News and Views from the People's Struggle
_Local 705 Freight drivers vote down proposed contract _
Chicago, IL – Negotiations are set to resume Monday, November 12, between Teamsters Local 705 and UPS over a tentative five-year contract for over 10,000 UPS workers in the Chicago area.
Washington, DC – UPS Freight employees are voting on a Last, Best, and Final offer from UPS on November 9, 10 and 11. This will be the second round of voting in contract negotiations between UPS Freight and the Teamsters. If the contract is voted down a second time, over 12,000 Teamsters could be on strike as early as Monday, November 12.
Chicago, IL – The Teamsters Local 705 negotiating committee informed UPS, October 31, that the contract extension covering over 10,000 UPS workers will be over in 30 days. Both sides will likely continue to meet before that date.
Salt Lake City, UT – Student activists from as far as Massachusetts, Florida, Texas and Minnesota gathered in Salt Lake City for the 13th annual Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) national convention over the weekend of October 20.
Chicago, IL – Negotiations continued between Teamsters Local 705 and UPS, October 25 and 26, on a collective bargaining agreement covering nearly 10,000 Chicago-area workers and one of the last two to settle with UPS around the country.
Washington, DC – UPS Freight (UPSF) employees will be voting on a Last, Best, and Final Offer (LBFO) presented by the company on November 9, 10 and the 11. The vote will take place in person at UPSF employees’ respective local unions and will not be online like the previous vote. The previous tentative agreement was rejected by the membership with a 62% “no” vote.
Chicago, IL – Over 1000 Teamster Local 705 members packed their union hall, October 21, on the eve of serious negotiations with UPS. Support was widespread for the bargaining team, who are ready to end their contract extension should the company refuse to address some key issues.
Tampa, FL – Over 40 Allied Ready Mix workers, represented by Teamsters Local 89, have been on strike since October 8. The workers are striking over a concession-filled contract, primarily because of proposed cuts to health care. The company has refused to negotiate with the union and a mediator will contact them again on October 22.
Chicago, IL – Thousands of Chicago-area Teamsters may be holding a strike vote as early as November 1 as negotiations drag on between Teamsters Local 705 and United Parcel Service.
Washington DC – Teamster International Vice Presidents representing the Central and Southern regions have joined Sean O’Brien in pressuring Denis Taylor and the Hoffa administration to stop the ratification of the UPS contract. The vice presidents include Avral Thompson, Robert Kopystynsky, Tony Jones and Bill Frisky of the Central region and Kim Schultz and John Palmer of the Southern region.
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.
