Help Make This Happen at Your Terminal

As members get a chance to see the tentative agreement at UPS Freight, they are saying it fails to measure up.  

It does not even measure up to the first contract on some critical issues, including wages.

Paul Boegel, a Local 657 driver in Austin Texas, summed it up: "The proposed contract doesn't add up to enough to vote for it. I plan to vote NO and am organizing in Texas and via the internet to get UPS Freight Teamsters to turn it down. Help me make that happen in your terminal."

UPS Freight members in Louisville Local 89 met last weekend, and then Local 89's Executive Board recommended rejection, because it fails to meet the needs of the members. That is the feedback we are hearing from other union meetings.

You can download a leaflet for distribution in your area. Spread the word. You can make a difference. 

Click here to download the proposed tentative agreement. Answers to FAQs on the contract voting process are available here.

In your working life at UPS or UPS Freight, you may get five or six chances to vote on a contract, and improve your working conditions and benefits. This is one of them – take advantage of it!

Who Votes? All union members on the UPS or UPS Freight seniority list will be mailed a ballot at the end of May on the contract. At UPS Freight, there is just one national vote. At UPS Package, all Teamsters get at least two, and in many cases three separate votes: on the national contract, on your regional or local supplement, and on a rider (for some areas).

• In "right to work" states, nonmembers do not get to vote.
• The vote is by majority rule, among those voting. If you don't vote, you don't count.
• If you don't get a ballot, you can request a duplicate.
• It is a secret ballot; your ballot goes into a secret ballot envelope, then into a pre-paid return envelope.

Who counts the votes? The count will have an independent agent in charge, hired by the IBT. Due to past legal action, observers (members) not beholden to the Hoffa administration will be present. The unopened ballots will first be sorted by Local Union (there is a local union notation on the envelope), and the count will be then done separately for each local.   The count will begin on or about June 20 for UPS Package.

What if the contract is voted down? The IBT and UPS will return to bargaining, to negotiate a contact acceptable to members. This is not a strike vote; it is a vote on accepting or rejecting the contract, by majority rule.

What if supplements or riders are voted down? Then the supplemental negotiating committee and UPS will return to bargaining to negotiate a more acceptable supplement or rider. The national contract cannot be implemented during this period.

Do you have more questions? Click here to send TDU a message or call us at 313-842-2600.

How does TDU win rights and protect our Right to Vote?

• TDU fought for and won majority rule on contracts: previously it took 2/3 to reject a contract.
• TDU fought for and won the right to a separate vote on all supplements and riders, prepared the language and worked with locals to get it adopted in the IBT Constitution. Previously there was no such right.
• TDU fought for and won the right to a "fair and informed vote" and observer rights.
• When former Teamster President Jackie Presser tried to violate these rights, TDU went to federal court for an injunction which resulted in the UPS contract votes being tossed out, and the vote redone fairly.

TDU will keep working to win and protect your rights!

We are stronger together. Support our movement to build a stronger Teamsters union by joining TDU.

May 7, 2013: Click here to download a complete copy of the UPS Freight tentative agreement.

UPDATED March 28, 2013: Negotiations have been suspended until April 15. The company has proposed moving all UPS Package workers from company to union health and welfare plans, and the union expects a similar proposal from the company for UPS Freight.

Hall stated that the company and union are "light years apart" on the economic proposals. The company is offering a $500 lump sum bonus for full time for each year of the contract and a $250 bonus per year for casuals instead of any wage increase for the next four years! We need real wage increases—if inflation is 3% we need 75¢ per year just to avoid going backwards.

Hall said the union would not agree to paying "one cent more" on health coverage beyond what Teamsters are paying now.

Hall reported that subcontracting must be addressed before any agreement can be accepted. He stated that the goal was to have all road drivers back to work and working a full week. Hall remarked, "We have to make sure we end subcontracting with this contract." Amen.

Subcontracting means giving away Teamster jobs and should be a deal-breaker for the contract.

Hall said progress had been made in a number of other areas but did not report on them. He said there were tentative agreements on language for: bumping rights; more full-time jobs for casuals; protections for disqualified drivers; lay off recall rights; transfer rights; expansion of rights for military service; and cooperation on attaining CDL License.

