Teamsters rolling up organizing, contract wins

[Omaha Steve]

http://labor-forgottennews.blogspot.com/2008/03/teamsters-rolling-up-organizing.html

Monday, March 24, 2008
Teamsters rolling up organizing, contract wins

By Mark Gruenberg
Press Associates

WASHINGTON -- Little-noticed in the tumult of the presidential campaign an the teetering economy, the Teamsters have racked up a series of organizing and contract wins, and may be on the verge of another, at United Air Lines.

The wins range from signing up approximately two-thirds of the workers at UPS Freight -- the former Overnite Express -- to breaking into the Deep South bastion of Mobile, Ala., by first winning a recognition vote last July and then getting a contract last month, with the help of the NAACP, at the New Era cap company there.

The Teamsters’ organizing wins, especially the Overnite and New Era drives, were cited at the Take Back America conference of progressives in Washington from March 17-19.

The first was as an example of what could happen elsewhere if the Employee Free Choice Act, leveling the playing field between workers and bosses in organizing and bargaining, was law. The second, New Era, was cited as an example of how partnership between unions and outside community groups, in that case with the nation’s oldest and most-respected civil rights organization, benefits workers.

But the overall list of wins is long and getting longer:

* By a 52-0 margin, Teamsters local leaders ratified a new national agreement with DHL Express, the first such national master contract with the firm in years. Teamsters nationwide are now voting on it.

FULL story at link.

[demosincebirth]

1. Thats good news for labor.

But, the reason for the success is that UPS is not contesting any of the card-check elections. Its more of a reason not to use FEDEX, which is non-union.