I know that there are no easy victories and my administration is tackling the tough challenges at UPS. We are working hard to ensure UPS meets their commitments. I am fighting:

• to win the 10,000 jobs our part-time members deserve;
• to end supervisors doing union work;
• and to end subcontracting.

Through our unity, we will make a difference for all UPS Teamsters--UNITED WE WIN!

Fraternally,
James P. Hoffa

Robert Downey, a UPS Teamster from Local 710 in Chicago, has the railroad and the Teamsters union to thank for getting more loads. Downey recently became a feeder driver after spending nearly ten years with UPS driving a package truck.

UPS management thought moving trailers by train would solve a number of problems. Much to their dismay, the absorption of Conrail by CSX and Norfolk-Southern railroads has created a fiasco, and cost the company more than $11 million for failure to deliver "guaranteed" packages on time.
The split of Conrail by two railroad giants and the consolidation of equipment and computer systems has wreaked havoc on UPS and with an aggressive push by the union created new opportunities for UPS Teamsters.

"The only way UPS can fix this mess is by creating more full-time jobs," declared General President Hoffa. "This will benefit both the Teamsters and the public."

As a result of the rail failures:

• 110 permanent full-time positions have been created, with more on the way;
• 300 UPS Teamsters have been put into service as feeder drivers;
• in the first half of this year, UPS ran 287 feeder schools, and more are being added in locations hit hardest by rail problems;
• UPS has begun purchasing new tractors to combat the problem.

"We are pressing UPS to recognize the gravity of this situation and to hire more permanent, full-time feeder drivers to ensure this situation does not repeat itself," stated Dick Heck, Director of the Teamster Parcel and Small Package Division. "It is very important that UPS limit the use of subcontractors when it comes to ongoing problems such as this."

Company officials reported three million service failures between mid-June and mid-July, resulting in 600 loads being grounded and run by subcontractors. The number of grounded loads since that time, as stated by UPS, has continued to fluctuate to as few as 30 of the original loads being run by subcontractors.

The Teamsters are challenging UPS on the interpretation of Article 26 of the National Master United Parcel Service Agreement and the use of subcontractors. The contract allows the company an "exception...in cases of an emergency or cases where the railroad must ground the merchandise early, to meet the company's service commitment."

"It is one thing to have an emergency. It is quite another for the emergency to last for an extended period of time," Heck added. "Two months is too long to be classified as an emergency."

Although UPS continues to classify the rail problems as an emergency, the Teamsters are working to create more full-time jobs and prepare for what promises to be a long-term problem for UPS.

"The anticipation of loads coming off the trains not only will assure me of work every day, but will help other feeder drivers attain permanent bids," Downey added. "I'm very glad to see this happen for the future of our drivers and of UPS."

UPS Teamsters won't get any protection for repetitive-motion and other injuries if Congress gets its' way.

The House of Representatives passed legislation recently that delays the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from issuing an ergonomics proposal or final standard. The Blunt Bill, H.R. 987, stops any rulemaking until the National Academy of Sciences completes a study, effectively postponing a new standard for up to two years.

The U.S. Senate has yet to vote on a companion bill, S. 1070. Should this legislation pass the Senate, OSHA will be prevented from even issuing voluntary guidelines. Although this legislation faces a potential veto by the President, Congressional maneuvering may still result in a delay of at least two years.

Contact your U.S. Senators today and urge them to "vote no on S. 1070 and any other measures that would prevent OSHA from establishing an ergonomic standard." Call (202) 224-3121 today.

The U.S. Postal Service recently teamed up with a private carrier to create a new residential package delivery service, with letter carriers delivering packages that UPS Teamsters should be handling.

Rather than focusing on improving the delivery of first-class mail, the U.S. Postal Service continues to lure away UPS customers by using artificially low rates subsidized by profits from its' monopoly on first-class mail and the perks of being a government agency.

"This is a serious and direct threat to the jobs of Teamsters at UPS," said Dick Heck, Director of the Teamsters Parcel and Small Package Division. "Every UPS Teamster, their family members and friends, must speak out against this unfair competition."

According to figures compiled by the Coography Group, an Atlanta-based consulting firm, the Postal Service shipped nearly 45 percent of all U.S. domestic air cargo shipments in 1998.

Retroactive pension benefits for part-time UPS Teamsters are now in effect as a result from negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters Parcel and Small Package Division.

According to the agreement, active part-time employees as of August 1, 1999 will receive the following improvements to their individual pension plan:

• $50 additional benefit per year of service for each year of past and future part-time service.
• Reduction to 750 hours of required work time to qualify for a full year of credited service for each year of past and future part-time service.

Amber Proffitt, a UPS part-time air driver at Local 767 in Dallas, can now afford to finish her college degree in a much shorter time frame than she originally expected. Under a new pilot project negotiated by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, UPS will reimburse part-timers for a portion of their college tuition.

"I'm excited to see that UPS now has a consistent reimbursement program," said Proffitt.

Part-time Teamsters at UPS in selected locations are eligible now for tuition reimbursement under the pilot project. Negotiations will begin in December to expand the program to additional locations.

Part-time workers will receive:

• Tuition reimbursement is increased to $1,500 per semester or $3,000 per year (Lifetime maximum under the program is $15,000).
• The plan will also help part-timers pay off student loans. Based on seniority, the plan will help part-time workers pay off student loans at the following rates:

• First year: 50% of the cumulative loan amount up to $1,000
• Second year: 75% of the cumulative loan amount up to $3,000
• Third year: of the cumulative loan amount up to $6,000
• Fourth year: of the cumulative loan amount up to $8,000

• The benefits of the tuition reimbursement and the loan forgiveness may be combined.
• The program is expanded to include trade and technical schools.

"We are working to ensure that our members have access to a full array of educational opportunities," stated Dick Heck, Director of the Teamsters Parcel and Small Package Division. "Our next step is to make this program available to even more workers."

For more information on the plan, contact your local or the Parcel and Small Package Trade Division at (202) 624-8755

A Teamster contract is the best job protection. The UPS contract only works when members are willing to demand that management honor its' terms and conditions. 

Members can help secure good Teamster jobs at UPS by:

• Filling a grievance when you see a supervisor doing Teamster work. Contract language gives members the right to collect money from the company when it is caught using supervisors to do Teamsters' work.
• Keeping track of UPS subcontractors. Subcontractors use low wages and lower benefits to hold down UPS Teamsters' pay and benefits. Subcontracting cuts job opportunities for part-time Teamsters and promotions for others.
• Reporting injuries, safety and health hazards. Management has a responsibility to provide a safe workplace, workers have a responsibility to hold management accountable.

"Contract enforcement begins on the shop floor," said Brian Hamm, a part-time Next Day Air ramp steward for Local 89 in Louisville Kentucky. "If we don't enforce our own contract, who is going to do it for us?"

Hamm filed a grievance with the Kentucky state grievance panel when he caught UPS supervisors doing Teamsters work for four consecutive days.

The supervisors were loading shipping containers onto airplanes, a task defined as union work by the contract. With assistance from the International Union's Parcel and Small Packages Division, the workers were able to win four hours of pay for each of the four days.

Local 89 Business Agent Tom Trenaman said the Teamsters have been fighting supervisors doing Teamster work for several years. "We have to let this company know that we won't stand for supervisors doing our work," said Trenaman.

It was an expensive lesson, the grievance panel ordered the company to pay the 30 affected workers for 480 hours of work, totaling more than $7,800.