Open Letter to Teamster Freight Director Phil Young

We are Teamsters concerned about the upcoming bargaining for the National Master Freight Agreement, and want to convey to you, other officers and fellow Teamsters our concerns about the need to organize our Teamster power.

We all know the employers are already making contract plans and working to soften up our members. Yellow Freight, for example, has already started a regular contract-oriented publication “Agreement ‘03” which they have mailed to all their Teamster employees. Its May 2002 edition hints that concessions in health care may be a goal.

As a union, we need to be just as prepared. We and our co-workers expect a fight in this contract round. We are committed to do our part, and we are asking the IBT Freight Division to start now.

With the new dues hike, freight Teamsters will be contributing more than an additional $1 million per month in union dues. (That’s over 100,000 Teamsters at a $10 dues increase). This $1 million a month should be put to work now to organize and win the best possible contract, period.

We believe this means putting working Teamsters on the negotiating committee, and to work on a national and regional scale to build a contract campaign. Take dock workers off the dock, drivers out of the trucks, and other Teamsters from the shops and offices to work on a contract campaign and a strategy to win.

This program will mean close to 100 percent participation in a bargaining survey, one-on-one petitions and member mobilization to unite Teamsters and show management that we will not be satisfied and productive without a fair settlement, improvements in conditions, and absolutely no concessions.

There are 284 days until the NMFA expires.

We ask you to begin the contract campaign. We and our fellow freight Teamsters are ready to join it.

Fraternally,

Mike Schaffer, Local 377
Willie Hardy, Local 667
Willie Smith, Local 413
Tom Sheibley, Local 653
Gary Gregory, Local 135
Mark Woods, Local 249
Don Huber, Local 773
Larry McDonald, Local 728
Andy Fick, Local 390
Richard D. Hall, Local 41
Jimi Richards, Local 728
Greg Smith, Local 407
Dick Gebhardt, Local 961

YOU FREIGHT MEMBERS BE AWARE. THE INDUSTRY IS NOT WHAT IT ONCE WAS. JUST KEEP ON DEMANDING AND YOU COULD BE GOING TO WORK FOR FEDX OR SOME OTHER NON-UNION CARRIER.
DON´T GIVE ME THAT BULL ABOUT THEY PAY ALMOST AS MUCH EITHER, THEIR WORK RULES DON´T EVEN COMPARE TO YOURS ,THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO PAY BUT NO WORK DON´T COMPARE, THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO H-W-P. DON´T COMPARE. DON´T KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAYED THE GOLDEN EGG. BE CAREFUL!!!
BY THE WAY, JUST WHO ARE YOU GUYS? I DO NOTICE SOME TDU FREAKS NAMES, ARE YOU ALL?

How many TDU´ers does it take to change a light bulb ?

Get lost TDU

It looks about 13

The letter is a sensible one and the suggestions are good ones, but realistically speaking, the focus and energy of the IBT is presently devoted to gaining a good UPS contract and rightfully so. The better the UPS workers come out in their negotiations, the better off the fright workers will be. It makes no sense to jump the gun in freight and false start the effort.
alex y.

Should have confined this to the board it belongs on. You want to unify the freight members start the ball rolling on the Freight Board.

The 10 million additional coming in for organizing each month should be used for organizing new members into the Teamsters and not for assisting contract negotiations.

Once UPS has been succesfully completed and the concentration is towards freight then that is the time to start seeking help from all quarters.

BEFORE DEREGULATION OF FREIGHT, AND MANY YEARS AGO, THE FREIGHT CONTRACT WAS NEGO. FIRST. UPS WOULD WAIT AND WANT THE SAME WAGE INCREASES THAT FREIGHT GOT, AND GOT THEM. HOW TIMES HAVED CHANGED,
THE FREIGHT INDUSTRY IS NOT THE LEADER, IT´S UPS.
YOU CAN NOT COMPARE THE TWO. UPS MAKES MONEY AND THE FREIGHT COMPANIES STRUGLE TO MAKE MONEY ...IF ANY.
IF THE MEMBERS OF FREIGHT GET TOO GREEDY, IT COULD COST MANY MORE GOOD JOBS TO GO DOWN THE TUBES.
PLAY IT SMART.

I love you Hoffa guys. Now that you got your dues increase where back to making excuses to get the expectations down.

How many TDU´ers does it take to change a light bulb ?

Why do you want to know? Could it be all the dim bulbs in the Hoffa administration that need to be changed? John Murphy, Hogan and Passo down, and a bunch more to go.

Woods is a good guy. (I was pulling you´re chain Mark, I know you´ll read this )



PK

The letter suggests that Phil Young does´nt know how to do his job. I think everyone needs to wait until the contract proposal mtgs start up then go to the mtgs and tell em what you want.

NO EXCUSES,,JUST FACTS.

Woods is and always has been nothing short of a joke,and another worthless individual on the Hoffa ticket.

Where and when was Woods on any ticket, let alone the Hoffa one.

You don´t know what you´re talking about.

Brother Young is a stand up Teamster and a good ole truck driver. Anbody know Phil know that. This here committee smell of TDU not real teamsters. We don´t need to go back in time to Dennis Skelton´s idea of how to negotiate. Sure, he was rank and file and it showed. He didn´t have the respect of the employer or the members. It was a big joke with Ron Carey and them people. Like we´re not real people. Only thing they cared about was UPS. This time it´s the real thing and we support Brother Young in his effort to bring together a team of experienced Teamsters to deal with some tough employers.

The letter seems to outline some rank and file member´s concerns for tough NMFA negogiations for 2003.

Your response is to call them "TDU Freaks", because they are calling on the IBT to start getting us mobilzed and to give us the best bang for our bucks is your show of unity?

I know of 3 of them, and they are always fighting for what is right and fair in their barn......so I guess that makes me a follower of "TDU Freaks"?

If so, count me in too! I too will endorse ANYONE who speaks their minds, as long as it is for the members!

You need to get that TDU phobia out of your mind and get involved with this demand of theirs in this letter.

ALL Teamsters should embrace this, I know I will!

your one sick freak.

Quote:

On 2002-06-29 09:41, Anonymous wrote: your one sick freak.

phil young is going to stick it up our asses they want us to pay for h w what a ***** joke we will never be able to get another freight company to join the teamsters we dont have anything to offer anymore with dues increase and paying for h w what a joke