April 10, 2009: As the one Teamster carrier that has done some hiring, UPS Freight has attracted some experienced Teamster drivers.

Unfortunately, they are learning the bitter truth about a deal made by the Hoffa administration: you get no pension credits in any Teamster pension fund by working there. You start anew in a company fund.

Can this be corrected in the next contract? Not with the present IBT leadership.

December 17, 2008: UPS Freight tried to steal Christmas from 12,000 Teamsters. That won’t happen thanks to union action.

UPS Freight management tried to get out of paying holiday pay for Dec. 24 and 25 by declaring Dec. 26 a “no service day.”

Poorly-written language in the UPS Freight agreement states Teamsters will get holiday pay “provided they work either the day before and the day after the holiday.” (Article 25, Section 4)

The company claimed that since no one is working on Dec. 26, they don’t have the two holidays.

Teamsters at numerous terminals filed grievances—and they’ve won.

UPS management is now agreeing to pay holiday pay for all Teamsters who work both their last scheduled tour before the Christmas holiday, and their first scheduled tour after the holiday.

This victory shows that when Teamsters stick together and make our voices heard, we can make even the world’s largest transportation company deliver.

Click here to download the UPS Freight contract.

Do you have a question about your contract or the Teamsters Union? Click here to send a confidential question to Teamsters for a Democratic Union. A TDU organizer will get back with you.

December 9, 2008: UPS Freight is aiming to be the Scrooge of 2008, by stealing the Christmas holidays from 12,000 Teamster employees. That’s right, the largest transport corporation in the world is trying to escape holiday pay for December 24 and 25.

Will they get away with it? That remains to be seen. So far the International Union is treating it as a routine grievance, which may not be settled ‘till long after Christmas.

UPS Freight has declared December 26 to be a “no service day,” and is using that as a trick to steal Christmas. Here’s how: the contract states that Teamsters will get holiday pay “provided they work either the day before and the day after the holiday.” (Article 25, Section 4) The company claims that since no one is working on December 26, they don’t have to pay the two holidays! They will pay a Teamster who uses a personal day for December 26, but those who have used up their paid time off are out of luck.

Note that strange and confusing language “either…and”. How that blunder got into a national contract, we don’t know. But we do know this is theft.

Wilt Warren, a UPS Freight driver in Portland Oregon Local 81 summed it up: “The intent of the contract language was to make sure people didn’t call off the day before or after a holiday. But there’s nothing in there that allows the company to cancel work for a day and cheat Teamsters out of what they’re due.”

Grievance Procedure

Grievances have been filed at numerous terminals. Under Article 7 of the UPS Freight contract, they go to a “UPS Freight Joint Grievance Panel,” a single-employer panel, like the UPS grievance procedure. A national deadlock goes to arbitration.

It would seem that such outrageous case as this one would be an easy win in any reasonable procedure. But so far, it’s not settled.

Christmas should be a joyous time for all our families. Having a rich corporation like UPS try to steal holidays is a lump of coal that should not be tolerated by our union.

Click here to download the UPS Freight contract.

Do you have a question about your contract or the Teamsters Union? Click here to send a confidential question to Teamsters for a Democratic Union. A TDU organizer will get back with you.

August 19, 2008: Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Aug. 16-17 voted to ratify a first contract with UPS Freight covering about 1,000 truck drivers and dockworkers at 50 terminals nationwide, the union announced Aug. 18.

About 94 percent of the members who voted approved the contract, which contains wage and benefit terms nearly identical to those of a 64-month national UPS Freight agreement reached in March to cover an estimated 9,900 drivers and dockworkers at 136 terminals (67 DLR A-12, 4/8/08), the Teamsters said.

With this new group of UPS Freight workers covered under nearly the same contract, Teamsters are working closer to gaining contracts for all UPS Freight workers. IBT has organized more than 10,000 UPS Freight workers at terminals nationwide since January. The new contract will share an expiration date with the contract reached in March.

IBT was certified as the representative of the employees covered under the new contract after the larger March ratification vote took place, Bret Caldwell, IBT director of communications, told BNA.

"We welcome these UPS Freight workers to the Teamsters and we are proud to have negotiated for them a terrific contract," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said Aug. 18 in a statement.

