October 1: They'll Be Done
Our right to vote on the tentative agreement gives us the power to stop Hoffa from settling short again. We can send them back to the bargaining table if the deal falls short.
The National Negotiating Committee has vowed they will cut off negotiations if an agreement is not reached on Monday, saying "October 1 or We're Done."
With no contract campaign or membership mobilization, Hoffa and Hall have bet all of their chips on reaching an early deal with the company.
After a tentative agreement is reached, the International Union will call a meeting of the "Two-Person Committee" consisting of two representatives from each local with UPS Teamsters. Then there will be local union meetings where officials explain it (and many give a sales job) and members can discuss it. The tentative agreement will then be put to a vote of the members in a mail ballot.
Teamsters at UPS will have at least two votes: one vote on the National Agreement and one on the Supplement (a local or regional agreement). In some cases, members will even get a third vote on a local Rider.
In 2002, Hoffa sold us the "Best Contract Ever." This time, UPS Teamsters need to scrutinize the settlement carefully before voting.
Make UPS Deliver Will Get You the Facts
Make UPS Deliver will get the facts out so that Teamsters at UPS can make an informed decision.
- Make UPS Deliver will publish a contract analysis on contract highlights and lowlights.
- The Make UPS Deliver network will also be holding a series of conference calls and rank-and-file meetings to bring members together to go over the agreement.
UPS is making record profits. Their offer will be the richest contract offer ever. We need to look beyond the dollar signs to make sure that the contract protects our pensions and benefits for the long term—and provides new contract protections that will improve life for Teamsters in every job classification.
UPS is hungry for an early deal. Our right to vote gives us the power to send the company and the union back to the table if they negotiate another substandard contract.
Make sure you are informed about the details of any new deal. And help spread the word to other Teamsters at UPS so they too can cast an informed vote.
Click here if you want to be contacted to participate in a conference call to go over the details of the new agreement.
Click here if you can help distribute copies of a Contract Highlights and Lowlights to UPS Teamsters.
Read the Wall Street Journal article "UPS, Teamsters Near Pension Deal."
UPS Wants Control to Keep Lid on Our Pensions
The record shows that UPS will use its greater control to keep a lid on benefits and push for pension cuts. That's just what UPS has done in two major Teamster pension funds consisting only of UPS Teamsters: New Jersey Local 177 and New York Local 804.
- In New York, UPS's trustees pushed through a 30 percent pension cut at the start of negotiations over the opposition of every Teamster trustee. (UPS won the vote by swinging over a union trustee, a machinist official who represents UPS mechanics.) As a result, the accrual rate in Local 804 was indefinitely dropped to $100.80. That's lower than Central States, where the accrual rate is $132!
- In Jersey, UPS used its control of half the trustees to force its proposal for pension cuts before an arbitrator. If the company gets its way, the pension accrual rate will be slashed by 30 percent to approximately $104, also lower than Central States.
The accrual rate is the amount of monthly pension benefit that you earn or "accrue" for a year of service.
Both the Local 804 and 177 funds are UPS-Teamster funds. They're run out of Atlanta. At each fund, the company names half of the trustees-and then those trustees vote in a bloc to cut Teamster benefits. This is the same structure that is being proposed to "help" Teamsters in the Central States.
Will UPS's Offer Raise Benefits?
To try to win membership approval of their Central States pension grab, UPS will offer a pension increase in their new Central States plan. Before taking the bait, members should look at the company's record and ask what it will mean for the long-term to give UPS half the votes over our pensions.
In the Central States, the accrual rate is guaranteed to go up by a minimum of 8 percent each year. Next year, the Central States accrual rate will be at $143-and in four years, it will be a minimum of $180.
What will happen in the funds where UPS controls half the trustees right now? Will UPS's contract offer provide for guaranteed annual increases in the New York and New Jersey funds? Don't count on it.
UPS has used its voting power in these funds to freeze the accrual rate, push for cuts, and keep a lid on Teamster benefits. That's why UPS is willing to shell out billions to withdraw from Central States: they plan to get it back and more in the future.
