Union review: What will come of the Teamster pensions?

[Omaha Steve]

http://unionreview.com/node/186

What will come of the Teamster pensions?

The Teamsters in the Freight Division will be facing contract negotiations later this year, and there are concerns among a number of workers that their pensions will be taken away – or at least offered to be taken away as a viable option in the negotiations.

One Teamster brother called Union Review requesting information that he was not able to get from his local after someone sent him an email with the following quote from Robert Davidson, the CEO of the parent company that owns ABF Freight System:

According to the email the Teamster brother forwarded, the CEO was speaking on May 8th at a conference sponsored by Bear, Stearns & Co. He made it very clear that what he wants to do is offer his fleet’s unionized employees a less-costly company-funded pension plan and entirely withdraw from the current Teamster plan.

Not surprisingly, less than a week ago the Teamsters confirmed that UPS offered a similar proposal in the Central States.

The concern that many seem to have is that once the negotiations are complete with UPS, should they withdraw from the Teamster plan, other carriers will follow suit, ABF being one of the first in line. This, obviously, does not make for a strong union! The TDU are actively reaching out to Freight Division workers to keep them informed of the pros and cons of this situation. There are four main links that anyone in the Freight Division visiting Union Review should go check out. The links go to four TDU-written articles that folks should print out or email to one another so that support is given where support is needed:

* NMFA Wage Scale: Time To End Tiered Wage
http://www.tdu.org/node/1230
* An Open Letter to Tyson Johnson: Stand Up for Our Pensions
http://www.tdu.org/node/1229
* ABF Wants To Bust Teamster Pensions
http://www.tdu.org/node/1228
* Freight Survey: No Mention of Retiree Healthcare
http://www.tdu.org/node/1227