UPS Profits From Pension Cuts
January 8, 2015: The lame duck Congress attached pension cut legislation to the end-of-year spending bill that will pave the way for the worst pension cuts in Teamster history.
Leave it to UPS to find a way to make billions off this disaster.
UPS lobbyists fought for and won a special interest loophole that shifts $2 billion in the company’s pension responsibilities onto the backs of Teamster retirees in the Central States.
These retirees will now face even bigger pension cuts as a result.
UPS is the one and only company that benefits from the special loophole. It’s purpose is to ensure that the Central States Pension Fund will not reduce the pensions of UPS workers who retired after Jan. 1, 2008.
Not reducing pensions. Isn’t that a good thing? Of course!
But UPS retirees who retired after 2008 in the Central States are already protected from having their pensions reduced.
In the case of any pension cuts by Central States, Article 34, Section 1 of the UPS master agreement, requires the company to make up any lost pension benefits.
UPS’s special interest loophole means the company won’t have to make up for any pension cuts. The loophole doesn’t save those UPS retirees a dime, but UPS will save a fortune.
Teamster retirees and their widows will face $2 billion more in pension cuts so UPS can get out of paying the obligations it agreed to in the contract.
What can Brown do for you? Certainly, not this.
UPS Teamsters & the IBT Election
January 8, 2015: UPS Teamsters have the numbers and the network to make the difference in the International Union election.
There are 250,000 UPS Teamsters. It takes 200,000 votes to elect new leadership in the International Union. Of course, not all UPS Teamsters are going to vote. But if even 40 percent of them vote, that’s half of the 200,000 votes needed to win.
In the last International Union election, Hoffa carried the UPS vote in many locals. Many UPS Teamsters opposed Hoffa but the opposition vote was divided.
The Gegare slate won big in Louisville Local 89, Omaha Local 554 and other big UPS units. Sandy Pope won by large margins in New York Local 804, Charlotte Local 71, Cincinnati Local 100 and elsewhere.
In some locals, the Gegare vote plus the Pope vote swamped Hoffa and Hall, such as Columbus Local 413, Memphis Local 667, Nashville Local 327, Lexington Local 651, Kansas City Local 41, and others.
Anti-Hoffa voters outnumbered Hoffa-Hall voters by slimmer margins in major cities like Chicago Local 705, Portland Local 162, Sacramento Local 150, Indianapolis Local 135, and elsewhere.
Hoffa and Hall won a number of major UPS locals last time, where members then turned around and voted overwhelmingly against the UPS contract.
In Los Angeles Local 396 Hoffa and Hall won 65 percent of the vote.
They overwhelmingly carried the vote among UPSers in metro Philly, winning by two to one in Norristown Local 384 and took 76 percent of the vote at Philadelphia Local 623.
Hoffa and Hall narrowly won in New Jersey Local 177, in a light voter turnout.
The votes in these and other UPS locals can be turned completely around, but we need to get organized.
The problem of voter turnout in International Union elections is well known. But the solution is well known too.
The voting results from every Teamster election shows that in locals where rank and file Teamsters actively campaigned and reached out to fellow UPSers, the members voted in larger numbers and the reform candidates won more votes.
The Teamsters Union is diverse. UPS Teamsters can’t win the election by themselves. That’s why TDU unites Teamsters from every local and every industry.
But UPSers are by far the biggest group and they are spread across North America, in hundreds of local unions. That means UPSers are not just the biggest voting bloc. They’re also positioned to reach out to Teamster voters in other shops and industries.
TDU members at UPS are gearing up to vote out Hoffa and Hall and elect International Union leaders who will stand up to UPS. Contact TDU to find out more or join TDU online.
TDU keeps a detailed record of the voting results from every International Union election since 1991. If you want to learn from the past to win in the future, contact us. You can also look at the voting results from the last election www.tdu.org/issues/2011-ibt-election
Getting Part-Timers Involved: an interview with Local 804 steward Kioma Forero
January 8, 2015: Stewards in your building have had a lot of success in winning grievances and getting more members involved. How do you do it?
A lot of our organizing is done from our parking lot meetings held every other Thursday and Friday.
What do you do at the parking lot meetings?
The topics depend on what the most important issues are at work that week. One week it could be management cracking down on attendance, another it could be on policies and procedures. We’re responding to what members are dealing with that week.
We deal with supervisors working a lot. When sups working becomes a problem, we’ll have a meeting and explain the violation and contract language. We’ll do a grievance training, taking members through the whole process, from gathering facts, filing the grievance, and what the procedure is. Members get the tools to file grievances, get their grievance pay, and learn how to enforce the contract.
During the last contract negotiations, we used the meetings to survey members on what their issues were, answer members questions about proposals and the negotiation process and to explain what’s in the new contract.
There are so many problems at UPS. How do you choose where to focus?
We pick the hot issues—ones that effect a lot of members, ones that people feel strongly about. And we look for issues where we can win and make a difference for people.
