December 20, 2010: Teamsters raised more than $50,000 for the TDU movement and the Sandy Pope Campaign at our annual TDU Convention. We’ll need that money—and more—to dump Hoffa in 2011 and build the stronger union Teamster members need.

We have this opportunity to elect new leadership because of a battle fought and won by TDU members across the country. It’s because of TDU that we also have the right to vote on contracts (and reject bad ones) and won historic pension benefits in the 1990s.

The fight for a stronger, more democratic and mobilized Teamsters union continues. New York Teamster activists are winning office and organizing new programs to unite members and win on the job. Activists in Cincinnati Local 100 just won office, and Vermont bus drivers are uniting for a better contract. Everywhere from Puerto Rico to Chicago, Los Angeles to Rhode Island, TDU members are coming together to take on the boss and take back their union.

We’re as active as we’ve ever been—but we have a chance to make history in 2011 and we need to be doing a lot more.

We need to dedicate 2011 to building TDU. That means recruiting more new members—and raising the funds needed to organize the movement to take back our union.

TDU is our rank-and-file organization, funded entirely by memberships and donations from committed Teamsters.

We need your support. Please do your part today by making a generous donation to building TDU and a stronger Teamsters union.

A monthly credit card pledge is the easiest and best way to make a regular commitment to supporting TDU. You can set up your pledge or make a secure online one-time donation here or by calling us at 313-842-2600.

Thanks for all your hard work and your support of TDU.

Gina Alvarez, Local 743
Willie Hardy, Local 667
David Kremer, Local 320

December 20, 2010: Many UPS Teamsters are fed up with a grievance procedure that is stacked in favor of management.

UPS Teamsters in Kansas City are not just grumbling–they’re doing something about it.

Kansas City Teamsters in the Missouri Kansas Nebraska Conference are fed up with a grievance procedure that is stacked in favor of management. And they’re not taking it lying down.

Members have formed the MOKAN Watch, a group of Teamsters dedicated to shining a spotlight on problems in the Missouri-Kansas UPS grievance panel and improving panel decisions.

UPSers are routinely fired for petty, retaliatory, or bogus charges. With an imminent threat of going before a state grievance panel that is upholding terminations at an alarming rate for first time offenders, Teamsters are often forced to accept outrageous deals or compromises.

MOKAN Watch kicked off with a meeting in the union hall parking lot before the Oct. 9 Local 41 general meeting. At that meeting, they made a motion to invite Jim Kabell, the president of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska conference of Teamsters, to the November meeting.

Kabell graciously attended, and he got an earful from the 60 to 70 UPSers in attendance, many of them victims of the “Mo-Kan Railroad” as this grievance panel has come to be called.

The Mo-Kan Watch continues to meet, organize, monitor, and expose any and all unjust panel decisions. “The demands of the MOKAN WATCH are simple,” said Wes Epperson, KC feeder driver, “We want accountability and transparency from the members of our Mo-Kan panel”.

December 20, 2010: Members in some locals make headway on getting UPS to fill vacant 22.3 jobs—while Hoffa and Hall duck the issue.

At the last national grievance panel of 2010, the International Union once again refused to hear a single grievance on the elimination of full-time 22.3 jobs. After looking the other way for two years and telling members, “It wasn’t the right time” to enforce the contract, Package Division Director Ken Hall punted the issue back to the local who filed the grievances in the first place.

Members in several locals where UPS Teamsters have been pushing the issue report that the company has begun filling at least some vacant 22.3 jobs. At the same time, many Teamsters who lost their 22.3 positions continue to work split shifts at part-time rates.

Management has tried to create 22.3 jobs that have an unpaid two-hour break between shifts. This is permitted by the contract if the job is an air combo but not an inside-inside 22.3 position.

Some locals stopped this violation. Others settled for a maximum 90-minute gap. And others caved altogether. When members filed a grievance to stop the 2-hour gap violation in Hartford Local 671, management announced they just wouldn’t fill the vacant 22.3 jobs. Local officials blamed the members, not the company!

Action Needed

UPS’s full-time jobs takeaway is a national problem and it requires a coordinated response by the International.

Under the contract, UPS must maintain a minimum number of 22.3 jobs, but the company gets to decide where to put these jobs. Under this system only the International, not any one local, has the power to monitor UPS and make sure the company is filling all 20,000 full-time positions nationwide.

UPS is required by the contract to provide the union with a list detailing the location of all 22.3 jobs. But IBT officials admit the list is a mess and they have no idea how many 22.3 jobs are filled and how many are vacant.

