To view the IBT Delegate Election Notice, click on the following links:
To view the IBT Delegate Election Notice, click on the following links:
When: Oct 31, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: October 2020 General Membership Meeting
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- It is a five year agreement;
- The contract comes with the following wage increases: $2.00 in year one and $0.50 in each of the next four years;
- Pension increases as follows: $0.27 the first year and $0.50 in each of the next four years;
- Full maintenance of benefits on healthcare for the duration of the contract.
We want to thank the negotiating committee for all of their help, they did a terrific job, in securing a great contract.
To view the notice, click here.
Welcome to the family!
- Randy Cammack, Secretary/Treasurer
- Sam Stewart, President
To all Teamsters in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan
Your pension is under attack and we urgently need your help. Within the next couple of weeks there will be discussions on Capital Hill regarding pension reform legislation. There is a large contingent of people still pushing the Grow Act as part of that pension reform. The Grow Act will be devastating to your pension and pensions like yours. Please call this number, 202-224-3121. When they answer, you can ask for the House or the Senate. We are asking you to talk to your representative in both the House and the Senate. Give them your name and let them know you are a Teamster and that you oppose the Grow Act. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Save Your Western Conference of Teamsters Pension.
Teamster members and retirees: we have the next 20 hours to flood the emails and phones of the House Leadership to get them to strip out GROW from the HEROES Act. Call and email Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn with a simple message: “Remove GROW from the HEROES Act”.
The Teamster position is spelled out below. Contact info for Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn is below.
GROW will have a huge negative impact on Teamster pensions if it becomes law. GROW doesn’t belong in the HEROES Act. It is a Republican bill and it should not be in the Dem’s HEROES Act. Mobilize now to kill GROW! Call, email TODAY---RIGHT NOW!
Phone number District Office: 415-556-4862
Phone number District Office: 301-474-0119
Phone number District Office: 803-799-1100
The Devastating Facts of GROW
Twelve unions, representing the majority of private-sector union members, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, oppose the GROW Act. So why have the House Democrats included it in their latest coronavirus relief bill?
The GROW Act hurts workers, retirees, employers, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and should not become law.
The GROW Act is deeply flawed because it allows multiemployer plan trustees to “refinance” their obligations to workers and retirees in the existing pension plan over 25 years instead of 15 years, so they can divert money to create a new composite pension plan. This weakens the existing plan and leaves neither plan—the existing plan, nor the composite plan—with enough money to pay promised benefits.
The current public health and economic crisis illustrates the harm the GROW Act would inflict on Americans. If Congress had already passed the GROW Act and it was law now, workers in a previously healthy multiemployer pension plan that converted to a composite plan would face draconian benefit cuts. The benefits composite plan participants expected they would earn would be cut 70%, and the vested benefits they already earned would be cut 25%. At the same time, the vested benefits of workers in the existing plan would be cut 21%. To avoid benefit cuts, employers would be required to increase contributions by approximately 82%—above and beyond what they already committed.
Supporters of this terrible legislation claim that transitioning to a composite plan is voluntary. Composites plans are anything but voluntary. They undermine multiemployer defined-benefit pension plans by shifting risk from the plan sponsor (employer) to the worker, thereby creating an incentive for employers to flee defined-benefit plans. If GROW succeeds, it guarantees it will be an issue in every negotiation where unions currently have defined-benefit plans and result in a race to the bottom. The more than one million Teamsters who are essential workers risking their health to continue going to work amid the pandemic deserve to retire with dignity and financial security.
We urge Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats to listen to the majority of the labor movement that opposes GROW and strip it out of the HEROES Act before it is considered on the House floor.
Sincerely,
Steve Vairma, IBT Vice President, President JC 3
Rome Aloise, IBT Vice President, President JC 7
Rick Hicks, President, JC 28
Tony Andrews, President, JC 37
Randy Cammack, President, JC 42
Rick Middleton Vice President, IBT
Ron Herrera, Vice President, IBT
The Aava Dental Emergency Network gives our community members a place to go, should a dental emergency occur since most dental facilities will be closed and are not accepting patients at all. This will also help to avoid those dental emergencies from going into our local Hospitals during a time when we need prioritize those services for people who are affected by this pandemic.
- High Quality Dentistry using Quality products
- Locations have agreed to open at least one day a week, some 4-5 days a week to take emergency patients when needed and on call for emergencies that cannot wait.
- All offices are Preferred Providers with most dental plans.
