Teamster workers demand UPS withdraw from ALEC

Jacksonville, FL – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is targeting United Parcel Service (UPS) for their leadership role in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate policy organization that drafts and pushes anti-worker legislation in state governments.

Minneapolis, MN – University of Minnesota campus union workers, holding signs demanding “raises and respect“ held a press conference regarding the U of M proposed budget before testifying at the board of regents public budget hearing.

Jacksonville, FL – Over 100 people attended a candlelight vigil at Planters Walk Apartments, May 13, in response to the police killing the day before of D'angelo Reyes Stallworth, a 28-year-old African American worker. Stallworth's family called the vigil, which brought out friends, coworkers and supporters from around Jacksonville.

Grand Rapids, MI—Around 50 workers and drivers joined a Teamsters Union Local 406 rally outside the food distribution giant Sysco Corporation on April 29. A huge black and gold Teamster truck was parked just outside the Sysco warehouse, bordering the Gerald R. Ford airport in Grand Rapids.

Minneapolis, MN – Minnesotans will be celebrating International Workers’ Day early this year. Labor and community leaders will speak out at an event organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Sunday, April 26, 2:30 p.m., at 4200 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – Trade unionists, historians, community members and descendants of strikers held several events in Minneapolis this past weekend, July 18 -20 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the historic strikes by truck drivers and helpers, members of Teamsters Local 574. The three successive strikes in 1934 resulted in the defeat of the Citizen's Alliance, an anti-labor group of employers that controlled city government. The strikes established the industrial form of union organization for the first time in the trucking industry and set the stage for the organization of over-the road drivers throughout an 11-state area, eventually transforming the International Brotherhood of Teamsters into a million-plus member union.

Atlanta, GA – On April 23, the leadership of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters (IBT) announced that the concessionary national UPS contract will go into effect this Friday, April 25. The contract – the single largest collective bargaining agreement in the country – was overwhelmingly opposed by Teamster members in Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania and Louisville, Kentucky, who voted down their local supplements and riders twice. According to the terms of the national UPS master agreement, the contract cannot go into effect until all supplements have been ratified by the members.

Highlights the need for industry-wide organizing, unionizing FedEx workers

Jacksonville, FL – Despite ‘competing’ as the world's two largest parcel delivery and shipping companies, UPS and FedEx are owned by many of the same banks. According to NASDAQ's ownership summary of both companies, 12 of the top 20 owners of UPS and FedEx are the same banks, investment groups and financial institutions.

New York, NY – Since the Feb. 26 walkout at the UPS facility in Maspeth, Queens, Teamsters Local 804 and UPS traded blows in a critical struggle over the fate of 250 workers and their families. Workers walked out to defend a union activist and 24-year worker, Jairo Reyes, after UPS walked him off the job. The company authorized Reyes to start early in the weeks leading up to Feb. 26, but when he filed a grievance over UPS abusing seniority provisions in the contract, the manager went back and claimed he was never authorized to start early, and ironically tried to fire Reyes for “dishonesty.”

New York, NY – Since the Feb. 26 walkout at the UPS facility in Maspeth, Queens, Teamsters Local 804 and UPS traded blows in a critical struggle over the fate of 250 workers and their families. Workers walked out to defend a union activist and 24-year worker, Jairo Reyes, after UPS walked him off the job. The company authorized Reyes to start early in the weeks leading up to Feb. 26, but when he filed a grievance over UPS abusing seniority provisions in the contract, the manager went back and claimed he was never authorized to start early, and ironically tried to fire Reyes for “dishonesty.”