The following is a letter written to the organizers at FedEx Freight:
After Half-century of struggle, former Overnite workers have their contract. And next the Teamsters are turning our attentions onto FedEx Freight.
Workers at UPS Freight (formerly Overnite Transportation) in Indianapolis overwhelmingly ratified their first contract ever on October 7, by a 107-1 vote. This agreement will improve wages, benefits and working conditions and will serve as a model to organize thousands of other UPS Freight employees nationwide, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa announced.
"For more than 50 years, workers at UPS Freight's predecessor, Overnite, fought to win a Teamster contract," Hoffa said. "Today the union fulfilled its promise that we would not quit until workers achieved economic justice. Now we will help thousands of other UPS Freight employees win the same protections and guarantees on the job that the Indianapolis workers have. After UPS Freight workers join the Teamster family, we will focus our future organizing efforts at FedEx Freight."
The Teamsters and UPS Freight reached a tentative agreement on September 30. The contract, which covers 125 dockworkers and drivers who belong to Teamsters Local 135 in Indianapolis, also provides employees the protections of a grievance procedure to fight unfair management decisions, something workers have fought hard to achieve.
"This is a historic day," said Ken Hall, Director of the Teamsters Parcel and Small Package Division who was lead negotiator. "Thousands of Overnite workers fought so hard for this day to happen. We won't stop until all UPS Freight workers have the secure future that they deserve by working under a Teamster contract."
"In Indianapolis, we have been fighting to join the Teamsters since the mid-1990s, and it feels great to finally have the backing of the strongest union in North America," said Jesse Nicholson, a road driver and 20-year employee. "We look forward to our brothers and sisters at other company terminals joining us so that they too will have the same security."
15 comments:
In the Teamsters, everybody respects you and believes in you!
In a corporation or non-union company, they judge you!
TEAMSTERS; is strength!
PASS IT ON; BE WISE AND ORGANIZE!
What does being a Teamster Organizing Committee Member
Mean?
An active organizing committee is the most important element in a successful Union campaign. It is the foundation upon which a strong union is built The inside organizing committee provides the Leadership. Inspiration, & Hard Work to win and sustain majority support among the workforce. The organizing committee teaches people what a union really is, and shows people they don't have to be afraid to stand up to management.
The organizing committee has a number of critical functions during the union organizing campaign.
· Provides Leadership: By openly supporting the union, taking part in planning and carrying out campaign activities.
· Educates by:
1. Home Visits to discuss the issues people are concerned about and answer their questions about what a union really is.
2. Distributing literature and information to educate drivers about what our rights are, building union power and what having a voice on the job really means.
3. Sign up other drivers for Teamster membership and other support petitions and union events.
4. Building lists of names and addresses at each company so our campaign can communicate with everyone on the waterfront.
5. Answer questions from our fellow drivers about what a union is and how this campaign will build the power we need to solve the many difficult problems we face.
We are the union; No One can hand us a voice on the job and the fairness we deserve. WE MUST WORK FOR IT!
Now is the time for FedeEx employees to make a positive change... It's OUR union, it's OUR responsibility to build it!!!
Join the Teamster Organizing Committee and LET'S GET ON WITH IT.
IN THE OLD DAYS ALL YOU NEEDED WAS A HANDSHAKE. NOWADAYS YOU NEED FORTY LAWYERS."
-JIMMY HOFFA
BE WISE ORGANIZE!!!
Great News the Teamsters will be fully concentrated on Organizing Fedex Freight. It is a good day for hard working Fedex Freight workers everywhere. Awesome News. We are going to make a good company even better with a Fedex Freight Teamsters Union contract. Congrats UPS Fedex Freight is next!!!
American labor unions are the breakers by which we steadfastly hold back the tide of the frailty of humankind. Some business people are twisted by power, by arrogance, by greed that distorts their view. Character defects that cause individuals to lose sight of that precious gift we call humanity. To be. To exist. To cherish existence in ourselves but maybe even more importantly, respecting it in others.
In nearly every occupational category, union members earn more than nonunion workers. By comparing the wages of workers within occupational groups, the union difference is most clear.
WHAT IS A UNION
A union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain:
* Respect on the job,
* Better wages and benefits,
* More flexibility for work and family needs,
* A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers, and
* A voice in improving the quality of their products and services.
What kinds of workers are forming unions today?
A wider range of people than ever before, including many women and immigrants, is joining unions—doctors and nurses, poultry workers and graduate employees, home health care aides and wireless communications workers, auto parts workers and engineers, to name a few.
How do unions help working families today?
Through unions, workers win better wages, benefits and a voice on the job—and good union jobs mean stronger communities. Union workers earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers and are more likely to receive health care and pension benefits than those without a union. In 2005, median weekly earnings for full-time union wage and salary workers were $833, compared with $642 for their nonunion counterparts. Unions lead the fight today for better lives for working people, such as through expanded family and medical leave, improved safety and health protections and fair-trade agreements that lift the standard of living for workers all over the world.
What have unions accomplished for all workers?
Unions have made life better for all working Americans by helping to pass laws ending child labor, establishing the eight-hour day, protecting workers’ safety and health and helping create Social Security, unemployment insurance and the minimum wage, for example. Unions are continuing the fight today to improve life for all working families in America.
What challenges do workers face today when they want to form unions?
Today, thousands of workers want to join unions. The wisest employers understand that when workers form unions, their companies also benefit. But most employers fight workers’ efforts to come together by intimidating, harassing and threatening them. In response, workers are reaching out to their communities for help exercising their freedom to improve their lives.
Union members earn better wages and benefits than workers who aren’t union members. On average, union workers’ wages are 28 percent higher than their nonunion counterparts. While only 15 percent of nonunion workers have guaranteed pensions, fully 69 percent of union workers do. Four out of five union workers get health insurance benefits, but only half of nonunion workers do. Unions help employers create a more stable, productive workforce—where workers have a say in improving their jobs.
October 12, 2007 5:29 P
Union workers are more likely than their nonunion counterparts to receive health care and pension benefits, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March 2006, 80 percent of union workers in the private sector had jobs with employer-provided health insurance, compared with only 49 percent of nonunion workers. Union workers also are more likely to have retirement and short-term disability benefits.
October 12, 2007 5:37 PM
According to Professor Harley Shaiken of the University of California-Berkeley,[1] unions are associated with higher productivity, lower employee turnover, improved workplace communication, and a better-trained workforce.
Prof. Shaiken is not alone. There is a substantial amount of academic literature on the following benefits of unions and unionization to employers and the economy:
October 12, 2007 5:39 PM
Union members in low-wage occupations on average earn a great deal more than nonunion workers in the same occupations, often lifting their earnings above the official poverty level. For example, union cashiers in 2006 earned an average of $11.87—46 percent more than nonunion workers in the same occupation. Over a year’s time, having a union card could translate into more than $7,800 in additional pay for such a low wage worker. While the nonunion cashier’s earnings, on average, leaves a worker $3,746 below the poverty line for a family of four, the union cashier’s earnings, on average, brings the worker $4,075 above the poverty line for a family of four.
October 12, 2007 5:42 PM
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