Teamsters Trade Gains of 1997 UPS Strike for Deal to Organize Members at Freight Division — Mark Brenner In mid-November Teamsters (IBT) at United Parcel Service approved a controversial five-year agreement, more than eight months before the expiration of their current contract. The new contract will pull 44,000 Teamsters out of the union’s multi-employer Central States pension plan, and end conversion of part-time into full-time jobs at UPS. It also widens the gap between full-time and part-time standards, freezing part-timers’ starting pay and forcing new part-timers to work for a year before they are eligible for health care coverage. These givebacks were accepted in spite of the company’s healthy bottom line, UPS reported more than $4 billion in pre-tax net income last year... READ THE REST AT THE LABOR NOTES WEBSITE... http://labornotes.org/node/1451 Check out the opposition to this concessionary contract here... http://makeupsdeliver.org/news.php

As discussed on the Labor Express radio program, here are some important works of labor history and analysis released in the past few months. Kim Moody has long been an insightful analyst of developments in the labor movement as a former union organizer and one of the founders of Labor Notes. His new work - U.S. Labor in Trouble and Transition: The Failure of Reform from Above, The Promise of Revival from Below – takes a look at the reasons for organized labor’s precipitous decline in membership and power over the past few decades, and provides solid advice on what is necessary to turn the situation around. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK… http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844671542/ref=s9_asin_image_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1PRY0CX1MFXW8KT8N51D&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=320448701&pf_rd_i=507846 http://www.versobooks.com/books/klm/m-titles/moody_k_labor_transition.shtml Kim Moody also has another important book out on the economy and labor in New York...

36% of GM workers voted “No” 45% of Chrysler workers voted “No” Ford workers can vote it down! The “No” vote at Chrysler was the biggest ever “No” vote against any contract that was ratified at the Big 3. And since then, many Chrysler workers who voted “Yes” have been quoted as saying that they would have voted “No” if they knew about the layoffs that were kept secret until after the contract was ratified. They want to sell us a contract based on false promises of “job security”. They want us to forget that this contract has concessions that will lead to a devastating drop in the standard of living for current autoworkers, future autoworkers, retirees, and workers across the country... TO READ MORE CLICK HERE... http://www.xpdnc.com/files/relatednewsandreports07/zpfile000zpfile001.pdf Ford 2007 Contract Info... http://www.xpdnc.com/files/relatednewsandreports07/SOS-FordContractInfo.htm Chrysler 2007 Contract Info... http://www.xpdnc.com/files/relatednewsandreports07/SOS-ChryslerContrac...