It's no surprise that UPS trustees vote in a bloc to save the company money. Knowing that, why would our union give the company more control over our pensions?
Benefits in the Central States need to be improved. There's no doubt about that. The company wants an early agreement. We need to use our leverage to win record contributions that will 1) immediately restore retiree healthcare and 2) provide a roadmap for increasing pension benefits and eliminating penalties for retiring before age 62-without giving in to the company's pension grab.
That's the way to make UPS deliver.
UPS Negotiators Told to Finish Supplements This Week
September 17, 2007: National bargaining has been suspended until Sept. 24. Negotiations on more than 30 supplemental agreements and local riders are being held this week.
Local and supplemental negotiators have been instructed by the IBT to complete bargaining on all supplements by the end of the week.
Supplements are regional and local addenda to the national agreement that contain language governing our working conditions and rights.
Across the country, management has taken a hard line in supplemental negotiations, refusing to agree to improvements unless the union gives up concessions in return. But this is no time for givebacks—not when UPS made more than $4 billion in profits last year.
We have the power to win improvements in the supplements if our International Union backs up our negotiators at the supplemental level.
Issues that are deadlocked in supplemental negotiations are kicked up to national bargaining to be resolved.
When national negotiations resume on Sept. 24, UPS will have one week to hammer out the early agreement that shippers and stockholders are demanding. The pressure is on the company.
Our negotiators at the local and national levels should take advantage of this leverage by deadlocking supplemental issues to the national where necessary and then using our national clout to win the improvements we need.
Click here to tell us what you think are the key issues in your supplement.
Hoffa Promises “Very Best Agreement” Ever at UPS
September 12, 2007: If you liked the “Best Contract Ever” President Hoffa has good news for you. In the latest update on negotiations from the International Union, Hoffa announces that he is committed to negotiating the “Very Best Agreement” this year.
Unfortunately, UPS Teamsters looking for more substantial information from our International Union leadership will find that, despite our union’s new Contract Hotline, members are still being kept out in the cold when it comes to any meaningful information about negotiations.
According to Hoffa, our union is demanding “more contributions toward all members’ pension, health and welfare plans than any other UPS contract in history.” Hoffa does NOT mention that the 2002 contract also delivered the highest pension and benefit contributions ever—along with the worst benefit cuts in Teamster history.
With a tentative agreement expected soon, UPS Teamsters deserve more than empty slogans and misleading PR. UPS is making record profits. The upcoming tentative agreement will obviously be the richest contract in Teamster history. That’s not the question. The real issue is will the upcoming contract will provide the long-term retirement security, benefit improvements and stronger contract protections that Hoffa promised UPS Teamsters in 2002.
In the statement, Ken Hall says that the company and the union are still far apart—including on non-economic issues. But members are given no information on what these issues are.
Hoffa and Hall have promised an agreement by Oct. 1 but still refuse to tell members what we are fighting for on issues like new full-time jobs, 9.5, eight-hour requests, supervisors working, stronger protections and fair pay for combo workers, higher wages especially for part-timers, subcontracting to UPS freight, protection from UPS’s spy technology and other issues.
As contract talks came down to the wire in 1997, our International Union mailed every UPS Teamster a detailed comparison of our union’s contract proposals and the company’s offer. That bulletin from our union was entitled, “What We’re Fighting For.”
With a contract deadline of Oct. 1, that’s exactly what the Hoffa administration should be telling Teamsters at UPS.
Click here to read the 1997 bargaining comparison “What We’re Fighting For.”
Click here to read the statement on negotiations from Jim Hoffa and Ken Hall.
UPS Wants to Divert Work To UPS Freight
If management gets its way in contract negotiations, UPS will soon be diverting packages to UPS Freight, the company's nonunion freight carrier.
Sources close to the negotiations have told Traffic World, a leading industry publication, that UPS is pushing for work rule changes that would allow them to move packages from its parcel to freight divisions.
