Corporations and anti-union forces are cannibalizing this country’s job base and the fight is happening on a number of fronts, from bad trade deals to right to work, and from misclassifying workers to stealing their wages.

There are very few politicians willing to go to bat for working families and the rights of workers because they fear upsetting the businesses and industries which fund their campaigns and have a stranglehold on government. That is why so much bad legislation is steamrolling its way through state legislatures and the federal government. There are too many examples of bad legislative ideas to list here, but here’s a sampling: Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican House Majority Leader, wants to allow employers to skimp on overtime pay; the Koch brothers want to do away with the minimum wage; Republican politicians want to enact nationwide right-to-work laws, gut Social Security and privatize public industries.

There is only one group actively fighting for the rights of working families: labor unions. The Teamsters Union has been using every weapon in its arsenal to push back against these well-funded attacks on workers’ rights, wages and benefits.

“Corporations have money on their side, but we have the boots on the ground,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “Those boots don’t mean a thing if they aren’t marching.” Click Here to Read More

Fellow Teamster and Albuquerque New Mexico ABF Line Driver, Ralph Garcia won first place in the four-axle competition at the 2013 National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC), which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah in late August. 

Mr. Garcia also received the Neill Darmstadter Professional Excellence Award which recognizes a driver judged to best exemplify the characteristics of a professional truck driver, based on their driving record, skill, knowledge, attitude toward safety, and personality as evidenced by their work history and performance in various NTDC skills tests and overall professionalism. Contestants for the award must have competed at seven or more National Truck Driving Championships.

Ralph has done very well in State competitions winning 1^st place 16 times and has been competing since 1982.  On the National level, he placed 3^rd in 2003 and 2^nd in 2009 before reaching the top spot this year. This is the first time ever that New Mexico has had a National Champion in the NTDC.

Ralph Garcia also received the White House “Champion of Change” title in 2011. This is a Medal of Excellence from the Lincoln Highway Society.  

Ralph is a Captain on America's Road Team and is a member of the ABF Road Team as well for whom he has worked 35 years for and driven over 3.5 million accident-free miles.

"This is a huge honor for ABF…" said ABF President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Slagle."Just earning the right to compete at this event is an incredible achievement and our team performed extremely well.  We are very proud of Ralph… and the entire ABF team of drivers who earned the right to compete by winning state championships and maintaining accident-free driving records."

To view the ATA’s article, Click Here

View the UPS Facts IBT Site Here

Re-vote On 7 Supplements And Riders Scheduled For Sept. 18

September 4, 2013 - Local union leaders representing UPS Teamsters who currently receive TeamCare health care benefits and those moving into the TeamCare plan met in Chicago today to learn about improvements made since the UPS National Master Agreement was ratified in June. Update 10-11-2013 View results of this vote Here.

"When we started our contract negotiations with UPS last year, the company made it abundantly clear that they wanted out of the health insurance business," said Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer and Co-Chair of the UPS National Negotiating Committee. "They were intent on replacing the company plan with one that cut benefits, slashed retiree health care and required UPS members to contribute thousands of dollars every year in premiums, deductibles and co-pays."

TeamCare today unveiled changes the trustees have made to the plan, which were made possible by the influx of new participants into TeamCare. The improvements apply to all UPS Teamsters covered by TeamCare, existing participants and new participants.

"We know that many of these supplements and riders went down because of our member's concerns over switching from the company plan to TeamCare," said Jim Hoffa, General President and Chairman of the UPS National Negotiating Committee. "And even though the change from the company plan to TeamCare was in the National Master agreement, Ken and I knew we had to improve the plan before we went back to vote the supplements and riders. We heard our members' concerns and we went to work to address them."

"Since TeamCare will have an influx of hundreds of thousands of Teamster participants and their families, their bargaining power in the industry has increased," added Hall. "We went to TeamCare to find out what improvements would be possible with this increased power. This allowed the trustees of the plan to make some improvements to the initial plan that are important to our members."

