Multiple subcommittees of Teamster representatives and rank-and-file members kept meeting during the day Thursday to review contract proposals with UPS and finalize language for future exchanges.
Unfortunately, the Teamsters Safety and Health subcommittee was unable to meet after UPS committee chairs disrespectfully addressed other committee members and spoke down to Teamster rank-and-filers.
Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien wasted no time reprimanding the entire UPS bargaining group face-to-face for its unacceptable and embarrassing actions.
“It’s so sad that we have to waste precious time during negotiations to deal with UPS’s bad behavior,” O’Brien said. “Our Safety and Health subcommittee will not be assembling until UPS starts acting professionally and stops trying to drag Teamsters down to management’s level. I will not tolerate a single person from UPS disrespecting anyone on any of our committees.
“The Teamsters will win the best contract in our history at UPS. I know we haven’t seen UPS’s worst behavior yet, but I’m also not going to let it slow our progress or hold us down. We are going to deliver for our members.”
Other subcommittees will meet in-person on Friday.
The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) met with ABF Freight in Kansas City this week to continue bargaining for a new ABF National Master Freight Agreement.
The parties made significant progress on both economic and non-economic items. Economic issues such as wages, health and welfare, pensions, sick leave, and holidays were significant points of discussion this week. Enhancing the protections for road drivers against the use of purchased transportation and obtaining protections against losing work to autonomous vehicles and technology were also major topics of negotiations.
Teamsters National Freight Director John A. Murphy described this week as difficult but productive.
“We are down to a handful of critical open issues. It is our hope to reach a tentative agreement in time to have it ratified prior to the expiration of the current agreement and avoid a work stoppage,” Murphy said. “The rank-and-file members at ABF showed their support for their negotiators by recently voting by over 97 percent in favor of authorizing a strike should it be necessary. Such strong support for the union negotiating team by the ABF members will undoubtedly help us get the best possible result.”
The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) met with TForce Freight this week in Chicago to continue negotiations for a new national agreement to succeed the current agreement that is set to expire on July 31.
Spirited discussions were had across the table on many subjects, including the company’s subcontracting and excessive rail usage.
The union also introduced a work preservation agreement to address certain concerns about the diversion of unit work away from bargaining unit members and to promote job security.
Some progress was made on various open articles such as protections against the company seeking to go back years to recover overpayments in wages, enhancing penalties against the company for untimely payments, and FMLA leave.
In terms of economics, the parties exchanged detailed proposals but remain far apart.
VINTON, Va. (WDBJ) – Aramark production and plant employees are upset with the company over pay and work conditions at the Vinton facility.
“We want to have better relations with the company. We want to get things fixed,” said Cindy Pugh, who sews uniforms at Aramark and has been an employee for 25-years.
“I don’t like the way they treat people there. They asked us to give respect. So what about us?” said Bn’Onia Suit, who has worked at Aramark for seven years.
Pugh and Suit are hoping a new contract will bring cleaner facilities, more respect from supervisors and better pay.
“For the seven years you put all your heart, all your blood. That means you walk in there for nothing. So now foods are expensive, I got three kids, how am I going take care of my kids,” said Suit.
Suit not only has her expenses in the United States, but sends money back to help her family in Haiti as well.
“It seems like every time we try to say something or try to get something across they’re just like waving us off,” said Pugh.
Teamsters Local Union 171 represents 53 production and plant workers at Aramark.
“90% of our production, plant employees are women or minorities and over the years, the company has exploited that. And that’s why they’re so far behind,” said Scott Barry, vice president of Teamsters Local Union 171.
Talks between Teamsters and Aramark began in January and they still haven’t come to an agreement.
“I mean, all these people want is job protection, they want safety, they want a clean workplace, and that’s one of the things we’re fighting for. …The hire rate for this company is just $10 an hour, even though they got to pay them 12 because that’s Virginia minimum wage,” said Barry.
We reached out to Aramark about contract talks and they had this to say:
“We have had several meetings with union leaders and the bargaining committee in an effort to reach a new agreement. We intend to keep working toward a settlement that works for everyone.”
WDBJ also asked about the unclean work conditions claim and lack of respect from supervisors but we did not receive a response.
The hope for Teamsters and employees, is that this won’t lead to a strike or lockout.
“No one wants to do that and no one wins in a strike or lockout, so we’re still trying and hopefully we get back to the table. Let’s break through this logjam, let’s get everybody back to work and everybody’s lives back to normal,” said Barry.
WDBJ will continue to provide updates to our viewers about the contract talks on the air and online.
Bargaining resumed with ABF this week in Chicago for a new ABF National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) to succeed current contract expiring on June 30. The parties continued to work through various issues, but a lot of work remains to be done.
Negotiations are getting down to the tough issues, including protections against purchased transportation, autonomous vehicles, and inward facing cameras in trucks.
The parties currently remain far apart on economics.
On Thursday morning in Chicago, hundreds of ABF members rallied in support of the bargaining committee and for a good contract. Many members of the bargaining committee were able to attend the rally in person.
The parties are set to resume negotiations in Kansas City on May 22.
After four months, and several weeks of delays by UPS, the Teamsters’ negotiating committees have secured major gains across all supplemental contracts and riders nationwide.
Of the 30 open supplemental agreements, UPS Teamsters have won tentative agreements on key issues, including overtime improvements for part-time members, reform to the grievance process and a faster grievance procedure, protections for seniority rights and the ability to bid for preferred jobs, and a complete shutdown of UPS’s proposal to try to force Teamsters to work any five days in any seven-day period.
“UPS is beginning to understand that the Teamsters’ position is rock solid — we are not tolerating concessions of any kind,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “UPS just wrapped up the most profitable five years in its existence. It’s time to reward the people who made those profits possible. Our members will see no concessions across any supplemental contracts.”
The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) and TForce Freight met this week for another round of bargaining for a new national agreement to succeed the current agreement set to expire on July 31, and more progress was made.
Although the parties resolved most of the easy issues in the early weeks, they are now starting to address the more difficult ones.
“This week we took up a number of challenging language issues with regard to stewards, seniority, protection of rights, grievance procedure, and several other articles,” said Teamsters lead negotiator Kris Taylor. “A lot of work still remains to be done, including issues of economics, but we are making real progress at the table.”
Several additional articles were addressed at the table this week as well, including Articles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 34, 43, and 44.
The parties will return to the table on May 1 in Indianapolis and have multiple weeks scheduled to continue negotiations.
The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) met this week with ABF Freight to continue negotiations for a new national agreement to succeed the ABF National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) which expires on June 30.
Progress was made on a number of supplements. At the national table, the parties discussed significant issues including the union’s objection to any inward facing cameras and in-cab monitoring, and the union’s objection to the use of autonomous equipment.
The union also presented its initial economic proposals to the company. The parties are meeting again next week in Kansas City to continue negotiations.