Corporate consultants love the idea.
“It's nonunion. It would be more cost effective,” said one industry expert.
It would also destroy Teamster jobs.
Traffic World broke the story in a report called, “Union Trading Parcels? UPS, Teamsters negotiations could shift to talks about shifting small packages to UPS Freight.”
The Teamsters Union could easily put the issue to rest by saying clearly that we will never agree to such a concession. Instead, our union refused to comment for the story. This only fueled speculation that the Hoffa administration is considering the deal in exchange for the right to organize UPS Freight.
“That is one carrot that could be offered” sources familiar with the negotiations told Traffic World.
While pension talks have gotten the most attention, analysts say these work rule changes could have the bigger impact.
Analysts confirmed that “UPS has to have negotiations done quickly” because shippers “will not understand a protracted negotiations. They still remember the last strike.”
This gives us leverage. We should be using it to win the improvements Teamsters were promised under the "Best Contract Ever"—without new historic givebacks like the Central States pension grab or letting UPS take our work away and give it to UPS Freight.
Read the entire Traffic World report.
Download the latest Make UPS Deliver bulletin.
Contact us with your opinion on this issue.
Let us know if you can help distribute UPS contract information.
Ron Carey Speaks Out
Ron Carey speaks out in a new book on the 1997 UPS Strike. Read the interview the Hoffa administration did not want you to see.
In a book released on the 10th Anniversary of the Teamster strike victory at UPS, author Deepa Kumar spoke with former General President Ron Carey about his struggles with the company and old guard Teamster officials culminating in the 1997 UPS Strike.
Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization and the UPS Strike tells the story of how that strike and contract campaign forced the media to cover issues of corporate greed and part-time work in a booming U.S. economy.
With the public behind us, Teamster members defeated an attempt by UPS to take over Teamster pension funds and won record benefit increases and 10,000 new full-time jobs.
The book, Outside the Box was originally supposed to be featured in an article in the Teamster magazine. But the Hoffa administration squashed the feature after they learned that Ron Carey was interviewed in an appendix in the book.
Click here to read the interview with Ron Carey.
Click here for more information about Outside the Box:Corporate Media, Globalization and the UPS Strike.
Teamster members can get the book at 20% off the cover price by calling 1-800-621-273. The discount code for Teamster members is DKB.
MUD Aug. 31 Bulletin
Hoffa Announces Central States Deal
August 31, 2007: Chief negotiators James Hoffa and Ken Hall announced today they will let UPS break out of the Central States Pension Fund in an early deal to be inked by October.
Then the issue will be in the hands of working Teamsters at UPS.
This is an issue that will affect every Teamster-not just UPSers. Every Teamster who is concerned about the future of our union's power and our benefit funds needs to make their voice heard and to call on local officers to take a stand to defend our union.
You can help make that happen by distributing this information to Teamsters where you work and at union meetings.
A hard-core sales job, by both the company and the union, is on the way. UPS Teamsters need to be prepared to evaluate any early settlement carefully and scrutinize the impact it would have on both Teamster benefits and working conditions.
Click here if you can help us alert other Teamsters and to send us your thoughts on this issue.
Click here to download the latest bulletin from Make UPS Deliver.
Click here to download the latest Central States Pension Update from TDU.
Working Conditions at Stake
One danger is that the pension issue will overshadow the many contract issues affecting UPSers' daily working conditions.
In surveys and contract meetings, working Teamsters at UPS made it clear that UPS should not get an early agreement unless it includes:
- Real protection from excessive overtime
- Strong language to ensure compliance with 8-hour requests
- Higher wages-especially for part-timers and combo workers
- Fairness for combo workers-including stronger bidding and seniority rights.
- Increased penalties for supervisors working
- Protection from unfair discipline based on new UPS spying technology
- A minimum of 10,000 new full-time jobs
UPS is prepared to spend billions to push through its pension grab and distract members from the critical language issues that determine the quality of our work lives.
The pressure is on the company, not us, to settle early. We need to win the improvements that we deserve or we will suffer the consequences for another five years.