Members will want to examine the language on these critical issues to see if it meets our needs, or should be renegotiated.

Bargaining continues this week in Florida.

Click here to send us a comment or to sign up for updates on the UPS Freight Contract.

What will happen when a tentative agreement is reached? Click here for Teamster for a Democratic Union's article, 5 Things Teamsters Can Do When the Contract Comes Down.

March 15, 2013: Contract time is the time for all Teamsters to think about where we stand and our future.

UPS has made record profits even in the recession. UPS's freight and cartage division has done quite well and continues to grow in importance to the overall corporation.

It's an ideal time for UPS Freight Teamsters to make gains in our job protections and benefits.

A proposed tentative agreement may be delivered to Teamster members for a vote soon. We need to be prepared to evaluate the contract on the key issues.

We have a Right to Vote by secret ballot, and a right to study the contract and discuss it at meetings and amongst ourselves. This is our power.

We do not have to accept the first offer: the contract doesn't expire until July 31. UPS wants an early ratification. That's a bargaining chip that we can use. We can always send the first offer back for further negotiation and a clear message of what areas of the contract need to be changed to get a yes vote.

The current contract was our first and has many areas that need to be addressed. Below are a few key aspects that many members have highlighted.

Click here to download the UPS Freight Contract Scorecard.

February 11, 2013: Negotiations between the International union and UPS Freight are getting serious – the time is now for members to stand united and strong for a good contract.

On a conference call with officers last Friday, IBT Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall stated that two key issues are ending subcontracting, and health care premiums the company forces onto members.

On the health care issue, the union is demanding at UPS Package that members retain fully company-paid health insurance.  In response to management's demand that Teamsters in package pay up to $90 per week for health insurance, Hall stated that "We're not paying $90. We're not paying $9. We're not paying 9¢. We're not paying premiums for health insurance for a company that made $4.38 billion," Hall said.

That same statement should apply to UPS Freight, too. Teamsters at ABF, YRC and other major companies pay nothing for health insurance.

We didn't win that in our first contract – now is the time to win parity with other Teamsters on health insurance.

The union has also demanded an end to subcontracting. This is a must-win issue to protect jobs and our union strength. Teamsters at ABF, YRC and other companies already enjoy this basic protection.

The International Union is calling on all locals to make February 21 a day of unity. Stickers about the issues of health insurance and subcontracting will be distributed to all locals to provide to members, for a show of unity for a good contract.

National negotiations resume shortly after February 21.

Click here to view or download a petition to UPS CEO Scott Davis – find out how you can help win a better contract.

Click here to sign up for updates or ask a question of the TDU UPS Freight Network.

UPS Freight Teamsters around the country have launched a petition campaign to show the breadth of support behind winning substantial gains on a new contract. The petition is addressed to UPS CEO Scott Davis and informs him that Teamsters expect major improvements in language regarding subcontracting, bids and guaranteed hours, work rules, health care and pension, and wages. You can download the petition here.

• Use the petition as a tool to talk about contract issues.
• Get signatures and contact info. Emails or cells are key for building the campaign.
• Ask Teamsters on the Road Board to get it to other terminals.
• Ask Dock Workers to get it to other road drivers.

Important Tips: Do not leave the petition posted or on a table in the break room. They will disappear. Have it with you on a clip board and ask Teamsters to sign during non-work time and in non-work areas like the parking lot or break rooms. Get others to take a copy to circulate and take their name and number so you can get back to them about turning in the results.

The International Union has given UPS Freight a new Letter Of Agreement (LOA) which allows the company to have two different wage scales for clerks at various terminals. This is supposedly a national master agreement.

The surprise deal gives clerks at a number of terminals a 2.5% lower wage scale than the master provides for; they also lose five months of 3.5% retroactive pay.

A full-time clerk making union scale will lose about $1100 in retroactive pay, and about $1000 every year going forward.

The new LOA states that clerks who were organized into the Teamsters prior to the June 27, 2012 deadline for card check, but after the master contract was voted on, get the lower scale. Instead of a 3.5% raise, which the master contract calls for, they get a 1% raise. And they get retro pay only back to June 1, instead of January 1, 2012.

