Teamsters Local 355

Local & National Union News

UPS is down to the final hours to reach a deal with Teamsters
July 3, 2023 | (Click image to view.) All day Sunday, the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee got its remaining economic priorities in line, meeting at times with UPS negotiators to drive home how critical these final hours will be for Big Brown. National negotiations resumed today at 9 a.m. in Washington. The Teamsters are committed to working fully through the upcoming holiday. In case you missed Saturday’s live press event on the status of negotiations, watch the full event here.

National contract overwhelmingly ratified
June 30, 2023 | ABF Teamsters have overwhelmingly ratified a new national contract at ABF Freight, as well as 25 of 27 supplemental agreements. The five-year master agreement provides members with improvements to wages, benefits, and working conditions, among other gains. Ballots were counted today after two weeks of in-person voting. The agreement covers approximately 8,600 members at 137 local unions throughout the U.S. Learn more here.

LIVE tomorrow: Update on UPS Teamsters contract campaign
June 30, 2023 | Don't miss an important live update on the status of negotiations for the UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement. With the current contract expiring on July 31, join General President Sean M. O'Brien, General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, and the UPS Teamsters Negotiating Committee for this critical update Saturday, July 1st at 12 pm on Teamsters Facebook. Related: UPS pleads to keep bargaining with more money, Teamsters demand more progress

Teamsters to UPS: You’ve got one week
June 27, 2023 | UPS returned to the bargaining table with the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee on Tuesday morning — without a revised or respectful economic proposal in hand. With the full committee behind him, General President Sean M. O’Brien took UPS to task, harshly reiterating that the Teamsters will not work beyond July 31 without a new contract. “UPS has wasted enough time and hoarded these record profits. Our members want what they have earned.”

Teamsters blast Yellow Corp.’s baseless lawsuit
June 27, 2023 | The union today called out the freight company for false claims and gross mismanagement. It categorically denies the baseless allegations made by Yellow Corporation in its frivolous lawsuit filed today. Read the full press release here.

Spring Golf 2023: And the winners are…
June 26, 2023 | RNDC Teamsters (right) denied their UPS brothers another winners circle sweep with a Third Place score at this year’s spring golf outing on the Eastern Shore. Details and photos at 355 News.

General E-Board reviews organizing, contract fights, national campaigns
June 26, 2023 | The Teamsters are prepared to mount and win big battles for better contracts and secure protections for more workers organizing into the union for the first time. That was the message made clear by General President O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Zuckerman during a regular meeting of the union’s General Executive Board on Saturday in Washington. Teamster leaders from across the country and Canada reviewed the growth of organizing victories from the previous three months and analyzed legislative campaigns to put more pressure on elected officials to support working people at federal and local levels. “On any given day, corporations are out there looking for every chance to take something back from working people. Weaker wages, fewer rights. The Teamsters will not take our eye off this constant threat,” O’Brien said. “We will grow, we will attack, we will never back down, and workers will reclaim what’s rightfully theirs.” Teamsters Facebook

Older articles here.

Elsewhere in the News

Week Ending 6/30/2023

• Unionizing made me a different person
• Rent is falling in U.S. for first time in years
• For workers, unions and public pressure get the goods
• The fight to democratize America’s biggest labor unions
• UPS Airlines pilots pledge to stand with UPS Teamsters
• Yellow calls on White House to get Teamsters to table
• Amazon caves under pressure and reinstates fired worker
• Sean O’Brien matches UPS at the bargaining table, Amazon could be next
• Union official: Railroad safety is compromised by job cuts, time constraints
• Contract talks by Teamsters, UAW have potential to change our politics
• Pride reminds us that the labor movement must fight for everyone
• Teamster strike approval at UPS prompts company to move on issues

Teamsters: Nationwide UPS Strike is Imminent

June 28, 2023 | NEGOTIATIONS | Today, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters walked away from the national bargaining table and officially demanded UPS exchange its last, best, and final offer no later than June 30. The Teamsters gave UPS a one-week notice on Tuesday to act responsibly and exchange a stronger economic proposal for more than 340,000 full- and part-time workers. UPS executives couldn’t make it one more day without insulting and ignoring union leaders and rank-and-filers as negotiations resumed on Wednesday. Despite the Teamsters having reached consensus on 55 non-economic issues with the company on June 19, UPS has continued to seek a cost-neutral contract during economic negotiations. The world’s largest delivery company that raked in more than $100 billion in revenue last year, has made it clear to its union workforce that it has no desire to reward or respectfully compensate UPS Teamsters for their labor and sacrifice. Full Teamster statement here.

Summer of Strikes Heats Up

June 28, 2023 | COLLECTIVE ACTION | It's shaping up to be a summer of strikes: Workers are walking off the job across a remarkable range of industries, from Starbucks baristas to factory workers making parts for jets to Amazon drivers. Why it matters: The worker activism sparked by the pandemic seems to be increasing, thanks in part to a still-tight labor market and a relatively strong economy. Context: The strikes aren't having much broad economic impact, for now, but they could portend even more labor unrest — as all this union activity might inspire others to seek better pay and working conditions. State of play: Through May, there were about the same number of strikes in 2023 as last year — but the number of workers who walked out went up 80% [see the embedded chart]. Then this month — really in the past week — there was a lot more action… Axios

Railroad Workers Kept Applying Pressure for Sick Days. It’s Working.

June 27, 2023 | BENEFITS | Last Fall, many union railroad workers in the United States did not have paid sick days. Now, more than sixty percent of them do, Reuters reports. It has been a process of slow, piecemeal wins over many months—and a testament to the continued push of high-profile politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Last December, railroad workers threatened to strike, an action that would have brought the US economy to a screeching halt. At the center of the debate: sick days. Sanders lambasted the rail companies for denying paid sick leave in a February letter to industry leaders. “Last year, the companies you lead made over $22 billion in profits,” Sanders wrote. “Guaranteeing seven paid sick days to rail workers would cost your industry just $321 million.” … The workers maintained their demands, unions kept negotiating, and the White House got back on the phone with the rail companies. Little by little, the companies began to concede. Mother Jones

Bill Protecting Workers Against Union-Busting Advances in Congress

June 26, 2023 | LEGISLATION | Democrats in the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which is chaired by Bernie Sanders, voted to advance the “Protect the Right to Organize” Act (PRO Act) on Wednesday, June 21. The PRO Act would bolster existing protections against union-busting experienced by workers trying to organize unions across the country, as well as close legal loopholes that favor the employer in terms of union organizing. The legislation, celebrated by labor leaders, organizers, and workers, would protect the right to organize a union. Practices such as captive audience meetings that are meant to dissuade workers from forming unions will be banned under this proposed law. Peoples Dispatch