July 30, 2007: Under pressure from gay rights groups and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, UPS announced that it will offer spousal health and other benefits to union-represented workers in New Jersey who are in civil unions.

The policy change comes after UPS was criticized for excluding International Brotherhood of Teamsters-represented employees from receiving spousal health care benefits for their civil union partners. The Atlanta-based package delivery company initially had denied spousal benefits for these employees in same-sex civil unions because they allegedly were not "married" under New Jersey law.

UPS argued that the civil union law was not the same as a legal "marriage" and therefore it was not able to offer the benefits to IBT-represented employees because the benefits provided in the collective bargaining agreement were limited to "spouses."

Nationwide, nonunion UPS employees and managers and their same-sex partners are eligible for benefits because UPS offers domestic partner benefits, but domestic partner benefits are not included in the current collective bargaining agreement between UPS and IBT.

"Based on an initial legal review when New Jersey's law was enacted, it did not appear that a 'civil union' and 'marriage' were equivalent," Allen Hill, UPS's senior vice president for human resources, said in a July 30 statement. "Over the past week, however, we have received clear guidance that at least in New Jersey, the state truly views civil union partners as married. We've heard that loud and clear from state officials and we're happy to make this change."

In announcing the decision to provide benefits, UPS acknowledged pressure from New Jersey officials, including Corzine, who had pushed the company to change its policy. On July 20, Corzine sent a letter to UPS urging the company to reconsider its decision and explaining that under New Jersey law, same-sex couples who enter civil unions have the same status as married couples (142 DLR A-6, 7/25/07 ).

In his letter, Corzine said the civil union law's statutory language "makes plain that New Jersey law intends that civil union partners be viewed as spouses under all facets of New Jersey law and that a reference to 'spouse' in a legal context, including in a contract, embraces civil union partners."

When UPS initially denied health benefits to Teamsters-represented employees, the company told workers that New Jersey law did not preempt the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and therefore the definition of "legal spouse" under the collectively bargained plan could not be altered to include civil unions. The letter also stated that the company could not unilaterally change the benefits because it was bound by the collective bargaining agreement.

But Victor Palumbo, secretary-treasurer of IBT Local 177, told BNA July 23 that there was "nothing holding them back if they want to improve the package of benefits. The contract doesn't allow them to decrease the benefits without negotiation with us, but they can improve benefits anytime they want. They can improve them unilaterally."

Representatives of Local 177 were unavailable for comment July 30 and a spokeswoman for the international union deferred all questions to the local.

David Buckel, an attorney for two individual UPS employees who were challenging the company's decision to deny benefits, told BNA July 30 that other companies should follow UPS's example when it comes to interpreting employment policies when it comes to differing definitions of marriage under state laws.

"UPS demonstrates for the rest of the employment sector that federal law--like ERISA--does not require an employer to discriminate," said Buckel of the gay legal advocacy group Lambda Legal in New York. "UPS deserves credit for explaining that it was wrong in how it applied the New Jersey law."

Buckel said as more states provide legal domestic partnerships and civil unions instead of marriages to same-sex couples, employers would continue to grapple with how to define terms like "spouse" and "married" in all sorts of employment situations, including leave policies and other benefits.

July 27, 2007: Watch the video that shows how our union won 10,000 full-time jobs, record pension increases and labor’s biggest victory in decades.

Next month, we will celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of the 1997 UPS Contract Victory—labor’s biggest win in 25 years.

“America’s Victory: the 1997 UPS Strike” reveals the keys to our union’s success—and the strategies we need to put in place to win today.

• Mobilizing Members: Our union’s year-long contract mobilization united Teamsters and paved the way to victory.
• Building Public Support: Our union built public pressure on UPS and won community support that forced image-conscious UPS to meet our demands.
• No Settling Short: UPS’s chief demanded that our union accept the company’s “Last, Best and Final Offer”—but we won record gains by refusing to settle short.

Watch the video that shows how our union can make UPS deliver the contract we deserve in 2008.

Contact TDU if you would like a copy of this video on DVD to show at your UPS building or to other Teamsters.

UPS released its second quarter results today. The company reported a 7.2% increase in earnings per share, and 10.5% jump in LTL revenue.

To read the UPS press release, click here.

July 18, 2007: Some defenders of management’s pension proposal claim that a $4 billion withdrawal liability payment from UPS would fix Central States and safeguard members’ benefits. Unfortunately, that’s just not true.

