Category Archives: Political

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Retirees Rally at the Capitol, Protesting Pension Cuts

WASHINGTON — Some 400,000 retirees who worked in the trucking, parcel delivery and grocery supply industries face drastic pension cuts on July 1 as a result of a little-noticed measure attached to a huge end-of-year spending bill passed in December 2014.

Many members of Congress say they were not given the time to read the provisions or did not grasp the ramifications at the time, and they now say they would not have voted for the legislation.

The bill allowed trustees of multi-employer retirement plans to slash benefits if a pension fund’s failure was likely to overwhelm the underfundedPension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal government’s main insurance program for pension plans.

The retirees, all beneficiaries of the Central States Pension Fund,

Read the whole article here

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Part-Time Poverty at UPS and the Fight for $15

Not long ago, I was living in a homeless shelter while working under a Teamster contract at UPS.

Today, I’m celebrating a milestone victory along with other activists in the End Part-Time Poverty at UPS Campaign.

Yesterday, New York joined California as the first states to adopt a statewide minimum wage of $15 an hour.

The victory will deliver higher starting pay for UPS part-timers in New York City and wage increases to three million workers statewide. Starting pay for UPS part-timers who work in New York City will go up to $13 at the end of 2017 and to $15 at the end of 2018.

After Hoffa froze starting pay for UPS part-timers at $10 an hour, we linked our Campaign to End Part-Time Poverty at UPS with the Fight for $15. We organized rallies at UPS, collected signatures and marched in the streets.

By protesting, we won from the legislature what Hoffa and Hall wouldn’t fight for in our contract. But we’ve still got a long way to go. Even in New York this agreement leaves many part-timers behind.

The minimum wage and UPS starting pay won’t reach $15 until the end of 2018 in Westchester and Long Island and even later elsewhere in the state.

We’re celebrating this victory—but we’re gearing up for more.

We are joining a Fight for $15 Day of Action on April 14 and preparing new campaigns to take on part-time poverty by taking the Fight for $15 into our union, to the bargaining table, to state legislatures and to the streets.

If you can, chip in $5 to support the End Part-Time Poverty at UPS Campaign. United, we win!

Lennox James
End Part-Time Poverty at UPS

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Teamsters for a Democratic Union · www.tdu.org

Why do Republicans hate us?

This simple fact is lost on conservatives. Actually, it is not lost. Conservatives willfully spread disinformation about Social Security.The almost 90 years of Social Security success and stability provided to hundreds of millions of Americans undermines the right wing belief that government does not work.That is why Republican presidents since Reagan have borrowed from the Social Security Trust, and the GOP have capped contributions at $118,500 of income. The Republicans will do anything to destroy Social Security. All GOP policies lead to cutting of benefits, retirement age, etc. The Republicans have NEVER proposed any policy to improve Social Security.

This simple fact is lost on conservatives. Actually, it is not lost. Conservatives willfully spread disinformation about Social Security.

The almost 90 years of Social Security success and stability provided to hundreds of millions of Americans undermines the right wing belief that government does not work.

That is why Republican presidents since Reagan have borrowed from the Social Security Trust, and the GOP have capped contributions at $118,500 of income. The Republicans will do anything to destroy Social Security.

All GOP policies lead to cutting of benefits, retirement age, etc. The Republicans have NEVER proposed any policy to improve Social Security.