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Attention Members
Updated Nov. 24, 2020 - Our General Membership Meetings in Baltimore and Salisbury for December are canceled. As Covid-19 cases surge in our region, we continue to do our part to protect the health of our members and staff while providing you service and support. All the safety procedures we instituted in March remain in full effect. Click here to read these important notices regarding office and credit union hours of operation. If you need to see your business agent or have questions or concerns, give us a call at 410-566-5700.
Local and National News
Bargaining News: Successor contracts approved at Allied Binding, NuStar
Nov. 25, 2020 | Members employed at Allied Binding Co. unanimously ratified on Nov. 23, 2020, a new seven-year agreement providing annual wage increases and enrollment in the Teamsters National 401k Savings Plan. Other gains include an increase in the Company’s payment to Health Care, plus improvements to the vacation and sick leave language. Also in November, NuStar members approved a new four-year contract that provides annual wage increases of 3.5%, an increase to the night shift differential, and an increase in the pay for working out of classification (supervisory). The contract was retroactive to the Sept. 30, 2020 expiration date. Negotiations for new agreements continue at RNDC (Republic National Distributing Co.), Capitol Carbonic, and the State of Maryland. Upcoming negotiations: Anne Arundel County.
Having fun is their new job: Three UPS members retire
Nov. 19, 2020 | On Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, the UPS hub in Harrington, Delaware was the site of another retirement fete for three Teamster drivers with 99 years combined service with the company. Family, friends, and active and retired UPS Teamsters celebrated Frank Biddle (35 years, right), Ron Harris (33 years, below right), and Michael Taylor (31 years, below left)
with refreshments and well wishes. Jim Statum, UPS driver (and event coordinator), said Biddle “loves the water” and just bought a new boat. It’s not hard to guess what his retirement plans are. Harris likes the outdoors and hunting, and Taylor, who takes pride in his home projects, looks forward to spending time at home with his family, “time he hasn’t had for three decades.” More photos here.New Podcast Edition: Members power political victory
Nov. 18, 2020 | Listen to the latest edition of the Teamsters Podcast and hear how Teamsters reached out to their fellow members to make sure they voted for pro-worker candidates. Plus, drivers hear from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) about how to keep their trucks clean during the coronavirus pandemic. Listen here.Older news items are available at 355 News.
Elsewhere in the News What Organized Labor Wants From Biden
Nov. 25, 2020 | UNIONS | Now that they’ve helped elect Biden, there is an end to Trump’s anti-worker regime in sight. But organized labor wants more than a return to the pre-Trump status quo. Unions want progress, and they have clout that they are prepared to wield. They turned out the vote for Democrats, earned major victories in the fight for a $15 minimum wage, and spent the better part of the pandemic protesting dangerous conditions on the job. Nationwide, strike and work-stoppage activity is on the rise. The future, however, will not arrive without struggle. NY MagazineWorkers in North Dakota Strike to Demand Covid-19 Protections 
Nov. 24, 2020 | SAFETY & HEALTH | […] Since March, essential workers across the country have walked off the job at Whole Foods markets, Amazon warehouses, Taco Bells and McDonald's restaurants, and poultry packing plants to protest working conditions during the pandemic, some asking for hazard pay and others demanding protective gear. Few of these strikes have resulted in major commercial disruptions and product shortages—but as the workforce behind a massive food distribution company, the 75 striking Cash-Wa workers are in a unique position to disrupt a major supply chain if their employer refuses to provide them with more protections. "Workers are asking for temperature screenings, divisions between employees in break rooms, and adequate cleaning supplies," Brian Novak, a business representative at Teamsters Local 120, the union that represents the workers in Fargo. This week, North Dakota reported the COVID-19 highest death rate of any state or country in the world. … Vice
Millions of Workers for Corporate Giants Rely on Food Stamps, Medicaid
Nov. 23, 2020 | THE MINIMUM WAGE | A new GAO (Government Accountability Office) report commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders shows that corporations are soaking up profits—while paying workers so little they depend on government assistance to survive. Millions of full-time, adult workers in the United States — many of them employed by Walmart, McDonald’s and other highly profitable corporations — are paid wages so low they’re forced to rely on public assistance to make ends meet. For all 15 agencies, Walmart was in the top four employers of Medicaid enrollees and SNAP beneficiaries, while McDonald’s was in the top five for 13 of the 15 agencies. Other major retailers and fast-food companies were found to be among the most common employers of workers receiving Medicaid and SNAP, including Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Target, Amazon, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walgreens and CVS… In These TimesIn Case You Missed It 
• COVID-19 updates for Nov. 19, 2020
• Teamsters mourn passing of Tom Keegel
• Teamsters end strike at Toledo Coca-Cola plant
• Longshoremen’s union leaves AFL-CIO
• Trucking industry reacts to 2020 election results
• Biden forms transportation transition team
• Hollywood’s streaming boom is no bonanza for film workers
• What UPS’ rule change on staff appearance has to do with racial justice
• Which of your favorite sports players are union reps?
• CDC warns American: Do not travel on Thanksgiving
• 12 million Americans set to lose unemployment benefits after ChristmasThousands Protest Destruction of U.S. Postal Service
Nov. 19, 2020 | COLLECTIVE ACTION | Augmented by progressives, notably from the group Our Revolution, thousands of Postal Workers, other unionists, and their supporters turned out from coast to coast on Nov. 17 to campaign against Trump Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s resumed destruction of the U.S. Postal Service. And, speakers added, to lobby lawmakers, particularly GOP senators, to pass the Heroes Act. It includes $25 billion to keep the USPS going and offset the huge crash in profitable first-class mail caused by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic depression. The rallies, called by APWU and joined by members of UFCW, the News Guild, the Auto Workers, and other unions, come as Congress again wrestles with renewing aid to the 21-million-plus workers in all occupations who lost their jobs since the pandemic hit. People’s World
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