August 24, 2011: The national UPS Freight grievance panel will meet Sept. 14-16 in San Diego—and many locals continue to grieve subcontracting out of Teamster work.

Click here to download the docket.

March 25, 2011: While members wait for action, the company is still driving load after load through the subcontracting loophole.

Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale March 9-11, the Teamsters National UPS Freight Grievance Panel addressed 31 grievances.

Three pertained to Article 44 subcontracting and were denied. All other Article 44 grievances remained on “committee hold.”Two grievances addressing sleeper bid issues were deadlocked.

Over all, the grievant and union won six grievances, the company won ten, seven were deadlocked, and five were referred back.

Deadlocked grievances go to Ken Hall and the IBT to determine whether or not to take them to arbitration. Nearly three years into the contract, there have been no arbitration decisions related to deadlocked UPS Freight grievances.

You can read the Teamsters National UPS Freight Grievance Committee Minutes at www.TDU.org, or call TDU to get a copy.

While members wait for any union action, UPS Freight management continues to drive load after load right through the Article 44 subcontracting loophole.

UPDATED February 17, 2011: The docket is now available for the first UPS national panel of the year, March 7-9 at the Westin Beach Resort in Ft. Lauderdale.

Click here to read the docket of cases that will be heard.

Click here to read the docket for the Joint National Air Committee.

The UPS National Grievance Committee settles disputes and other grievances that have been deadlocked at both the local and regional levels. The panel will meet two more times this year: June 6-10 and Oct. 12-16.

The UPS Freight National Grievance Panel will meet March 9-11 at the same resort.

UPDATE: Click here to download the docket for the UPS Freight National Grievance Committee.

October 22, 2010: Two grievances addressing Article 44 subcontracting language were deadlocked at the recent UPS Freight national grievance meeting held in San Diego.

The grievance from Reno Nevada Local 533 involves canceling a bid run and awarding the work to the non-union carrier Werner. The other, out of New York Local 707, involves management assigning road work to rail carriers and Evans Trucking. The contract calls for these grievances to go to arbitration if they cannot be settled following the deadlock.

The committee heard 15 grievances at the Hilton San Diego Resort Hotel. Three were deadlocked. Four were won by the union, five by management and three were referred back to the parties. The minutes also report eight grievances were settled or withdrawn. Twelve were postponed and 27 were put on committee hold.

Click here to read the minutes.

September 28, 2010: The next meeting of the UPS Freight national grievance panel will be in San Diego on Oct. 13-15.

Article 44 subcontracting grievances remain a big issue. Nineteen cases were either carried over or remain on “committee hold.” These grievances are getting old and are from terminals across the U.S.—Columbus, Seattle, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Dallas, Boise, and many points in between. There are two new Article 44 cases on the docket from Orlando Local 385 and Newburgh, N.Y. Local 707.

Following the May 2010 panel, union chair Ken Hall said that a grievance out of Dallas Local 745 would be taken to arbitration if it went unresolved by August. We have no update on that promise.

There are 25 new grievances on various issues on the national docket. Click here to download the docket.

June 15, 2010: The UPS Freight panel deadlocked three more subcontracting grievances when it met June 9 – 11 in Rhode Island.

The June panel heard and deadlocked subcontracting grievances from Tampa Local 79, Arizona Local 104, and Harrisburg, Pa. Local 776. For months now, UPS Freight Teamsters have been reporting serious subcontracting violations.

After the last panel, IBT Vice President Ken Hall promised that the union is taking subcontracting to arbitration.

The union has not stated if it plans to arbitrate these three deadlocked grievances, too.

Download the minutes from the June panel.

May 25, 2010: Teamster representatives will meet with UPS Freight management in Providence Rhode Island for the quarterly national panel on June 9-11.

To view the grievance docket click here.

Many Article 44 subcontracting grievances are still on the table. Tampa Local 79, Phoenix Local 104, Columbus Local 413, Nashville Local 480 and Reno Local 533 all have cases that were delayed from previous dockets. Cases on “committee hold” addressing Article 44 remain from North Carolina Local 61, Phoenix Local 104, Seattle Local 174, Orlando Local 385, Boise Local 483, South Carolina Local 509, New York Local 707, Dallas Local 745, and Miami Local 769. There are new Article 44 cases from Seattle Local 174, Jacksonville Local 512, and Harrisburg, Pa., Local 776.

At the most recent national panel in March 2010, the panel deadlocked a grievance from Dallas Local 745 that challenged the use of rail. In a press release following the March panel, Ken Hall, the International Vice President in charge of contract enforcement at UPS Freight, said the national committee is doing “an outstanding job” on subcontracting, and the lack of progress is “absolutely not their fault.”

With the June panel, Teamster members have another opportunity to judge the state of progress on addressing key issues at UPS Freight.

What do you think? Clickhere to send your ideas or comments to Teamsters for a Democratic Union.

