Category Archives: Union

Action, Political, Union, UPS

Indiana Passes “Right to Work for Less” Bill













     INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana‘s Republican-controlled House of Representatives cleared the way Wednesday to become the first right-to-work state in a traditionally union-heavy Rust Belt increasingly targeted by non-union foes.
     The House voted 54-44 to make Indiana the nation’s 23rd right-to-work state after Democrats ended a periodic boycott which had stalled the measure for weeks. The measure is expected to face little opposition in Indiana’s Republican-controlled Senate and could reach Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels’ desk shortly before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
     “This announces especially in the Rust Belt, that we are open for business here,” Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said of the right-to-work proposal that would ban unions from collecting mandatory representation fees from workers.
     But Republicans have struggled with similar anti-union measures in other Rust-Belt states like Wisconsin and Ohio where they have faced a massive backlash. Ohio voters overturned Gov. John Kasich’s labor measures last November and union activists delivered roughly 1 million petitions last week in an effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
     Indiana would mark the first win in 10 years for national right-to-work advocates who have pushed unsuccessfully for the measure in other states following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010.
     Hundreds of union protesters packed the halls of the Statehouse again Wednesday, chanting “Kill the Bill!” and cheering Democrats who had stalled the measure since the start of the year.
     “We did better than anybody ever expected,” House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer told The Associated Press before debate began on the issue, adding that outnumbered Democrats fought the best they could in the divisive labor battle.
     Republicans foreshadowed their strong showing Monday when they shot down a series of Democratic amendments to the measure in strict party-line votes. Democrats boycotted again for an eighth day
     Republicans handily outnumber Democrats in the House 60-40, but Democrats have just enough members to deny the Republicans the 67 votes needed to achieve a quorum and conduct any business. Bosma began fining boycotting Democrats $1,000 a day last week, but a Marion County judge has blocked the collection of those fines.
     The measure now moves to the Indiana Senate which approved its own right-to-work measure earlier in the week. Gov. Mitch Daniels has campaign extensively for the bill and said he would sign it into law.

Action, Political, Union, UPS

Some Things Never Change!

    I Hate the Government! First the disclaimer. I have no enemy in the political fight that just took place within the Teamsters Union. I am a staunch Teamster supporter. My problem is with the apathetic membership.
     With 30 years as a Union Steward under my belt, and many years as an activist involved in both National Politics, and Union Politics I have made a simple observation.
  No matter how pissed off, or what your beef is, or how loud you voice your displeasure with the Union or the Country, many of you dumb asses simply don’t vote.
     20% of the membership in the Teamsters voted in the national officers election.
     What do you call that? I call it apathy. I call it selfishness. I call it stupidity. I call it laziness. I call it keeping your thumbs in the area where the sun doesn’t shine, oh yah that’s the same place you keep your brain.
     It is you that didn’t vote that will be the first to bitch. It is you that didn’t vote that will be the first to find fault with the system. It is you that didn’t vote that will complain that there is a conspiracy of takeover within the union that keeps you from getting what you deserve. It is you that didn’t vote that will complain that you get nothing for your dues money.
     You that didn’t vote are so lazy, you think that someone else should know exactly what you are thinking. You are so important that everyone else should know what is important to you, and should be cognisant of that, and take actions accordingly. When that doesn’t happen you are pissed because people simply don’t think you are important. Why is that? They don’t have to. You don’t vote. You don’t stand up for yourself. You can’t get your thumbs and brain out of the dark.
     Of course your ego prevents you from seeing that the problem lays with you. You immediately blame the world for the problems your laziness creates.
     I have one statement to make. You get what you deserve.
     Thank you to those that care and took the time to vote, you are what keeps us strong!
In Solidarity with the members of the Teamsters Union that strive to make the Teamsters what they should be.


ps. Most common excuse for not voting: My wife threw away my ballot! You wives are responsible for the apathy in the Teamsters. (just kidding wives, but that is what I have heard the most.)