"The company certainly is pleased that a handshake agreement has been ratified. We have felt all along that the Teamsters and UPS negotiated a contract that is good for employees and one that is competitive for the company," Norman Black, UPS director of media relations, told BNA Aug. 18.

Twice Annual Wage Increases

The contract provides for a general wage increase of $4.35 per hour over a nearly five-year term for full-time truck drivers and dockworkers, while maintaining previous health care benefits at no increased cost to employees.

UPS Freight "city drivers" earned about $21 per hour prior to the agreement. Under the contract, the city drivers will receive wage increases of about 35 cents per hour in 2008, 70 cents per hour in 2009, 75 cents per hour in 2010, 80 cents per hour in 2011, 85 cents per hour in 2012, and 90 cents per hour in 2013.

In each year of the contract, except 2008, annual increases would go into effect in two intervals. One half of the annual increase will go into effect on Jan. 1, with the second half of the increase going into effect on July 1, according to the agreement. The 2008 increase of 35 cents per hour is payable July 1.

Similar wage increases will be provided to dockworkers employed on the terminal site, and to "road drivers" involved in the long-haul transport of freight, the union said. The wage rate of a full-time dockworker, for example, will rise from the previous $21.22 per hour to $25.10 per hour, or by $3.78 per hour, over the life of the contract.

Road drivers will receive a mileage rate increase of 11 cents per mile over the life of the contract, an amount intended to provide an equivalent income to the hourly wage increase that will be received by the road drivers, the union said.

Stable Health Care Premium Contributions

Workers will receive health care coverage under the new United Parcel Service Health & Welfare Package Select, the company's self-insured plan with benefits similar, or better than, benefits provided under the previous health care plan, according to the union.

For the life of the contract, workers will contribute a fixed amount monthly to the cost of the health care premiums at $50 for single coverage, $100 for couples coverage, and $150 for family coverage. Retirees who will receive health benefits under the plan will pay $250 per month for individual coverage and $500 per month for couples coverage.

Similarly, UPS Freight employees represented by IBT will be covered by a company-managed pension plan, known as UPS Pension Plan. The benefits are similar to those that were offered under the previous plan, and no contributions from the employees for the plan are required.

Fast-Paced Organizing Through Card Check Agreement

UPS Freight, formerly known as Overnite Transportation, is a subsidiary of United Parcel Service Inc. The Teamsters and UPS reached a card-check agreement for those workers in December 2007, and the union launched a nationwide organizing campaign in January. Under the agreement, bargaining units are recognized by the company once union organizers have collected authorization cards from more than 50 percent of employees in the bargaining unit, and after an independent arbitrator has certified the validity of the authorization cards.

Of some 15,000 UPS Freight workers, 12,600 are eligible to sign authorization cards, according to IBT. Teamsters now represents more than 11,600 of those workers, the union said.

The 50 terminals are in 23 states: Alabama, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The contract expires July 31, 2013.

By Susan R. Hobbs

May 12, 2008: Representatives of UPS Freight and the International Association of Machinists are scheduled to begin negotiations June 23 on a first contract that would cover about 200 auto mechanics and support personnel organized by IAM at 13 of the company's freight terminals in 11 separate states, management and labor representatives told BNA.

The union hopes through card-check authorizations to extend the contract's coverage to as many as 1,000 mechanics and support personnel at 90 terminals nationwide.

The negotiations are the direct result of a card-check and neutrality agreement reached between the parties in 2006, according to Norman Black, a spokesman for United Parcel Service, UPS Freight's parent company. The agreement was modelled on a higher-profile agreement between UPS Freight and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which led to the April 7 ratification of a first contract covering almost 10,000 truck drivers and dockworkers, Black said (67 DLR A-12, 4/8/08).

Under the card-check and neutrality agreement, IAM organizers are able to solicit union authorization cards from the company's mechanics and support workers without interference or opposition from UPS Freight managers, according to IAM spokesman Boysen Anderson. Once the organizers have obtained authorization cards from a majority of the workers in a bargaining unit, the cards would be submitted to an independent arbitrator for verification. Upon verification, UPS Freight would then recognize IAM as the authorized bargaining agent, without a National Labor Relations Board-supervised election, he said.