The problem could easily be addressed if the International Union conducted a national audit of all 22.3 jobs—something that members have been asking for since 2008.

Of course, if Hoffa and Hall were serious about full-time jobs, they wouldn’t have given away the language that requires UPS to create new 22.3 jobs every year.

December 20, 2010: The dates and locations for the UPS National Grievance Committee meetings have been set.

The next National Grievance panel will be held March 7-11. (March 7-9 for UPS and March 9-11 for UPS Freight.)

The panel will meet two other times this year: June 6-10 and Oct. 12-16.

December 22, 2010: The UPS National Grievance Committee settles national disputes and other grievances that have been deadlocked at both the local and regional levels. It’s also where some Teamster officials go to golf with management.

All three panels in 2011 are scheduled to be held at resort hotels.

The next UPS National Grievance panel will be held at the Westin Beach Resort in Ft. Lauderdale.

Guests are encouraged to “Pamper yourself at our tranquil spa” and to “Discover local marine life with a snorkeling or scuba expedition, try your hand at deep-sea fishing, or just enjoy a day out on a jet ski or boat”—and to hit the links of course.

A call from TDU to the hotel promptly resulted in an email with five pages of golfing options and the promise that, “Our concierge team would be happy to make any tee time reservations you would like.”

Thanks, we’ll be busy filing grievances.

Westin Beach Resort

December 20, 2010: Teamster bus drivers in Vermont are reaching out to the riding public to win a contract that improves conditions for both drivers and passengers.

Teamster bus drivers in Vermont are used to cold weather. But even that didn’t prepare them for the chilly reception they got when they signed up to make public comments at the Board of Directors of their employer, the Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA).

After voting 36 to 1 to reject a weak contract offer, Local 597 members attended the board meeting to state their case and tell the CCTA and the public what it would take to reach a fair agreement.

Members Beat Gag Order

Instead, the CCTA board shut down public comments. Their gag order prevailed—but Teamsters didn’t go quietly. They came back for a special CCTA board meeting. And this time they brought friends.

As the head of the CCTA steamed, drivers and members of the public lined up to speak out in favor of a contract that will improve conditions for both drivers and the public, including:

• Safe and Reliable Schedules. The current schedules at CCTA make drivers work split shifts, leaving them exhausted. Scheduling improvements will mean better safety for both drivers and more reliable and on-time service for passengers.

• Respect for Employees and a Fair Disciplinary Procedure. Local 597 bus drivers have a stressful job made worse by a kangaroo court disciplinary procedure. Drivers want a fair procedure and treatment with respect and dignity.

• Full-Time Drivers for Quality Service. Full-time drivers mean good jobs for Vermont and good service for passengers.

“Our overwhelming No Vote and the support we’re getting from the public sends a clear message to the CCTA that we’re ready to negotiate a reasonable agreement—and we’re not going to roll over,” said driver Jim Fouts.

Reaching Out to the Public

Fouts is a member of the Sunday Breakfast Club, a group of rank-and-file Teamsters who organized a contract action network to inform and unite Local 597 members. They’ve also been reaching out to students, unions and community groups for support.

The CCTA is the largest public transportation agency in Vermont, so public support is critical. Incredibly, Local 597 officials have objected to solidarity efforts from Vermont labor.

The Vermont AFL-CIO Central Labor Council asked local unions to attend the CCTA Board of Directors meeting, but then retracted their call for support at the request of Local 597 principal officer Ron Rabideau, saying the contract dispute was an “internal matter” that “does not involve the Vermont AFL-CIO.”

Fortunately, Vermont union members put union solidarity ahead of politics. Their public show of support for Teamster bus drivers helped bring the CCTA back to the bargaining table.

“The outstanding issues are non-economic and there’s no reason we can’t reach a deal that improves working conditions and service at the CCTA,” said Chuck Norris-Brown. “We’re going to stay united and keep working with the public to make sure that happens.”

We’re Ready to Negotiate. Not to Roll Over.

“Our overwhelming No Vote and the support we’re getting from the public sends a clear message to the CCTA that we’re ready to negotiate a reasonable agreement—and we’re not going to roll over.”

Jim Fouts, CCTA Local 597, Burlington, Vt.

We’re Going to Stay United.

“The outstanding issues are non-economic and there’s no reason we can’t reach a deal that improves working conditions and service at the CCTA.

“We’re going to stay united and keep working with the public to make sure that happens.”

Chuck Norris-Brown, CCTA Local 597, Burlington, Vt.

December 22, 2010: Over 75 waste Teamsters came from across Southern California to discuss their rights and how to enforce them at the TDU Southern California Chapter meeting.