- All offices are small businesses and owned by practicing dentists – Not corporate Dentistry
- All Locations are CDC compliant and offer a safe & clean environment, following ADA Guidelines for COVID19.
During these difficult times, Aava Dental partnering offices will be offering emergency "palliative" care at no charge for those members that have lost their benefits and are experiencing financial hardship.
To contact Aava Dental, call 855-228-2336 or visit www.aavadental.com.
UPS Western Region Supplemental Leaders Led by Union Chairman Andy Marshall Reach Agreement Further Protecting Employees During COVID-19 Crisis
Letter of Understanding addresses most serious member safety concerns while mitigating effects of excessive volumes on drivers
The escalating COVID-19 crisis has been hard on everyone, and it has especially proven challenging for Teamster members at UPS. These hardworking Teamsters are not only on the front lines of the fight as “essential” workers interacting with the public every day, but they are also dealing with heavier than normal volumes – in some locations, peak level delivery volumes – and an employer who has been generally dismissive of CDC guidelines for keeping them safe. However, after a weekend of intense negotiations in response to the COVID–19 crisis, and for the purpose of providing continued service to the community at large during this crisis, UPS management and the Teamsters Western Region Bargaining Committee have reached an agreement that addresses our members’ largest concerns during this pandemic.
One of the most serious issues our members have brought to our attention is UPS’s refusal to provide basic cleaning supplies to workers, including hand sanitizer and disinfecting products for trucks, DIAD boards, etc. We are proud to announce that this new Letter of Agreement (LOA) puts in writing that UPS management must provide these products when possible. We all understand that there is a shortage of some supplies; however, if supplies are available – and the Union will work with UPS on locating distributors of these supplies – then UPS must provide them. This list includes masks and gloves when requested, as well as sanitary supplies (i.e. hand sanitizer, antibacterial soap, paper towels, etc.).
We have also heard from members that UPS has been taking an extremely lax approach to social distancing guidelines, which could also foster potential spread of COVID-19. This new LOA addresses this as well. It bans all supervisory management on-car rides (i.e. OJS, Training, etc.), with the exception of return to work from injury rides, post-accident rides, or rides for training of new hires for the duration of this LOA. It also bans utilization of all on-car helpers for the duration of this LOA.
The other major problem facing our UPS members has been excessive volumes, which is unsurprising given the current situation. However, due to staffing issues at Amazon which are projected to worsen over the coming weeks, UPS has warned the Teamsters that they predict volumes to rise to peak season levels over the next several days. This will put further strain on employees who are already overworked, and so the LOA takes action to mitigate this impact.
Firstly, the LOA allows any driver working during their scheduled vacation to be paid at their overtime rate for all hours worked. Secondly, the LOA allows any current part-time employee to volunteer to deliver packages out of their own vehicle. They will be paid the top RPCD hourly rate to do so; they will be capped at eight hours; and they will not work their regular part-time shift on days they choose to deliver packages.
UPS has also agreed that before they can take volunteers from the part-time ranks, they must first ensure that all full-time drivers are working or have been offered work in a UPS truck or a rented truck. No current drivers (full-time Regular Package Car Drivers, 22.4 full-time Combination Drivers, full-time 22.3 Combination Job employees who are qualified to drive, full-time 22.3 Combination Air Drivers, full-time Air Drivers, part-time Air Drivers, part-time Early AM Drivers, part-time Cover Drivers and part-time Utility Drivers) are to suffer any reduction of overtime or any loss of work as a result of using the part-timers to bolster the ranks of current delivery drivers.
The LOA will potentially be of help to drivers at UPS Freight and CSI who are currently facing layoff. Under the terms of the LOA, laid-off drivers from UPS Freight and UPS CSI may be hired to perform feeder work when needed. The Company agrees to give these laid-off workers priority for this work before hiring outside the current workforce. Laid-off UPS Freight and CSI employees may also be hired to do package delivery work if UPS is not able to get enough part-timers to volunteer.
The LOA is extremely flexible for Local Unions who choose to participate. It is currently set to expire at 11:59PM on April 28, 2020, but can be renegotiated or extended in 14-day increments beginning five days prior to its expiration. In addition, any Local Union that does not feel the Agreement is working well for their members can unilaterally withdraw from the LOA either at its April 28 expiration, or at the expiration of any 14-day extensions that follow.