Part of the agreement with IAM was that the actual start of organizing and the collection of employee authorization cards among mechanics would not begin until late 2007, after the IBT's similar card-check and neutrality agreement went into full effect, Anderson said.

"The agreement has worked well, and we've moved fairly quickly to the start of negotiations. I am confident that we will reach agreement on a first contract fairly soon" after the start of formal negotiations, Anderson said.

Initial Talks Will Cover 13 Terminals

Anderson told BNA that the union has an agreement with UPS Freight that the initial talks will cover 13 terminals where IAM already has been recognized as bargaining agent, or where recognition is expected soon.

The number of employees in the 13 bargaining units currently is about 200, Anderson said, but the negotiations potentially could affect other UPS Freight employees if they become represented by IAM in the future. He estimated the total number of auto mechanics and support personnel eligible for IAM representation to be about 1,000.

Anderson compared the initial IAM and UPS Freight negotiations to the first talks that took place between IBT and UPS Freight over truck drivers and dockworkers at the company's Indianapolis terminal last year (196 DLR A-7, 10/11/07). That contract, which covers only 135 employees, "provided a road map" for the much larger contract that was negotiated later, he said.

IAM bargaining units included in the upcoming negotiations are located in Bridgeton, Mo,; Chicago; Detroit; Harrisburg, Pa., Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee; Newburgh, N.Y.; Northborough, Mass.; Providence, R.I.; Richmond, Va.; Reno, Nev.; Springfield, Mass.; and Toldeo, Ohio, the union said.

IAM organizers have gathered a sufficient number of authorization cards for union recognition at an additional 19 terminals, Anderson said, although those bargaining units will not be part of the initial contract negotiations with the company.

UPS Freight spokesman Ira Rosenfeld told BNA that the company currently operates 215 terminals nationwide, but only 90 of these terminals employ mechanics.

IAM's Unusual Organizing Opportunity

Anderson said the origins of the IAM organizing effort at UPS Freight were unique.

Like the Teamsters, IAM had a long-standing contractual relationship with parent company United Parcel Service at the time that the company purchased Overnite Transportation in 2005, and then renamed it UPS Freight, Anderson said. The union represents about 3,000 mechanics at the parent company's facilities nationwide.

The next year, Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa announced that the union had negotiated a card-check and neutrality agreement to cover the truck drivers and dockworkers at the new UPS Freight subsidiary (125 DLR C-1, 6/29/06).

"Obviously, when we saw that, our reaction was, 'If the Teamsters are entitled to card-check neutrality at UPS Freight because of their relationship with United Parcel Service, then certainly we are too," Anderson said. "And I give credit to UPS because they immediately saw the logic of that, and we moved quickly to an understanding."

UPS Freight spokesman Rosenfeld said the company was pleased that negotiations aimed at a first contract with IAM are set to begin soon and that the company is looking forward to a productive relationship with the Machinists.

By Bruce H. Vail

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is an organization of working Teamsters like you. For 30 years, TDU members have worked to win strong contracts and benefits in freight and at UPS.

We believe in our union and in getting involved to make it better. We encourage you to do the same.

Find out about the contract. Don’t hesitate to ask questions or raise your concerns. Work with your stewards to enforce the contract. Our union is only as strong as we make it.

If you’ve got a question about your rights or how to enforce them, contact TDU.

We are Teamsters helping Teamsters have a voice on the job and in our union.

Strong Contracts and Benefits

“This first contract is just the beginning. Teamsters at UPS, Yellow-Roadway, and UPS Freight can win better contracts and benefits across the trucking industry if we’re united, informed and involved.”
Al Wilkins, Local 480
Roadway, Nashville

Power and Respect on the Job

“Being union is about getting respect and a say-so on the job. TDU is where Teamsters turn to learn more about enforcing their contract. If you’ve got questions about your rights, TDU is the place to turn.”
Barry Strohl, Local 509
Roadway, South Carolina

A Voice in Our Union

“In TDU, we believe in Teamster Power and in working Teamsters having a voice in our union.”
Dan Scott, Local 174
UPS, Seattle

Teamsters for a Democratic Union:
Your Information Source

• Check out www.TDU.org. Sign up for email updates and get information on your rights and Teamster news.
• TDU’s monthly newspaper, Convoy-Dispatch, covers issues affecting all Teamsters. To subscribe or get a free sample copy, contact TDU.
• To find out more, call TDU at (313) 842-2600 or email us at tdu [at] tdu.org.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union:
A Proven Record of Success

TDU was founded in 1976, initially by UPS and freight Teamsters. Our mission is to build a a stronger Teamsters Union by empowering the membership. And we’re doing it!