Find out why at www.MakeUPSDeliver.org

July 13, 2007: National negotiations with UPS again went nowhere this week, and are now temporarily suspended. Bargaining in some supplemental areas is scheduled for the week of July 16.

Read the full story at MakeUPSDeliver.org

July 12, 2007: Master contracts are the foundation of our union’s power. Will Hoffa let that foundation crumble? And what can concerned Teamsters do about it?

Master contracts cover about 25 percent of Teamsters, but they set standards for the majority. They are the foundation of Teamster power.

Jimmy Hoffa Sr. understood this principle and built up our national contracts. Is Hoffa Jr. giving up on the master contracts that were his father’s greatest legacy?

Just look at the warning signs that are flashing at us right now.

UPS. The Hoffa administration claimed early bargaining would deliver stronger pension and health benefits. But top officials are leaking that Hoffa may go along with UPS’s proposal to break up the Central States Pension Fund.

CARHAUL. The Hoffa administration has allowed 3,300 carhaulers, nearly 40 percent of Teamsters covered by the contract, to have their wages slashed to 17.5 percent below union scale—and frozen for years. This has happened even as billionaire Ron Burkle has taken over 60 percent of the industry.

FREIGHT. Freight division leaders openly question whether Hoffa has given up on this core industry. ABF’s CEO is promoting a scheme to bust out of Teamster pension plans and set up a company pension, or even just a 401(k).

DHL. IBT insiders report that Hoffa will allow DHL out of the National Master Freight Agreement.

UPS FREIGHT. Over a year ago Hoffa claimed a national cardcheck agreement would soon unionize 15,000 UPS Freight employees. Now management is playing hardball and attacking our union—and union officials in freight are concerned that Hoffa will give up Teamster standards to get the company under a contract.

UPS CARTAGE. Hoffa’s so-called “master” contract leaves substandard wages in place and no protection against subcontracting.

Master Contracts:Fact From Fiction

A true master contract uses our union’s national power to raise all Teamsters up to the highest level.

What the Hoffa administration calls a “master contract” is any contract that covers multiple locations, even if there’s no Teamster pension, the wages vary by location, and the conditions are inferior to our national standards.

Hoffa’s “master contracts” mean drastically lower wages (carhaul, UPS Cartage), undercutting our national standards (DHL and UPS Freight), and potentially even busting up our pension plans (UPS, freight, and UPS Freight).

Rank and File Can Make a Difference

Our Right to Vote on contracts gives members the power to prevent Hoffa from selling out our national contracts. But rank-and-file Teamsters need to be informed and united to use the power in our hands.

In carhaul, members nearly voted down Hoffa’s massive givebacks, but we fell just 2 percent short. With just a little more rank-and-file involvement, a 17.5 percent wage cut could have been prevented.

Do you want to be part of a movement to defend our contracts and rebuild our union’s power? Or do you want to sit on the sidelines?

Contact Teamsters for a Democratic Union today to find out how rank-and-file Teamsters can stand up for our contracts and the future of our union.

Click the links below to read more:

Save Our Pensions

UPS Freight Attacks Teamsters Union

Don't Let DHL Out of National Contract

UPS Cartage Services: Teamster Success Not Secure

July 12, 2007: The International Union has cited its agreement covering UPS Cartage Services Teamsters as a model for success at UPS Freight.

But, despite this enthusiasm and IBT Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel’s misstatement to the 2006 IBT Convention that UPS Cartage Services Teamsters had “secured the same wages and benefits as their UPS brothers and sisters,” Teamster standards and security in this part of the Brown Behemoth remain imperiled.

The August 2005 Addendum to the UPS National Master applies to UPS Teamsters in operations covered by local agreements with Menlo Forwarding (UPS acquired Menlo in Dec. 2004).

The August 2005 Addendum provided for 3 percent annual wage increases when local agreements expire. Some of the locally-bargained rates were very substandard, so there are former Menlo Teamsters working for UPS at substandard wage and benefit rates.

The bulk of the organizing that resulted from the August 2005 agreement brought in part-timers at the new heavy-weight hub in Louisville and five regional hubs that handle freight from shippers formally serviced by Menlo Forwarding.