“Over the past several weeks, we have heard everything our members at UPS have said, and have been doing everything in our power to solve their problems one by one,” said Joint Council 42 President Randy Cammack. “The national MOU guaranteeing additional paid sick leave was a critical first step, and we feel this Western Region LOA will take a major bite out of the remaining problems UPSers are dealing with on a daily basis. We appreciate the hard work our members at UPS do every day to keep this company and this country running, and we will continue to work hard on your behalf to keep you safe and healthy during this critical time.”
The LOA will affect UPS members at the following locations at this time and are subject to increase as needed:
Arizona: Mesa, Tucson, Phoenix (Local 104)
One of the most serious issues our members have brought to our attention is UPS’s refusal to provide basic cleaning supplies to workers, including hand sanitizer and disinfecting products for trucks, DIAD boards, etc. We are proud to announce that this new Letter of Agreement (LOA) puts in writing that UPS management must provide these products when possible. We all understand that there is a shortage of some supplies; however, if supplies are available – and the Union will work with UPS on locating distributors of these supplies – then UPS must provide them. This list includes masks and gloves when requested, as well as sanitary supplies (i.e. hand sanitizer, antibacterial soap, paper towels, etc.).
We have also heard from members that UPS has been taking an extremely lax approach to social distancing guidelines, which could also foster potential spread of COVID-19. This new LOA addresses this as well. It bans all supervisory management on-car rides (i.e. OJS, Training, etc.), with the exception of return to work from injury rides, post-accident rides, or rides for training of new hires for the duration of this LOA. It also bans utilization of all on-car helpers for the duration of this LOA.
The other major problem facing our UPS members has been excessive volumes, which is unsurprising given the current situation. However, due to staffing issues at Amazon which are projected to worsen over the coming weeks, UPS has warned the Teamsters that they predict volumes to rise to peak season levels over the next several days. This will put further strain on employees who are already overworked, and so the LOA takes action to mitigate this impact.
Firstly, the LOA allows any driver working during their scheduled vacation to be paid at their overtime rate for all hours worked. Secondly, the LOA allows any current part-time employee to volunteer to deliver packages out of their own vehicle. They will be paid the top RPCD hourly rate to do so; they will be capped at eight hours; and they will not work their regular part-time shift on days they choose to deliver packages.
UPS has also agreed that before they can take volunteers from the part-time ranks, they must first ensure that all full-time drivers are working or have been offered work in a UPS truck or a rented truck. No current drivers (full-time Regular Package Car Drivers, 22.4 full-time Combination Drivers, full-time 22.3 Combination Job employees who are qualified to drive, full-time 22.3 Combination Air Drivers, full-time Air Drivers, part-time Air Drivers, part-time Early AM Drivers, part-time Cover Drivers and part-time Utility Drivers) are to suffer any reduction of overtime or any loss of work as a result of using the part-timers to bolster the ranks of current delivery drivers.
The LOA will potentially be of help to drivers at UPS Freight and CSI who are currently facing layoff. Under the terms of the LOA, laid-off drivers from UPS Freight and UPS CSI may be hired to perform feeder work when needed. The Company agrees to give these laid-off workers priority for this work before hiring outside the current workforce. Laid-off UPS Freight and CSI employees may also be hired to do package delivery work if UPS is not able to get enough part-timers to volunteer.
The LOA is extremely flexible for Local Unions who choose to participate. It is currently set to expire at 11:59PM on April 28, 2020, but can be renegotiated or extended in 14-day increments beginning five days prior to its expiration. In addition, any Local Union that does not feel the Agreement is working well for their members can unilaterally withdraw from the LOA either at its April 28 expiration, or at the expiration of any 14-day extensions that follow.
“Over the past several weeks, we have heard everything our members at UPS have said, and have been doing everything in our power to solve their problems one by one,” said Joint Council 42 President Randy Cammack. “The national MOU guaranteeing additional paid sick leave was a critical first step, and we feel this Western Region LOA will take a major bite out of the remaining problems UPSers are dealing with on a daily basis. We appreciate the hard work our members at UPS do every day to keep this company and this country running, and we will continue to work hard on your behalf to keep you safe and healthy during this critical time.”
The LOA will affect UPS members at the following locations at this time and are subject to increase as needed:
Arizona: Mesa, Tucson, Phoenix (Local 104)
Oregon: Hillsboro (Local 162)
Southern California: Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Springs (Local 63); Santa Barbara (Local 186); San Fernando, Van Nuys, Main St. (Local 396); San Diego, Chula Vista (Local 542); Laguna (Local 952)
Utah: Salt Lake City (Local 222)
Washington: Seattle, Redmond, Shoreline, Port of Tacoma (Local 174); Kennewick (Local 839)