The improvements were well received by local union leaders.

"I'm impressed with the improvements that were made to the plan," said Greg Lowran, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 243 and Michigan UPS State Chairman. "We've seen what UPS is doing to the health care of their nonunion employees. This plan ensures our members have the best health care available for the full term of the national contract."

Members can go to www.myteamcare.org or www.upscontractfacts.com for more information. Additionally, DVD information packets are being mailed to member's homes this week. Ballots for the Central Region, Ohio, Michigan, Local 243, Metro Philly, Local 623 and Western Pennsylvania supplements and riders will be mailed on September 18.

UPS Teamsters in New York State ratified the Upstate New York supplement to the UPS national agreement today with 65% voting in favor.

UPS Teamsters ratified the National Master UPS Agreement in June. The five-year contract includes increases in wages, health care and pension contributions and many other improvements. These contract improvements cannot go into effect until all regional supplements and riders are ratified. To learn more about the status of negotiations read the August 22, 2013 UPS update here.

UPS announced yesterday a change in its health care coverage for spouses of nonunion employees. Going forward, UPS will not cover spouses of nonunion employees who are eligible for employer coverage at their workplace. This decision does not impact the health care coverage of Teamsters at UPS.

The New Mexico Teamsters Retirees Club of Local 492 is holding a dinner at Furr’s Fresh Buffet at 6111 San Mateo NE, Albuquerque NM 87109 near Academy (click here for a map)

This social get together will be held at 5 pm, Thursday September 12^th 2013. The cost for seniors will be $10.29 + tax, drinks are $1.99. We have the banquet room reserved and we invite all of our retired brothers and sisters of this great Local to come and join us.

See you there!!! 

ABF Teamsters approved five of the seven remaining supplements, while two did not pass.

The seven supplements were initially voted down and re-voted over the past several weeks, with ballots counted today. The five that were approved in the re-vote are Central Region Over-the-Road Freight; Southern Region Area Local Freight Forwarding Garage; Joint Council 40; Carolina Freight Council Over-the-Road; and New Jersey-New York Area LU-701.

The two supplements that were not approved are the Central Region Local Cartage, (this supplement includes terminals in Kansas City, South Chicago, Dayton, and 84 other terminals) and the Western States Office Employees—Part V (this supplement has 15 terminals affected in the west, Albuquerque is not one of them as our office employees are not Teamsters).

The national master portion of the ABF National Master Freight Agreement has previously been approved, but will not take effect until the status of the two remaining supplements are resolved.

Arkansas Best said terms of the ABF National Master Freight Agreement — including planned increases to health, welfare and pension benefits — will not be implemented until the final supplements are resolved.

“ABF and the Teamsters will meet to address these remaining supplemental agreements in the near term,” the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday.

UPS Teamsters in New York State ratified the Upstate New York supplement to the UPS national agreement today with 65% voting in favor.

UPS Teamsters ratified the National Master UPS Agreement in June. The five-year contract includes increases in wages, health care and pension contributions and many other improvements. These contract improvements cannot go into effect until all regional supplements and riders are ratified. To learn more about the status of negotiations read the August 22, 2013 UPS update here.

UPS announced yesterday a change in its health care coverage for spouses of nonunion employees. Going forward, UPS will not cover spouses of nonunion employees who are eligible for employer coverage at their workplace. This decision does not impact the health care coverage of Teamsters at UPS.

We would also like to announce that all 492 Teamster Members are invited to attend the General Membership Meeting being held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 21st, 2013. Click Here for more details.

Finally, Local 492 would like to call your attention to the James R. Hoffa Scholarship Fund Essay Contest that awards 50 students $1000. Click Here for more details.

