPS’s contributions to the Health Fund and divert the money to the Pension Fund—a move that accelerated the Health Fund’s multi-million dollar losses.

Local 804 officials have responded by telling members that the Fund did not “lose” $18 million; it just “spent” $18 million more than it took in! Accountants call that losing money—and so do the fund’s own financial reports.

Local 804 members deserve more than word games—especially when their health benefits and retiree healthcare are at stake.

No one has suggested that the fund’s money mysteriously disappeared! Leaflets can be downloaded at www.804membersunited.org that explain how the fund’s losses occurred.

What Local 804 members want to know is whether the money that was negotiated under the new UPS contract will be enough to rebuild the Health Fund’s depleted reserves and maintain current health benefits without cuts, increased co-pays or hikes in the cost of retiree healthcare.

Local 804 and UPS promised members in a signed a memorandum of agreement that 70¢ out of the $1.00 negotiated for benefits in the first year of the contract will go to the pension fund.

That leaves only 30¢ for the Health Fund, not much money to cover protect the benefits of members and retirees and rebuild the fund’s reserves.

August 1, 2008: More than 80 Teamsters wear TDU T-shirts to work every Thursday at the UPS hub in Manhattan.

Our message? We are informed and united Teamsters working together to enforce our rights and rebuild union power.

There is a question being asked by the Local 804 rank and file at the 43rd Street Hub and the question is: “What happened to the local that we were once proud of?”

The recent giveback contract cemented our feelings on this question. My opinion is that Local 804 has become too much of a private club and members are not invited to join. Sure, our officials still handle grievances. However, I find it amusing when they win a grievance and then they obligate a member or members to take a photo with check in hand to show how magnanimous they are.

We once had a union that we were proud of, but let’s face it: the Hoffa crowd at Local 804, as well as in the International Union, has lost their moral compass.

That is why I decided to join Teamsters for a Democratic Union. This organization of proud Teamsters and union organizers has given us information and facts while those whom we have placed our trust in have not!

A Sea of Solidarity

I find it quite interesting that UPS management and local officials, who were recently touting how great our contract was, were once again united in fear and anger when they started seeing more than 80 rank-and-file Teamsters wearing 100% cotton pre-shrunk t-shirts at the 43rd Street Hub every Thursday.

Could it be the large TDU logo on the back of the shirts? You bet! And I wear it with pride.

I can understand why UPS management reacts when they see a sea of Teamsters uniting in solidarity. That is what UPS fears the most.

But why the negativity from our local officials? The slogan of the Local 804 Members United movement is: Informed and United Teamsters Building a Strong Local 804. Which part of that equation does our Executive Board have a problem with?

We are not “dividers,” nor are we “troublemakers.” We are proud and powerful rank-and-file Teamsters—men and women—who are uniting and working together to enforce our rights and rebuild our union’s power.

Our involvement is paying off. In the last eight months, we have voted down contract givebacks, beaten pension cuts, passed bylaws that require our Executive Board to give members real information about our benefit funds and during contract negotiations, and exposed the loss of $18 million in assets by our Local 804 Health Fund.

The power of our once proud union is on the decline. But it doesn’t have to be that way. At the 43rd Street hub, we are doing what we can to put the movement back in the labor movement.

By William Riley, UPS
Local 804, New York

Wear Your TDU Pride! To buy a TDU t-shirt, available in sizes S-4XL, click here.

June 20, 2008: A report by Local 804 members reveals that the union’s health fund lost nearly $18 million from 2003 to 2007. During that time, the fund lost 55 percent of its assets. Local officials diverted millions of dollars to the local’s pension plan and hiked members’ co-pays.

Now members are asking what the new contract will mean for the health fund and their benefits.

This crisis in the health fund was brought to light by Local 804 Members United, a network of UPS Teamsters in the New York local who work together to defend their contract and benefits.

Local 804 members reviewed the fund’s financial documents through 2007—the most recent year that the plan’s financial records are publicly available. The fund’s own records revealed that the money allocated under the 2002 UPS contract was not enough to cover members’ healthcare costs. For years, the fund spent down its reserves to make up for the shortfall.

With the health fund already in trouble and losses topping $6 million, Local 804 officials voted with UPS to cut the company’s contributions to the fund. Over the next year, UPS’s healthcare payments were reduced and millions were diverted from the health fund to the pension fund.

Starved for contributions, the health fund lost a whopping $11.3 million in two years. Local 804 members were never told a word.

“It’s totally irresponsible how they let these reserves disappear,” said Pete Mastrandrea, a Local 804 feeder driver. “It’s inexcusable how they’ve managed these funds and they need to answer to the membership for it.”