April 2, 2010: IBT Vice President Ken Hall says that the UPS Freight National Panel is doing an “outstanding job.”

So why did our union only win five grievances at the March panel?

Teamsters at UPS Freight didn’t have much to cheer about when they reviewed the results of their national grievance panel.

Out of 27 grievances heard, the union won only five cases—and none dealing with subcontracting.

The UPS Freight National Panel met March 3-5 in Ft. Lauderdale. The union referred back five more grievances for the local to resolve with the company. The panel postponed or put on hold 36 more grievances.

The union has little to show for its time except for a few small monetary victories. The largest victory by far was in a case where the company will pay nine days of back pay.

The panel deadlocked an important Article 44 grievance from Dallas that challenges the use of rail. Now the union can choose to take that grievance to arbitration.

“The numbers from the panel don’t lie. I know our union can do a better job enforcing our contract. It starts with getting the members informed and involved. And then we’ve got to turn up the heat on management for real,” commented G.W. Owensby, a road driver from Kansas City Local 41.

“I know members are willing to do something because we’re getting run over by subcontractors.”

Subcontracting

Over 40 subcontracting grievances were on the docket for this panel, but the union only took action in three cases involving rail, not cases of subcontracting involving nonunion carriers.

Fourteen subcontracting grievances were withdrawn, five were postponed, and 12 were put on committee hold. Three subcontracting grievances were scheduled on the docket “in error.”

At the end of the panel, the union announced that it will take a “lead case” on subcontracting from Dallas Local 745 to arbitration.

In a press release at the time of the national panel, Ken Hall, the International Vice President in charge of contract enforcement at UPS Freight, said the national grievance committee is doing “an outstanding job” on the issue and the lack of progress on reducing subcontracting is “absolutely not their fault.”

Who’s to Blame?

So whose fault is it? And more importantly, what’s the plan for reducing the practice and putting more Teamster members to work?

“Ken Hall says there is not sufficient documentation or facts to back up the grievances on subcontracting. We see the facts on the ground everyday. But we haven’t seen any information from the union on how to document these violations. And I know some stewards have really put together a lot of documentation,” said John Weir, a road driver from 533 in Reno, Nev. “We’re willing to do what it takes to get this problem solved.”

Members want contract enforcement and are ready to follow a plan that works.

“When TDU started shining a light on subcontracting at UPS Freight, I knew I had to get more involved. I ordered a bundle of the Teamster Voice and have been getting them out to other Teamsters. We’re building a network to get this contract enforced.”

David Loyd, UPS Freight, Local 150, Sacramento, Calif.

April 2, 2010: Article 44 contains the following language that drivers can use to protect jobs from subcontracting: “However, if sufficient freight is generated in the future to provide loads returning to the home domicile, the run shall be performed by members of the bargaining unit.”

If the company is violating Article 44 in your area, your first step is to gather the evidence. Here’s what to document:

• Trailer numbers and loads that are being handled by subcontractors on inbound and outbound freight
• When each load leaves or arrives your terminal
• Where the loads are going to or coming from

Once you have evidence, file a grievance. And make sure you pass along copies of all your documentation to your union representative.

Ask your union rep to request more information from the company, including freight manifests from your terminal and the inbound and outbound terminals where the subcontractors are coming from or headed to.

Work with your union rep to pull together all the available evidence and dismantle the company’s case.

Want advice for documenting subcontracting grievances? Click here to contact TDU for advice.

UPDATED March 10, 2010. The results are back from the March UPS Freight national grievance panel, but they aren’t pretty. Out of 27 grievances heard, the union won only five cases.

The union referred back five more grievances for the local to resolve with the company. The panel postponed or put on hold 36 more grievances.

After three days in Ft. Lauderdale, the union has little to show for its time except for a few small monetary victories. The largest victory by far was in a case where the company will pay nine days of back pay.

The panel deadlocked an important Article 44 grievance from Dallas that challenges the use of rail. Now the union can choose to take that grievance to arbitration.

Click here to download the minutes of the UPS Freight panel.

Subcontracting

Over 40 subcontracting grievances were on the docket for this panel, but the union only took action in three cases involving rail, not cases of subcontracting involving nonunion carriers.

Fourteen subcontracting grievances were withdrawn, five were postponed, and 12 were put on committee hold. Three subcontracting grievances were scheduled on the docket “in error.”

At the end of the panel, the union announced that it will take a “lead case” on subcontracting from Dallas Local 745 to arbitration.

In a press release, Ken Hall, the International Vice President in charge of contract enforcement at UPS Freight, said the national grievance committee is doing “an outstanding job” on the issue and the lack of progress on reducing subcontracting is “absolutely not their fault.”

Hall is encouraging members to document cases of subcontracting and file grievances under Article 44.

What do you think? Click here to send your comments to TDU.

Click here to download the minutes of the UPS Freight panel.