ABF Supplement Ballots are In the Mail

August 6, 2013

Although the national portion of the ABF National Master Freight Agreement was approved in the June referendum, seven of the 27 local/area supplements were rejected by members. After polling to determine the pivotal issues for these supplements the Teamsters ABF National Negotiating Committee and representatives of ABF met and hammered out revisions to the supplements to address those issues. Ballots on the revised supplements are now in the mail to all members under these seven supplements. Ballots will be counted on Wednesday, August 28.

No Ballots will be sent to 492 Members since all of our supplements passed in the first vote.

You can view the ballot cover letters and Memoranda of Understanding clarifying/modifying certain tentative supplemental agreements here:

Central Region Over The Road

Central Region Over The Road, Chicago Area

Central Region Local Cartage

Central Region Local Cartage, Chicago Area

Carolina Over The Road

Joint Council 40

NJ/NY 701

Southern Garage

Western Part V Office

UPS Contract Update

August 1st, 2013 -Local 492 Update From Kenny Duran & Mike Butler

(UPS Freight Update, Click Here)

July 29^th, 2013 From Ken Hall:

As you are aware, the national agreement was approved by a majority of Teamsters who voted.  However, 17 supplements and riders were not approved. 

Unfortunately, until all of the supplements and riders have been approved, the wage increases, benefit increases and language improvements dealing with issues such as 9.5, harassment, SurePost, Premium Services, military leave, additional full time jobs, and an increase in the starting wage for part-timers cannot be implemented. 

The bargaining committees are working with their members to make changes to the supplements and riders that did not receive a majority of votes so that they can address issues and send them out for balloting. 

When negotiations opened, UPS was demanding major concessions in health care, including the proposal that UPS employees pay a significant share of the monthly premium currently paid entirely by the company. We attempted, and we believe we were successful, in bargaining a new health care plan, TeamCare, that is comparable to the former UPS company plan and does not require UPS Teamsters to pay a monthly premium.  Nevertheless, the prospect of changing health care plans produced uncertainty among many UPS members and, in some areas, led to a vote against some of the supplemental agreements.

Although some members voted down their supplements because they were unhappy with a change in their health care, it is the national agreement that covers economic issues, including health care. Because it was approved by the membership, it is a binding agreement that cannot and will not be re-opened. 

Now that the new TeamCare plan has been ratified in the national agreement, the International will begin an effort to educate members on its basic features. The International believes members will find that it is an excellent health care plan and that the benefits are comparable to those they had under the company plan and superior to those that most Americans receive.

However, the National Negotiating Committee will be working with the TeamCare trustees and administration to make improvements in areas that members were most concerned with. In the end, this will make TeamCare a comparable plan to the UPS company plan and UPS Teamsters will continue to receive excellent health care benefits with very low out of pocket costs, including not having to pay a monthly premium.

As you know by now, the National Master portion of the ABF National Master Freight Agreement has been approved. This means the ABF National Master Contract is not open for renegotiating.

Most of the supplements were approved, 21 of the 27. The six that did not pass are open for renegotiating. The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) will be meeting with the supplemental committees and the affected local unions and we will keep you updated. This process could take a few months.

The six supplements that did not get approved are: Central Region Over-the-Road Freight; Central Region Local Cartage; Southern Region Area Local Freight Forwarding Garage; Carolina Freight Council Over-the-Road; Western States Office Employees—Part V; and New Jersey-New York Area LU-701.

These six supplements must be ratified before the national agreement can be implemented.  According to Gordon Sweeton, the pay cut and all other changes in the contract will not go in to effect until the 6 supplements are ratified. He also stated The Company will not be allowed to retroactively take pay cuts from the ABF members once the supplements are finally resolved.

The IBT has agreed to extend the current contract until at least July 31^st, according to an ABF memo posted, but we have not yet verified that with the IBT.

The final numbers of the National vote were finalized by the IBT on July 2^nd, and adjusted to 3213 yes, 2963 no. The Local 492 vote tally was also adjusted from the preliminary numbers given out the night of the vote to 172 yes, 40 no.