“We have a lot of new members at Waste Management,” said Rodrigo Hermudes, a Local 396 member at Waste Management in Chino. “I want to help show the new members how to protect their rights. If we don’t, the company will walk all over us.”

Members came from Local 396 bargaining units in the Inland Empire, L.A. County, Orange County, Northern L.A. County, plus members in Local 495.

Their contracts expire in 2012—but members at Waste Management in Corona have already formed a rank-and-file committee to have a voice in bargaining.

Members also talked about a wage-and-hour lawsuit filed by members at Waste Management.

The Southern California TDU Chapter plans to sponsor educational workshops about legal rights on the job and effective grievance handling.

December 20, 2010: The weather was terrible with wind and rain when we brought Sandy Pope to meet with Teamsters here in Sacramento. Nevertheless, we got a great response from the members we met and we’ve formed a committee of members to put together a delegate slate supporting Sandy.

First stop was Campbell’s Soup, the second-largest employer in Local 150. We had already been petitioning there before, so members were familiar with Sandy and excited to meet her.

Sandy Pope at the West Sacramento UPS building. Local 150 Teamsters have launched a local campaign committee.The next stop was the West Sacramento UPS building. It was pouring down rain but we brought two pop-up canopies and set them up in front of the entrance. Almost every member who came through got a chance to meet Sandy, shake her hand and talk to her about the issues we’re facing at UPS.

On Saturday, we had a members’ meeting where Sandy spoke to 50 members about building support in our area, the changes she wants made and the future of the Teamsters. We gathered more petition signatures, collected donations for Sandy’s campaign and have a group organized to assemble a delegate slate supporting Sandy.

Now that the petition drive is over, we’re going to go back to Campbell’s and UPS with a Thank-You message for signing the petition, to let members know they helped make an impact.

From our perspective, it was a very productive weekend. We raised money for Sandy’s campaign, obtained hundreds of petition signatures and we introduced her to over a thousand members. It was well worth getting a little wet in the rain.

Teamster members are forming local campaign committees, planning campaign events and preparing to run for Convention Delegate.

To find out more about how you can get involved, contact TDU or the Sandy Pope Campaign.

By Ralph Merideth, UPS Local 150, Sacramento

Hear from new members about why they joined TDU. And find out how you can help make a difference, too.

Winning with TDU

“When we were organizing to take back our local, we turned to TDU leaders and TDU’s knowledge and experience to help us understand what works and what doesn’t.

“Now we’re taking those tools to win strikes and better contracts for Local 814 members.

“Our union needs TDU. Join TDU if you want a stronger Teamsters union.”

Anthony Meyers, Globe Local 814, New York

Involving Members

“Our local tries to keep the members uninformed. I joined TDU because of the information it provides and it’s hard work to involve members in building a better union.

“I went to my first TDU Convention this year. It was a life-changing experience. I still feel the affirmation and solidarity from being around so many good Teamsters from across the country. I’m really proud I joined TDU.”

Darren Suell, UPS Local 104, Phoenix

Education for a Stronger Union

“After years of hearing too much hypocrisy from our local officials, I met some honest and real Teamsters here in L.A.–and they’re TDU members.

“I started reading Teamster Voice and went to a Southern California TDU Chapter meeting. I learned more there than I ever learned from all the dog-and-pony-show meetings of our local union.

“I went to my first TDU Convention in November and joined. If you want real information and education you can use to build a stronger union, you should join too.”

Lupe Hernandez, Ralphs Grocery Local 63, Los Angeles

Do your part. Click here to join TDU today.

December 15, 2010: Teamster members collected 50,000 signatures to successfully accredit Sandy Pope as a candidate for General President.

The Sandy Pope Campaign turned in the petitions to the Election Supervisor on Tuesday, Dec. 14, easily surpassing the 33,437 signatures required by the election rules.

As a result, Sandy and the campaign will be able to reach out directly to 1.3 million Teamsters, including in the pages of the February issue of the Teamster magazine.

A third candidate, Fred Gegare, also submitted accreditation petitions to be tabulated by the Election Supervisor.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union members joined Teamsters across the country in the Sandy Pope petition drive. We should all celebrate this success along with the holidays, and rest up too, because 2011 promises to be a busy year.

We’ve got delegate races to win and a campaign army to build. The petition drive shows that and we have the national network we need to reach Teamsters members who care about our union and want a better future—without Hoffa at the helm.

We’ve got to build that campaign army in the coming year. We’re off to a great start. But this is just the beginning.