You can’t deal with everybody and every issue, so I try to find the people who are interested and want to know more and the ones who want to work with others and build the union. I try to mentor women, too. There’s a new assistant steward and you can tell she has what it takes to be a really good leader.
What would you say to people who say you can’t get part-timers involved?
I’d ask them if they were ever a part-timer and remember what it was like!
Part-timers get involved in my local because we’re taking on our issues—supervisors working, the need for more full-time jobs, harassment. You’ve got to get to know the problems part-timers are dealing with and address them before you jump to conclusions about parttimers not being involved.
There was record turnout from part-timers in our last local election, because our side [the incumbent slate, Members United—ed.] campaigned on winning more full-time jobs. Part-timers voted big in the election and we ended up winning 150 new full-time jobs in the new contract.
Local 804 had a bus full of members attend the TDU Convention. How has TDU helped you educate members?
TDU gives members the bigger picture on what it takes to make the union stronger, on the need to reform the whole union. The TDU Conventions empower members and gives them tips on the nuts and bolts of winning grievances and organizing. They like being with other members who are working to make the union stronger too.
Teamster “Orphans” Face Uncertain Future
January 8, 2015: The budget bill passed in December includes changes to pension law that will allow the Central States to make cuts to so called “orphans” like me. And there are many thousands of freight, carhaul, construction, warehouse, and other Teamsters just like me.
They label us “orphans” because some corporation closed up, despite our hard work.
Most current and retired freight Teamsters have worked for one or more companies since deregulation hit in 1980. I started out as a dump truck driver at age 17. My first Teamster job was with Akers Motor Lines. Then I moved to Johnson Motor Lines and then on to UPS for a few years. I drove for Jones Motor Freight and finally ended up at Consolidated Freightways in 1979 and worked there until the doors closed in 2002.
For years we were told to accept tiny pay increases because the bulk of the money had to go to our insurance and pension. Now we’re retired and we’re told Central States can cut that guaranteed pension.
I was the wage earner in my family. My wife and I subsist on my pension and our social security, which is very minimal. My wife’s current medical bills are substantial. Also, I have had double by-pass heart surgery and have a permanent blockage that is inoperable. This condition requires additional monthly medical expenses. I do not complain or cry about my situation but simply point out how important to our welfare my pension is.
I am sure there are many other Teamsters retired and active who will be dramatically affected by the proposed pension cuts. This should be a wake up call to all Teamsters to become involved and aware of their union activity.
Do not sit back and let our hard-won victories be taken away from us by individuals who are motivated by greed. We have worked hard for these benefits and we deserve them.
Please take a stand.
Sincerely in unity,
Brad Colesworthy
Local 71, Charlotte, North Carolina
CF Retiree
Teamster Carriage Drivers Unite
January 9, 2015: Teamsters in New York City are fighting to save 300 horse carriage drivers in New York City.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has introduced legislation to ban New York City’s iconic Central Park horse carriages.
Three hundred Teamster horse carriage driver jobs, members of Local 553, are at stake.
The animal advocacy group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets claims the iconic industry is inhumane. Opponents of the ban say that putting Teamsters in the street is inhumane and that we need more good union jobs, not fewer. The Teamster solidarity has taken root.
Forty thousand New Yorkers signed the NY Daily News “Save Our Horses” petition to city politicians. Unions have rallied to support the Teamsters at a City Hall rally to save jobs. Actors Danny Glover and Liam Neeson have given public support.
Teamsters in New York have been hit hard. Hundreds of school bus and dairy Teamster jobs were destroyed with no action by the Joint Council. Instead, their shrunken locals were merged into Teamster Local 553, which is headed by Joint Council 16 Secretary-Treasurer Demos Demopoulos.
The Teamster fight to stop the Horse Carriage Ban is the kind of broad, public campaign—uniting Teamsters with other union members, allies, and the community—our union should mount wherever Teamster jobs are threatened.
2015 Resolutions We Plan to Keep
“We’re going to need to collect thousands of Teamster signatures to get our candidates accredited to run against Hoffa and Hall in 2016. That’s a job I plan to tackle in this coming year and am committed to get other Teamsters ready to take back our union to do the same.”
Daryl Nutgrass, Holland, Local 89, Louisville, Kent.
“I’m joining up with TDU and getting involved now because we need new ideas and new leadership in the Teamsters Union. We’re building a big meeting in Southern California to jump start a movement for change. I’m looking forward to working with brothers and sisters across the country working to make our union strong.”
Christine Belliveau, UPS, Local 63, Ontario, Calif.
“TDU members in New York and New Jersey will be there to build the movement to vote out Hoffa and Hall. We will help build a campaign event for the candidates. We’re also planning a Rebuild Teamster Power conference to help train campaign volunteers. We’re ready to reach out across the city and across the region.”
Stephen Mohan, Rollin Dairy, Local 553, New York
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