Central States Pension Grab
UPS has been gunning for more control over our pensions for years. This year, they are taking a more incremental approach by focusing on Central States. If they get their foot in the door at Central States, the company will target other Teamster funds in the future.
We can expect plenty of bait to get Central States Teamsters to swallow the hook, including:
- Higher pension benefits than what Central States currently offers
- Real 30 & Out benefits (no 6 percent annual penalty for retiring before age 62)
- More affordable retiree healthcare
That's what UPS will dangle to get working Teamsters to take the bait. The hook will come later when UPS caps future pension increases going forward. UPS stands to save billions of dollars over the long-term by reducing future benefit costs. That's what the company's move against Central States is all about.
That's why UPS management will offer approximately a $6 billion payment to withdraw from Central States. UPS management knows they will make up these billions and more by paying working Teamsters lower benefits in the future.
A drug dealer is always willing to sell you your first score on the cheap. They know they'll make it up many times over once you're hooked.
We can win improved benefits and affordable retiree health care without letting UPS split the pension fund. Our union took that united position in 1997 and we won record pension increases.
Hoffa and Hall Shill the Company Plan
It's obvious why the company wants to destroy Central States, but why are Hoffa and Hall are cynically promoting this short-sighted deal?
They claim that actuaries hired by the union say that breaking up the Central States Fund is the "only option." Are these the same actuaries who promised that the "Best Contract Ever" would protect our benefits for the life of the agreement?
These actuarial studies are paid for by members' dues-so why isn't this information made available to Teamster members so it can be independently verified? Instead, UPS Teamsters are kept in the dark and told to take Hoffa word for it. That's what we did with the "Best Contract Ever" promises.
In 2002, Hoffa and Hall gave away the 30 & Out benefits that we fought for decades to win-and secured in our 1997 strike victory.. Now they are poised to give away the rest of our strike victory by giving up the Central States Pension Fund.
Concerned Teamsters Need to Act Now
An early deal is on the way and so is the biggest sales job ever. We need to prepare our fellow UPS Teamsters to carefully scrutinize any early settlement-and consider its long-term consequences, not just the short-term improvements.
Leading up to the settlement, TDU and the Make UPS Deliver campaign will be producing informational bulletins. When a tentative deal is reached, we will publish a detailed analysis so UPS Teamsters can make an informed decision.
You can help make that happen by distributing this information to Teamsters where you work and at union meetings.
This is an issue that will affect every Teamster-not just UPSers. Every Teamster who is concerned about the future of our union's power and our benefit funds needs to make their voice heard and to call on local officers to take a stand to defend our union.
Remember, the 'Best Contract Ever' sounded good in the short term too. Hundreds of thousands of Teamsters paid the price through benefit cuts and diminished member confidence in our union.
We can't afford to let history repeat itself.
Click here if you can help us alert other Teamsters and to send us your thoughts on this issue.
Click here to download the latest bulletin from Make UPS Deliver.
Click here to download the latest Central States Pension Update from TDU.
Click here to download the statement from James Hoffa and Ken Hall.
Hoffa Announces He Will Cut Central States Deal
Hoffa Announces He Will Cut Central States Deal
Chief negotiators James Hoffa and Ken Hall issued a statement today announcing they will let UPS break 42,000 Teamsters out of the Central States Pension Fund in an early deal to be inked by October 1.
Then the issue will be in the hands of working Teamsters at UPS.
This is an issue that will affect every Teamster—not just UPSers. Every Teamster who is concerned about the future of our union’s power and our benefit funds need to make their voice heard and to call on local officers to take a stand to defend our union.
You can help make that happen by distributing this information to Teamsters where you work and at union meetings.
A hard-core sales job, by both the company and the union, is on the way. UPS Teamsters need to be prepared to evaluate any early settlement carefully and scrutinize the impact it would have on both our benefits and working conditions.
Click here if you can help us alert other Teamsters and to send us your thoughts on this issue.