Information Brownout

By June 2007, the Local 804 Health Fund had lost nearly $18 million and negotiations on a new UPS contract were underway.

The negotiations gave the union the opportunity to make UPS pony up the money the health fund would need to protect members’ benefits and beef up the fund’s depleted reserves.

Local 804 officials voted with UPS to hike members’ co-pays while the new contract was still being negotiated.

“It’s unprecedented to make givebacks like that in the middle of bargaining,” Mastrandrea said.

When the contract came to a vote, Local 804 members showed they were ready to take on the company to defend their benefits. Members mobilized to reject the company’s first contract offer over the objections of both management and the local executive board.

As a result, members won a better deal that included record pension money. But unaware of the extent of the damage to the Health Fund, members approved a new contract that included just a 30¢ an hour increase into the medical plan in the first year.

It remains to be seen if that will be enough to rebuild the depleted fund without raising the healthcare costs of Local 804 members or retirees—or dipping into contributions that are supposed to go into the Local 804 pension fund.

“When Local 804 members turned down the contract by three to one, that gave our negotiators leverage to make UPS put the money on the table to protect our benefits,” said steward Tim Sylvester. “Our pension fund has sunk into Endangered Status and our Health Fund has lost $18 million on this Executive Board’s watch. There is no excuse if they settled short in bargaining and failed to get what they need to rebuild our benefit funds.”

June 20, 2008: A pension attorney representing Local 804 members has warned trustees at the Local 804 Pension Fund that they are in violation of federal law for refusing to comply with members’ requests for pension information.

Under the Pension Protection Act, members have the right to more financial and actuarial information from our funds—thanks to a successful lobbying effort by Teamsters for a Democratic Union and the Pension Rights Center.

Local 804 members Bill Reynolds and Tim Sylvester have been waiting to receive the information they requested since Jan. 22. But the Fund has yet to turn over the documents or even respond to their attorney. Under the law, the Fund has 30 days to comply with their request.

The Central States Fund, the Western Conference Fund, the Upstate New York Fund, and other Teamster pension funds have all promptly complied with information requests under the Pension Protection Act.

Under the law, courts can and will assess penalties against a fund that fails to respond to members’ legitimate requests for information.

The pension fund, covering 4,000 full-time UPS Teamsters in metro New York, was rocked by a 30 percent pension cut in 2006. The pension issue led Local 804 members to reject the UPS contract last year and win a better offer that restored their pension to pre-cut levels and stopped company and union officials from eliminating 25-and-out pensions for new employees.

Trustees recently notified members that the fund is in the Yellow Zone. They have said no additional pension cuts will be necessary but have provided no information about when benefits might be improved.

Most other UPS Teamsters will get an automatic increase in their pension accrual every year during the current contract. But the accrual in Local 804 will remain frozen at the 2002 level until the trustees vote to increase it.

“Local 804 members were kept in the dark about our pension and the results were not good. Now we want to see the numbers for ourselves,” said Bill Reynolds. “Will members really have to take our own Fund to court to get the pension information we’re entitled to?”

May 1, 2008: When an employee at Kraft Foods repeatedly directed the epithet “coon” at Willie Knox, the Local 445 Teamster knew he had to stand up for his rights.

A poster at the company urges employees to call an “Integrity Hotline” to report issues of harassment or discrimination. Knox called the number. He had no way of knowing that call would lead to his termination.

But six weeks after he blew the whistle on racial harassment, Kraft fired Knox and accused him of violating the company’s policy on harassment.

The Teamster trailer driver continues to stand up for his rights. With the help of Local 445, Knox is fighting his termination in arbitration. He has also filed a complaint with the New York State Human Rights Commission.

Slurs, Threats, Termination

When Knox called the Integrity Hotline, he expected his complaint to be investigated and dealt with. “I didn’t want anyone to get into trouble. I just wanted the harassment to stop,” Knox said.

Instead, the problems at Kraft got worse—escalating from verbal harassment to threats.

On February 4, an angry Kraft employee confronted Knox and threatened him for making the complaint. “He went off on me and told me I better ‘watch my f***ing back’ as long as I worked at Kraft,” said Knox.

To make matters worse, the employee who made the threats, Mark Mohammed, had previously brought a knife to the workplace. Knox reported the threat to management. But Kraft manager Pat Sherman just laughed, Knox says.

“After that, I tried to defuse the situation myself by telling Mohammed I had no problem with him or anyone else. I asked him to ride over with me to Penske’s so I could drop my truck off there,” Knox said.

Mohammed refused, telling Knox, “I don’t do favors for Black people because I’m prejudiced.”

