News and Views from the People's Struggle
Tampa, FL – Rank-and-file trade union activists from Teamsters Local 79 hit the gates, Oct. 8, getting petition signatures and handing out call-in information to pressure the IBT National Negotiating Committee into further negotiations with UPS. This comes after Denis Taylor and the Hoffa administration announced the ratification of the contract, despite it being rejected by the membership.
Washington, D.C. – On Oct. 7, Principal Officer of Teamsters Joint Council 10 Sean O’Brien sent an open letter to the Hoffa administration requesting negotiations continue with UPS as well as an emergency General Executive Board meeting to discuss the issues.
“The IBT needs to respect the will of the members and go back to the bargaining table.”
Jacksonville, FL – Just hours after UPS Teamsters voted down their tentative agreement in record numbers, union chief negotiator Denis Taylor announced he would ratify the contract anyway.
“The IBT needs to respect the will of the members and go back to the bargaining table.”
Jacksonville, FL – Just hours after UPS Teamsters voted down their tentative agreement in record numbers, union chief negotiator Denis Taylor announced he would ratify the contract anyway.
Teamsters rank and file claim victory against concessions
Washington DC – The results are in. The UPS National Master Agreement, which covers approximately 250,000 workers across the country and is the largest private-sector union contract in the United States, has been rejected in a 45.74% to 54.26% vote.
Washington DC – Fred Zuckerman, Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 89 and previous reform candidate to head the IBT sent an open letter blasting the Hoffa administration’s threats to ignore the UPS Teamsters contract vote. At the UPS National Grievance Panel, on Oct. 3, Denis Taylor, lead negotiator for Teamsters, stated the negotiating committee’s might ratify the UPS contract in the event it was voted down by the membership.
Tampa, FL – With the vote count a little less than two weeks out, west Florida UPSers will be voting ‘no’ on the tentative agreement. Despite retaliation from the company, rank-and-file militants have been informing the membership of Local 79 throughout the contract negotiation process. Now that balloting information has been mailed out and the vote is underway they are making sure UPS Teamsters have received their ballots and voted.
Jacksonville, FL – A critical vote is underway on the largest private-sector union contract in the United States. Beginning on Sept. 11, hundreds of thousands of Teamsters at UPS and UPS Freight began receiving ballot information in the mail to vote on their respective tentative agreements, regional supplements and local riders.
Washington, D.C. – Alrededor de 250,000 Teamsters recibirán una boleta a principios de septiembre sobre la ratificación del principal acuerdo UPS nacional de cinco años entre UPS y la International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Los Teamsters de UPS en todo el país se están movilizando para rechazar el acuerdo, firmado por el Comité Nacional de Negociación de UPS de Teamsters, el 21 de junio. Los únicos dos locales de UPS no afectados por el acuerdo son Local 705 y Local 710, que actualmente se encuentran en negociaciones.
![Across the U.S. Teamsters are getting ready to vote "no" on contract with UPS.](https://i.snap.as/agrKTFu5.jpg "Across the U.S. Teamsters are getting ready to vote \\"no\\" on contract with UPS. \(Fight Back! News/Staff\)")
Chicago, IL – Voting instructions will arrive in the mail as soon as Sept. 10, for over 200,000 Teamsters affected by the proposed 5-year National Master UPS Agreement. The only two UPS locals not in the agreement are Local 705 and Local 710, which are currently still in negotiations.
Tampa, FL – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced it had come to a tentative agreement with UPS, June 21. The agreement has been criticized for givebacks such as the creation of two-tier driving and poor part time wages. One concession is in Article 6 Section 6, Technology and Discipline. The article currently states:
Jacksonville, FL – On July 17, Dustin Ponder, the Florida Teamster union steward fired by UPS management for union activity, returned to work. After a month and a half-long campaign waged by Teamster militants and activists to get the steward reinstated, UPS caved to the pressure and offered Ponder his job back.
Louisville, KY – The Teamsters Local 89 E-Board has unanimously voted to recommend a “no” vote on the UPS National Master Agreement (NMA) and the UPS Central Region Supplement (CRS). Local 89 represents about 10,000 Teamsters at UPS.
Chicago, IL – Hundreds of thousands of UPS Teamsters received a robocall, July 28, from UPS management announcing a “Town Hall” conference call to sell the tentative five-year agreement by UPS and Teamsters national negotiating committee.
“The combination driver will create animosity in the work place” —Teamster Central Region International VP Robert Kopystynsky
Chicago, IL – Teamster Chief Negotiator Dennis Taylor and UPS shook hands on a tentative agreement, June 22, which will include a new driving position called Full-Time Combination Drivers (Combo Driver). Full details were released July 10. UPS Teamsters across the country are calling the new position a two-tiered concession that spells doom for future package car drivers.
Jacksonville, FL – On July 3, UPS management in Jacksonville deadlocked a local hearing over Dustin Ponder, a shop steward for Teamsters Local 512 who was terminated last month for union activity. Presenting scant evidence against Ponder, the company refused to give the steward his job back despite protests by Teamsters locally and across the country.
Jacksonville, FL – On June 21, the Teamsters announced reaching a tentative agreement ‘in principle’ with UPS. Headed by Teamsters Package Division director Denis Taylor, the union’s committee unveiled “highlights from the economics in the agreement” after months of closed-door bargaining.
Milwaukee, WI – On the overcast morning of June 22, over 50 package car drivers and part-time workers at the Elm Grove hub came to work early for a parking lot rally led by Teamsters Local 344.
Jacksonville, FL – At the close of business on Thursday, June 21, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Package Director Denis Taylor released a statement for Teamsters employed at UPS, claiming that a handshake agreement had been reached with the company. While not all details have been released, some 'highlights' were let out in the form of bullet points.
Coworkers allege retaliation
Jacksonville, FL – As the expiration date for the Teamsters-UPS national master agreement rapidly approaches, UPS management has moved to crack down on union activists fighting for a better contract. On June 8, the company terminated Dustin Ponder, a union steward at UPS in Jacksonville, Florida, elected earlier this year. His activity and involvement in the 2018 contract battle and last month’s strike authorization vote have many Teamsters believing this is a case of management retaliation.