Click here to download the latest bulletin from Make UPS Deliver.
Click here to download the latest Central States Pension Update from TDU.
Central States Pension Grab
UPS has been gunning for more control over our pensions for years. This year, they are taking a more incremental approach by focusing on Central States. If they get their foot in the door there, the company will target other Teamster funds in the future. Other Teamster employers will follow suit, including ABF and others.
We can expect plenty of bait to get Central States Teamsters to swallow the hook, including:
- Higher pension benefits than what Central States currently offers
- Real 30 & Out benefits (no 6 percent annual penalty for retiring before age 62)
- More affordable retiree healthcare
That’s what UPS will dangle to get working Teamsters to take the bait. The hook will come later when UPS caps future pension increases going forward. UPS stands to save billions of dollars over the long-term by reducing future benefit costs. That’s what the company’s move against Central States is all about.
That’s why UPS management will offer approximately a $6 billion payment to withdraw from Central States. UPS management knows they will make up these billions and more by paying working Teamsters lower benefits in the future.
A drug dealer is always willing to sell you your first score on the cheap. They know they’ll make it up many times over once you’re hooked.
We can win improved benefits and affordable retiree health care without letting UPS split the pension fund. Our union took that united position in 1997 and we won record pension increases.
Working Conditions at Stake
One danger for UPS Teamsters is that the Central States pension issue will overshadow the many contract issues affecting UPSers’ daily working conditions.
In surveys and contract meetings, working Teamsters at UPS made it clear that UPS should not get an early agreement unless it includes:
- Real protection from excessive overtime
- Strong language to ensure compliance with 8-hour requests
- Higher wages—especially for part-timers and combo workers
- Fairness for combo workers—including stronger bidding and seniority rights.
- Increased penalties for supervisors working
- Protection from unfair discipline based on new UPS spying technology
- A minimum of 10,000 new full-time jobs
UPS is prepared to spend billions to push through its pension grab and distract us from the critical language issues that determine the quality of our work lives.
The pressure is on the company, not us, to settle early. We need to win the improvements that we deserve or we will suffer the consequences for another five years.
Hoffa and Hall Shill the Company Plan
It’s obvious why the company wants to destroy Central States, but why are Hoffa and Hall promoting this short-sighted deal?
They claim that actuaries hired by the union say that breaking up the Central States Fund is the “only option.” Are these the same actuaries who promised that the “Best Contract Ever” would protect our benefits for the life of the 2002 agreement?
These actuarial studies are paid for by members’ dues—so why isn’t this information made available to Teamster members so it can be independently verified? Instead, UPS Teamsters are kept in the dark and told to take Hoffa’s word for it. That’s what we did with the “Best Contract Ever” promises.
In 2002, Hoffa and Hall gave away the 30 & Out benefits that we fought for decades to win—and secured in our 1997 strike victory. Now they are poised to give away the rest of that victory by giving up the Central States Pension Fund.
Concerned Teamsters Need to Act Now
An early deal is on the way and so is the biggest sales job ever. We need to prepare our fellow UPS Teamsters to carefully scrutinize any early settlement—and consider its long-term consequences, not just the short-term improvements.
This is an issue that will affect every Teamster—not just UPSers. Every Teamster who is concerned about the future of our union’s power and our benefit funds need to make their voice heard and to call on local officers to take a stand to defend our union.
You can help make that happen by distributing this information to Teamsters where you work and at union meetings.
Leading up to the settlement, TDU and the Make UPS Deliver campaign will be producing informational bulletins. When a tentative deal is reached, we will publish a detailed analysis so UPS Teamsters can make an informed decision.
Remember, the ‘Best Contract Ever’ sounded good in the short term too. Hundreds of thousands of Teamsters paid the price through benefit cuts and diminished member confidence in our union.
We can’t afford to let history repeat itself.
Click here if you can help us alert other Teamsters and to send us your thoughts on this issue.
Click here to download the latest bulletin from Make UPS Deliver.
Click here to download the latest Central States Pension Update from TDU.