“Since You Like To Report Things…”

Later that day, Mohammed confronted Knox for a third time while he was in an office filling out some paperwork. Sherman entered the room and Knox again pleaded with the manager to put a stop to the harassment. Again, Sherman said nothing.

“You ain’t the only one that knows how to use a weapon,” a frustrated Knox told Mohammed.

The Kraft manager, who had repeatedly turned a deaf ear when the issue was racial discrimination and threats, suddenly developed a keen interest in the company’s zero tolerance policy on harassment—when he could use the rules to go after Knox.

Sherman hauled Knox into the office. He told the Teamster, “Since you like to report things, I’m going to have to report this.” On February 6, Kraft terminated Knox for violating the company’s harassment policy.

To this day, no one from Kraft has ever spoken to Knox to investigate his allegations of racial harassment.

The Issue Is Respect

When Knox called the “Integrity Hotline,” they told him that his file read: “The case is resolved. Employee no longer works at Kraft.”

A background check on the “Integrity Hotline” reveals that it is not a Kraft entity at all. The hotline is a third-party service run by Global Compliance—a spinoff from the notorious Pinkerton agency.

For Knox, the case is far from “resolved.” He filed a grievance for termination without just cause, which is headed to arbitration. Local 445 helped Knox find work at another union employer.

After several weeks, Kraft offered Knox his job back with no backpay on the condition that he drop his discrimination complaint with the New York State Human Rights Commission. Knox refused.

“Don’t tell me I have to surrender my civil rights to work at Kraft,” Knox said. “I’m willing to drop my case if Kraft will step up to the plate and do the right thing. Or I’ll return to work without back pay and we can let the Human Rights Commission decide.

“The bottom line is I work hard and do my job right. All I’m asking in return is that I be treated with respect,” Knox said.

May 21, 2008: School bus drivers in New York City are showing that persistence pays off—literally. Ask Juan Carlos Rodriguez, a Local 854 Teamster and member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union.

The National Labor Relations Board is demanding that Consolidated Bus Transit reinstate Rodriguez and pay him nearly $150,000 in back pay and benefits after illegally firing him.

When his rights were violated, TDU helped Rodriguez and other Local 854 Teamsters to take legal action—appealing their case all the way up to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington.

The Board overturned on appeal an earlier ruling by an NLRB administrative law judge. The Board also ruled that Local 854 President Daniel Gatto violently threatened TDU member and shop steward Jona Fleurimont.

Local 854 has now complied with the Board decision and promised to respect workers’ rights. But the company continues to dig in its heels. The case is now in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

“TDU has made it possible to stand up for our rights and defend ourselves,” Rodriguez said. “We never would have been able to come this far without having an organization behind us.”

Last month, CBT offered Rodriguez $60,000 and his job back to settle the case. Rodriguez turned down the offer.

“The company’s offer wasn’t serious. They’re making a mistake if they think they’re going to throw me a bone and have me chase it like a dog,” Rodriguez said. “It’s time for the company to show some respect for the law and for their workforce.”

April 21, 2008: UPS Teamsters in New York have overwhelmingly voted for changes that will put more pension and contract information in the hands of the members.

At a meeting on April 20, New York Local 804 members approved two changes to their local union bylaws by more than 90 percent.

By a 208 to 12 margin, members voted to require the Executive Board to give a report on the pension and health and welfare funds at each quarterly membership meeting.

By a 207 to 19 vote, members voted to require the local to establish a contract committee to keep members informed and united whenever a contract is being negotiated.

The bylaws campaign grew out of a rank-and-file mobilization against pension cuts and contract concessions at UPS—including a 30 percent cut in pension accruals in 2006.

Last year, members voted by nearly 3 to 1 to reject contact givebacks negotiated with UPS by Local 804 officials.

As a result, members won a better contract offer that both reversed the 2006 pension cuts and defeated new demands by UPS to cut pension benefits for new hires and divert part of members’ wages to pay for their pensions.

But Local 804 Teamsters didn’t stop after they defeated the givebacks. They formed a network called 804 Members United and launched a campaign to reform their local union bylaws.

Members fanned out across the local, distributing leaflets, talking Teamster-to-Teamster and collecting signatures. Two thousand members signed petitions supporting changes to the local union bylaws.

At the last membership meeting, Local 804 President Howard Redmond denounced members “who are handing out papers and dividing the local.”

But Redmond changed his tune yesterday—endorsing the bylaws proposals from the podium. Redmond also pledged to help members obtain pension documents that the Local 804 fund has failed to turn over to members in violation of the Pension Protection Act.

For more information, visit www.804membersunited.org.