A “Letter of Agreement” that was part of the August 2005 deal puts these part-timers directly into the regular UPS parcel ranks. The union delivered its high-turnover, low-wage part-time workforce.

Subcontracting Protection

The biggest hole in the August 2005 Addendum covering CSI Teamsters is the exclusion of these units from subcontracting protection. The Addendum bars these Teamsters from protection under Article 1, Section 1, 2, and 4, and Article 32 of the UPS national contract. UPS calls its Cartage Services unit a “vendor” that provides services to its nonunion carrier, UPS Supply Chain Solutions.

So, when the company moves new work through its nonunion carrier and has Teamster work done by nonunion subcontractors or nonunion UPS subsidiaries, the union has no recourse!

Early negotiations for a new supplement to replace the August 2005 Addendum have been conducted by the Union’s Cartage Negotiating Committee.

The “Brown Out” approach to early bargaining, keeping rank and file members on the sidelines, applies here as well.

But at UPS Cartage Services, this secretiveness hides a troubling disconnect. The company is preparing to integrate the operations of some of its subsidiaries including UPS Cartage Services, UPS Freight, UPS Freight Forwarding and UPS Supply Chain Solutions.

If IBT negotiators agree to a new supplement covering UPS Cartage Services Teamsters that does not address this future operational integration, these Teamsters could be rendered disposable.

July 12, 2007: On June 29, the House Transportation Committee voted to make it easier for FedEx employees to organize by passing an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration bill that would allow FedEx Express drivers to organize under the National Labor Relations Act.

Absurdly, FedEx, the nation’s second largest trucking company, is currently treated as an “airline” under federal labor law—thanks to a provision management snuck into legislation ten years ago. FedEx is covered by the Railway Labor Act which makes it much harder for drivers and mechanics to organize.

The vote by the Transportation Committee is a step in the right direction. (UPS management thinks so too. They support the legislation). But even if legislation is passed putting FedEx under the National Labor Relations Act where it belongs, organizing this anti-union competitor is still going to be a big challenge.

A group of drivers for FedEx Home Delivery in Hartford, Conn. voted to join the Teamsters by 12-9 in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board last month. But the company is refusing to respect the vote.

Other elections at FedEx Home Delivery are pending while the company faces charges of retaliating against and terminating pro-union drivers.

Labor Law Reform Needed

Corporate lobbyists are blowing a lot of hot air these days on Capitol Hill about how NLRB elections are the only fair way for workers to unionize. The truth is corporations like the NLRB process because it is open to employer abuse and stall tactics that buy companies time to fire and intimidate union supporters.

That’s why the labor movement is pushing for the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would allow employees to unionize if a majority sign union cards.

Strong UPS Contract Will Boost Organizing

Labor law reform is important. But the number one thing we can do to inspire FedEx (and UPS Freight) workers to join the Teamsters is to win a strong contract at UPS.

After our contract victory in 1997, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said, “You could make a million house calls and run a thousand television commercials and stage a hundred strawberry rallies and still not come close to doing what the UPS strike did for organizing.”

The 1997 strike continues to give us bargaining leverage. UPS management and shippers still fear a work disruption. That’s why the company is under pressure to settle our contract early this time around.

We need to use this leverage to win the improvements we were promised in 2002. Winning better pensions, benefits and working conditions would mean a better future for Teamsters at UPS—and it will make it easier to organize the nonunion competition.

July 12, 2007: Management has cracked down on the distribution of Convoy Dispatch and Make UPS Deliver contract bulletins at UPS’s Lumberton, N.C. facility. Apparently, the company does not like members being informed about contract negotiations and other issues at UPS.

For years, shop steward Nichele Fulmore has distributed Convoy and other union material at the driver counter before members punch in.  But on May 17, UPS management issued Fulmore a warning letter saying her actions violated UPS’s “No Solicitation” policy.

Federal law says something otherwise. Under the National Labor Relations Act, UPS Teamsters have the legal right to distribute Convoy and other TDU or union material on company property provided that information is distributed in non-work areas and non-work times.

This includes the right to distribute information in so-called “mixed” work/non-work areas where work is performed during some hours, but Teamsters are allowed to gather before and after work (like driver counters and time clock areas)—provided that members are off the clock when distribution takes place.  

The right to distribute information in mixed areas at UPS was secured over management’s objections by TDU attorney Barbara Harvey, who went all the way to a Federal Appeals Court—and won. Harvey is now helping Fulmore fight for the right to keep union members informed in the Lumberton facility.

