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

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...

Last night on Labor Express Radio, I focused on analysis of the new contract between the UAW and GM, the tentative agreement between the UAW and Chrysler, and the contract negotiations between the UAW and Ford. I aired an interview conducted on Oct. 11th with Greg Shotwell and another recorded on Oct. 13th with Jerry Tucker. The audio of those interviews can be found below. Greg Shotwell is a GM worker, a member of Local 1753 of the UAW, and a leader in the Soldiers of Solidarity (SOS) organization within the UAW. SOS opposes the cooperative relationship between the UAW leadership & the auto industry management that has developed in the past few decades, blaming this cozy relationship for concessionary contract after concessionary contract in which workers wages, working conditions and benefits have continually declined. They argue that a militant fight back strategy against the boss is essential if the industrial working class in this country is not going to be reduced to 19th ce...

Perhaps I am spending too much time on this story, but it is likely that the outcome of this contract fight will have an impact on the working class movement, far beyond the 73,000 workers at GM or the 640,000 members of the UAW. Just as the UAW plant occupations of the 30's were a key element of the working class fight back that gained so much for the class in those years - so too the concessions of the past couple decades have played a significant role in the declining power and living standards of the industrial working class in the United States. And perhaps as a member of UAW Local 1981 (the National Writers Union), I feel a special obligation to covering this story. In any case, here is an excellent summary of the tentative contract from Labor Notes. It is actually worse than what I said in my R.I.P UAW entry. Only 3,000 temporary workers will be made full time employees (I know I read 6-7,000 somewhere earlier, but I can't remember where at this point). And rather than s...

Here is a really good article from journalist David Moberg about GM, the UAW, and the health care crisis in the United States. I think his comments on the VEBA, prove once again, that it is a big mistake. But of course the bigger mistake is that we still don't have a mass movement mobilized behind single payer national health care. It is the number one domestic issue in this election cycle, but all the "top tier" democratic candidates are offering mickey mouse proposals that seek to save the asses of the HMOs rather than establish real universal coverage, where the profit motive is removed. Even the labor movement is partly to blame for this, as over the years they have avioded supporting specific single payer legislation. That is changing. The NNOC (National Nurses Organizing Committee) has launched a serious campaign behind HR 676, the Conyers Bill, in conjunction with Michael Moore's film Sicko... http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_labor_lessons_gm_nev...

OK, I realize those are harsh words, but I can’t help feeling real sadness today as I read reports of what the UAW agreed to in its settlement with GM. As I am sure you have all heard already, the strike was ended today (after just two days), with the announcement by Gettelfinger that a tentative agreement had been reached. The exact details of the agreement won’t be known till at least late this week, when the members vote to ratify (or not) the contract. You can listen to audio of Gettelfinger’s announcement here… http://www.uaw.org/ Now I am not saying we should relish the idea of a long strike. Strikes are always much harder on the individual worker than they are on their corporate bosses. No one wants a long drawn out strike that leads to workers losing their homes, pulling kids out of college, sinking deeper into debt, etc., etc., etc. Let me say right of the bat, even though I have been a labor activist for 15 years, I have never myself had to endure the pain of a strike. But I ...

After years of concessions and job cuts, GM, despite it’s enormous profits (and don’t be fooled – they are enormous) still wants to extract more wealth from the sweat and tears of its workers. IT IS TIME TO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! No more concessions to multi-billon dollar multi-national corporations. Stop this race to the bottom. Defend the hard won gains of manufacturing workers in the United States and around the world. Its corporate mis-management that is the ultimate source of U.S. automakers woes, so why do the workers always pay the price, while the bosses are offered golden parachutes. Its time the bosses got a lead boot in the ass instead! As a proud member myself of UAW Local 1980 – the National Writers Union, I call on all working people to aid and assist in whatever ways possible our brothers and sisters at GM. Here is audio of UAW president Ron Gettelfinger, explaining the reasons for the strike at a Press conference on Monday (the original audio and a transcript can be foun...