TDU won the right for direct election for top Teamster officers. Today, we’re working to preserve our right to elect top officers by one-member, one vote.

TDU won majority rule in Teamster contract votes. We inform and unite Teamsters during contract negotiations to defeat concessions and win strong contracts.

TDU has won better pensions for many Teamsters, including 25-and-out. Today, we are working to defend and improve members’ pensions and health care.

TDU has won caps on the salaries of top union officers. We're working to eliminate multiple salaries for Teamster officers and reduce dues waste and put all our dues money to work building a stronger union.

Click here to download this as a flyer for distribution!

May 1, 2008: Nearly 10,000 new Teamsters have joined our union this year at UPS Freight. That’s an important step forward for our union’s power in freight and at UPS.

“I would like to welcome the UPS Freight workers to our union. Please do not stop at just joining. Our union power does not come only by signing a card. As members of the rank and file, you must stay involved in your union. Educate yourself on your contract and also how our union works. Hold our leaders accountable for decisions they make. Together we are the union.”
Nichele Fulmore, UPS Package Car
Local 391, Lumberton, N.C.

“It took a lot of effort and commitment by many freight Teamsters, but we finally got UPS Freight workers into our union. I applaud all my fellow Teamsters who, like me, worked to get this done. I also hold out a hardy handshake to all our new brothers and sisters from UPS Freight. We need each other if we’re going to bring our union back to the power and prestige we once knew. Let’s work together and make it happen.”
Jimmy Rickert, Roadway Road Driver
Local 429, Reading, Penn.

May 1, 2008: New Teamster members at UPS Freight are looking at how to negotiate on work rules and “existing practices.” Under the newly ratified contract, there’s a 60-day window to put pen to paper and agree on how Teamsters will exercise their rights when it comes to day-to-day issues. The clock is ticking.

Members have heard a mix of news on how Article 41 will be sorted out. Many see the effort as negotiating work rules that are intended as local supplements or riders. Some locals and BAs are collecting suggestions and working with members and temporary stewards to put proposals together. Others say it will really be worked out when officers meet in Washington and negotiate rules by region. Still others have had no word on how their issues will be addressed.

UPS Freight Teamsters can use this time to make their voices heard and get proposals to their locals. That’s part of being a Teamster member. Article 41 bargaining can help protect Teamsters’ rights and conditions. Members deserve the right to vote on any new language under Article 41.

April 9, 2008: Members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters have ratified by an 89 percent majority a 64-month national UPS Freight agreement to cover an estimated 9,900 truck drivers and dockworkers at 136 terminals nationwide, the union announced April 7.

Voting took place March 29 through April 6 at about 80 union halls across the country, IBT said. Most of the voting took place April 5-6, with the final tabulations completed April 7, according Ken Hall, director of IBT's parcel division.

The new contract provides for a general wage increase of $4.35 per hour over term for full-time truck drivers and dockworkers, while maintaining previous health care benefits at no increased cost to employees, Hall said. The contract became effective April 7 and extends to July 31, 2013, he said.

"This ratification vote is overwhelming by anyone's standards. I am thrilled with this vote," Hall said.

"We believe this contract is good for our people, good for our customers, and good for the company," UPS Freight spokesman Ira Rosenfeld said April 7. "The ratification follows a smooth and orderly process that had no impact on the service levels to our customers, while fully respecting the rights of the employees to the union representation of their choice," Rosenfeld said.

Card-Check Organizing Moved Quickly

The new agreement is a first contract for most of the UPS Freight employees, Hall said, although the company and IBT last year negotiated a contract covering a 125-employee bargaining unit at a UPS Freight terminal in Indianapolis (196 DLR A-7, 10/11/07). The Indianapolis contract negotiated last remains in effect and separate from the newly negotiated agreement, the union said.