“I am a firm believer that knowledge is power. As long as anyone can keep you ignorant they can control you. I encourage the members to read everything, ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly.’ They can form their own opinions, but get all sides of the story,” Fulmore said.

If UPS management is restricting members’ right to information in your area, contact TDU. All calls and emails are confidential.

July 12, 2007: In June ABF CEO Bob Davidson circulated a letter to all Teamster employees saying that members should dump their Teamster pensions for a company 401(k).

The letter is supposed to be a sales job for the company’s effort to break out of our Teamster pension plans. Instead, it reveals that it would be a disaster for our union to let employers like ABF and UPS to take this course.

An 18-year Teamster wrote Davidson about the company’s proposal. And the CEO’s advice is telling. Don’t worry about losing your pension, Davidson says. Under ABF’s proposal, you would still get your 18-year pension from the Teamster fund—plus start building a 401(k) on top of that pension. It’s “not like Social Security,” Davidson writes, but your very own account.

What Davidson failed to mention is that with 18 years in a pension fund you don’t qualify for anything but a vested pension, which in most Teamster plans amounts to very little.

ABF’s pitch boils down to this: put your future in the hands of the company’s 401(k) and pray that the stock market goes way up. It might work. Then again, the lottery might work, too. You just have to pick that lucky number.

UPS Pullout Could Cause Fund’s Collapse

At least ABF management is up front about their goal: saving the company money on retirement costs. And Davidson is honest enough also to admit what would happen to Teamster pension funds if UPS and ABF pull out.

“A UPS withdrawal, or other adverse factors, would make them even less stable or cause their complete collapse,” Davidson wrote.

Our union needs to say one short word to these corporate schemes: No. The American people have said No to privatizing social security, and we need to tell UPS and ABF the same now, in a strong and unified voice.

The corporate answer is to destroy our Teamster funds to save management money on retirement costs. The union answer is to protect our retirement security by sticking together, strengthening our union funds, and winning benefit improvements.

UPS-Only Plans Cut Benefits

UPS management is pushing their own pension scheme which starts with busting 42,000 UPS Teamsters out of the Central States Fund. Management wants to establish a new UPS-only fund, with half corporate directors and half Teamster officials on the board.

UPS Teamsters don’t have to guess how a UPS-only plan would work. Two large funds exactly like this already exist. They cover all the full-time UPS Teamsters in New Jersey and the New York City areas. Both funds are housed right inside UPS headquarters in Atlanta.

UPS has a track record at these funds—and it should raise alarm for Teamsters concerned about our retirement security.

Management recently demanded big pension cuts in both. They got their way in New York, and slashed pension accrual rates by 30 percent. In New Jersey the union blocked the cuts, so management has pushed the issue before an arbitrator.

The New Jersey fund is only 52 percent funded, by the way. That’s less than Central States. The return on investment in the New York fund was just 3 percent over the past five years and just over 6 percent for the last ten years. That’s much worse than Central States.

These are UPS-Teamster plans just like the company wants to set up for 42,000 Teamsters in the Central States. And they are cutting benefits. This puts the lie to the company’s claim that you would be better off in a UPS-only plan.
Promises are cheap. The results speak for themselves.

The Positive Alternative

Hoffa’s “Best Contract Ever” and the post 9-11 stock market dip delivered pension cuts. But the recent bull stock market has boosted our pension plans and positioned us to win realistic benefit improvements. That should be the priority for this bargaining round at UPS and in freight.

Affordable retiree healthcare. We have an additional 70 cents per hour in benefits due on August 1 in our national contracts. Early bargaining at UPS can let us get a lot more, enough to pay for retiree health care at affordable cost.

A written timetable for improvements in all pension plans. We need a guarantee, in writing, so all Teamsters will know that our pensions will be restored and improved as increased contributions build up in the funds. In 1997, UPS Teamsters got a binding document from Central States before we voted on the contract. We should settle for no less.

Include UPS part-timers in all Teamster pension funds. Part-timers are already covered by Teamster plans in the West, New England and Upstate New York. This will improve pensions for both part-timers and full-timers and be a big boost to the Central States and other funds, bringing in thousands of new participants.

These are realistic goals. There is no reason to give UPS an early deal without them.