The point of a master contract is to treat all Teamsters equally, regardless of which terminal they work at.

And when locals went to clerks and asked them to join the union, they showed them the master contract, with the 3.5% raise in it, retroactive to January 1. Now those affected locals have to try to explain this mean-spirited deal to their new members.

That's no way to treat any Teamster—especially these newly-organized sisters and brothers.

The money involved in this deal is chump-change to UPS. But it's a lot to the clerks, many of whom don't get full-time hours or full union scale.

This injustice should be corrected in bargaining. Bring everyone up to union scale.

Attached here are the one-page memo dated May 23, 2012, specifying the 3.5% raise; and a new two-page LOA which eliminates that clause (Section 14(a)) in the contract and substitutes a 1% raise, for affected Teamsters.

Paul Boegel, Local 657, Austin, Texas

Concerned UPS Freight Teamsters have been working with TDU for some time to focus on what members need with our next contract. It's clear that the IBT listened when it came to putting the package of proposals together to bargain with UPS Freight management.

Here are some of the key issues we discussed and what the IBT presented to the company.

• 1. Eliminate contractors taking Teamsters' work. No contractors to be allowed if any full-timer or casual is on layoff status.

The IBT proposal is to eliminate paragraph 2 of Article 44.

• 2. Protect job bid start times.  If the company needs to change a job bid start time, they must offer a re-bid of job if current holder wishes to bump off job bid.

The IBT proposal is to reduce the number of times the company can cancel/move a bid from 50% in 60 days, to 6 times in 30 days.

• 3. We need a trigger or hours formula for lay off recall rights.  This is a must have, to protect full time job bids.

The IBT has proposals for both layoff and recall triggers.                        

• 4. Eliminate the 10% rule for job bids. All full timers shall be guaranteed an 8 hour day of pay.

The IBT has a proposal to make all job bids guaranteed.

• 5. Increase sick days to be used at employee's discretion. Allow Teamsters to bank unused sick days.

The IBT has a proposal to bank unused sick days.

• 6. Adopt language from the UPS "brown" contract that curtails excessive overtime.

The IBT has a proposal to limit forced OT.

• 7. Increase the number of full time jobs.

The IBT has a proposal to increase full time jobs based on the hours worked by a casual in 30 days in a 60 day period. Also if two casuals are book-ended on 2 continuous 4 hour shifts for 30 days in a 60 day period.

The proposals that have been presented by the IBT do not include most aspects of what are called the "economic" issues like wage rates, benefits, etc. All UPS Freight Teamsters can download a copy of the bargaining proposals by clicking here. I also encourage Teamsters to visit this site regularly to keep informed on the negotiations and to help us organize members to win a good contract.

Jose Nuñez, Local 439, Stockton, Calif.

Last August, a group of stewards and officers were invited to the IBT headquarters in Washington to discuss the contract issues we face at UPS Freight. I attended and wish to thank my local officers and the General Executive Board for the hard work they have been doing thus far on the negotiations.

Many of us felt our contract was substandard, but it was the first so we expect a strong contract this time around. There are some issues that we have to make sure are dealt with before ratifying any second contract.

Here are a few I raised in Washington.

Our medical insurance has to be addressed. As a father of four children, I was not happy with the first contract. When we were employees of Motor Cargo, we enjoyed the option of a PPO or an HMO plan. For the last five years we have had substandard medical coverage.

Management and non-union employees have the choice of a PPO or HMO. We need the same option with more coverage and less out of pocket expense. Our current plan has an out of pocket expense max of $1,500 per family member.

UPS Freight can afford top-of-the-line benefits for Teamsters. The operating profits for UPS Freight and Logistics in the last quarter posted were over $200 million.

Many of our Teamster brothers have lost their jobs during the last four years because of subcontracting. We have seen the company take advantage of the loop hole in article 44 that covers one-way freight. We have also seen the company subcontract local cartage work, displacing more teamsters. When we met in Washington, everyone agreed we have to stop the subcontracting in this contract bargaining.

We have good union proposals but we have to stand firm and make sure that the strong language doesn't get watered down when the contract comes to us for a vote.