The Indianapolis agreement was announced shortly after the union and Atlanta-based UPS announced they had reached tentative agreement on the larger contract to cover nearly a quarter-million UPS package delivery employees (190 DLR A-1, 10/2/07). UPS Freight, formerly known as Overnite Transportation, is a subsidiary of UPS.

A "card-check" agreement between UPS Freight and IBT allowed the union to begin organizing the company quickly on a national scale in mid-January, Hall said (12 DLR A-7, 1/18/08). Under the agreement, bargaining units are recognized by the company once union organizers have collected authorization cards from more than 50 percent of employees in the bargaining unit, and after an independent arbitrator has certified the validity of the authorization cards.

Units representing about 9,900 UPS Freight employees had been certified as of April 4, Hall said. At the time the tentative agreement was approved by local union leaders in late March, IBT said some 9,600 employees had been organized through the card-check process at that point (59 DLR A-12, 3/27/08).

The union estimates that another 2,700 company employees working at other UPS Freight terminals are potentially organizable by the IBT, Hall said, and union organizers believe that most of these will choose to be represented by the Teamsters before the end of the year.

Wage Hikes Effective Twice Annually

The new contract provides for general wage increases for so-called "city drivers" totaling about $4.35 per hour over the term of the agreement. Prior to the new contract, city drivers earned about $21 per hour, according to a copy of the tentative agreement.

Under the contract, the city drivers will receive wage increases about 35 cents per hour in 2008, 70 cents per hour in 2009, 75 cents per hour in 2010, 80 cents per hour in 2011, 85 cents per hour in 2012, and 90 cents per hour in 2013.

In each year of the contract, except 2008, annual increases would go into effect in two intervals. One half of the annual increase will go into effect on Jan. 1, with the second half of the increase going into effect on July 1, according to the agreement. The 2008 increase of 35 cents per hour is payable July 1.

Similar wage increases will be provided to dockworkers who are employed on the terminal site itself, and to so-called "road drivers" involved in the long-haul transport of freight, Hall said. The wage rate of a full-time dockworker, for example, will rise from the previous $21.22 per hour to $25.10 per hour, or by $3.78 per hour, over the life of the contract. Road drivers will receive a the mileage rate increase of 11 cents per mile over the life of the contract, an amount intended to provide an equivalent income to the hourly wage increase that will be received by the road drivers, the union said.

The wage increases are very similar to those negotiated for the Indianapolis agreement, Hall said, but are modified to reflect the fact the Indianapolis agreement was ratified about six months before the new national agreement was ratified.

Health Care and Pension Provisions

The new contract establishes a new health care plan to provide coverage to IBT represented employees, Hall said. To be called the United Parcel Service Health & Welfare Package Select, the company self-insured plan will have benefits similar, or better than, benefits provided under the previous health care plan, he said.

Employees covered by the contract are required to make monthly contributions to the cost of the plan, he said. Employees will pay $50 per month for single coverage, $100 per month for couples coverage, and $150 per month for family coverage. These contribution levels will remain fixed for the life of the contract, Hall said.

Retirees who will receive health benefits under the plan will pay $250 per month for individual coverage and $500 per month for couples coverage.

The new health care plan will be an improvement for most covered employees, Hall said. He said that contribution levels have been rising in recent years by about 7 per cent per year, so union-represented employees will benefit immediately by contractual protections against further increases during the life of the contract. Furthermore, union-represented employees with full family coverage will see a decrease in their monthly payments of $83, from $233 to $150, he said.

Similarly, UPS Freight employees represented by IBT will be covered by a company-managed pension plan, known as UPS Pension Plan. Hall said the benefits are similar to those that were offered under the previous plan, and no contributions from the employees for this plan are required.

Contract Has National Coverage

Major cities where the union said it has collected enough authorization cards to qualify for certification are Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Tenn., Minneapolis, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Diego, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

Terminals in smaller cities where the union said it has collected enough authorization cards to qualify for certification are in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and others.

The contract expires July 31, 2013.

The IBT-UPS Freight Agreement may be accessed here.

April 7, 2008: The Teamsters union said on Monday that 9,900 workers at United Parcel Service Inc trucking unit UPS Freight have ratified a five-year contract with UPS that also makes them members of the union.

Click here to read more at Reuters.com.