Action, Retirement, Union, UPS

Money, Money, Money


UPS 3Q Profit Rises 5 Percent, Keeps Year View





By SAMANTHA BOMKAMP AP Transportation Writer

NEW YORK October 25, 2011 (AP)
     UPS says the global economy is leveling off, as growth in Europe and some U.S. units make up for sluggishness in the once-hot market for Asian imports.
     The world’s largest package delivery company said Tuesday that improvement in its supply chain and freight business in the U.S. helped it report a 5 percent improvement in third-quarter earnings. It also maintained its earnings forecast for the full year, which bakes in an expectation that the U.S. economy will continue to grow at a very slow pace.
     UPS still expects to earn between $4.15 and $4.40 per share this year. Analysts polled by FactSet Research currently predict $4.23 per share.
     In the three months ended Sept. 30, the Atlanta company earned $1.04 billion, or $1.06 per share, compared with $991 million, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.
     Revenue rose 8 percent to $13.17 billion. Sales in its freight unit — which hauls heavier items like refrigerators and other appliances — rose 5 percent. U.S. domestic package revenue was up 7 percent. Despite a slowdown in shipments of iPods, computers and other expensive gadgets from China, international package revenue still rose 14 percent. Strength in Europe, despite continued debt worries there, held up UPS’ international unit.



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AP


 



     The most dramatic slowdown in UPS’ business from last year was in shipments from China to the U.S. Americans pulled back on spending this summer amid debt talk uncertainty in Washington and growing fears of another recession. UPS said volume fell between Asia and U.S. in the third quarter; a year ago, it leaped by 47 percent.
     To counteract the slowdown there, UPS is using fewer planes to cut costs. But in a conference call with analysts, UPS Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn said the cuts weren’t enough to account for the steep decline in demand. If American consumers pull back further, the company said it will make more adjustments, mostly by redeploying planes to parts of the world where business is better.
     Higher prices and fuel surcharges helped drive results in the third quarter. Operating profit in its international segment fell 2.4 percent. Operating profit also fell at the company’s core U.S. package business, but rose 10 percent for supply chain and freight. The supply chain unit provides a number of services for companies including help with warehouse and shipping efficiency. It’s growing as more companies look for ways to reduce costs.
     United Parcel Service Inc. made more money from its fuel surcharge plan in the quarter as oil prices fell rapidly. In times when prices are falling quickly, UPS — which charges customers a surcharge based on the price of oil — benefits because the charge lags actual prices by about two months.
     UPS shares fell $1.52, or 2.1 percent, to close at $69.35 Tuesday.

Action, Union

Makes Sense to Me


Warren Buffett – How to Fix Congress


Posted on October 16, 2011 by Regis Tremblay


Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best
quotes about the debt ceiling:
     “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just pass a law
that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all
sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election
     The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only
3 months &8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That
was in 1971…before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.
     Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less
to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure.
     Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum
of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do
likewise.
     In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the
message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.
     Congressional Reform Act of 2011
     1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when
they are out of office.
     2. Congress (past, present &future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security
system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system,
and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for
any other purpose.
     3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans
do.
     4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay
will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
     5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the
same health care system as the American people.
     6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American
people.
     7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective
1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.
Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress
is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen
legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to
work.
     If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take
three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it
is time.
     THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

Action, Union, UPS

We Don’t Need No Stinking Union



Wal-Mart cuts health coverage for some, charges other employees more


By Anne D’Innocenzio
The Associated Press

Posted: 10/22/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT







Michael Hall, Walmart Express customer service, helps Marian Faulkner with her bags Wednesday Oct. 19, 2011 at the new Walmart Express in Snow Hill, N.C. (The Free Press | Janet S. Carter)

     NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, is scaling back the eligibility for health care coverage offered to future part-timers and dramatically raising premiums for many of its full-time workers. Industry observers say the changes could have implications for millions of other workers, as more companies on the fence could replicate its moves.
     The discounter, which employs more than 1.4 million workers, said the changes were forced by rising health care costs. All future part-time employees working less than 24 hours a week, on average, will not be covered under the plan, starting next year.
     Premiums will rise for many existing workers, and the company will reduce by half the amount it contributes for each worker to help pay for health care expenses not covered under their plan. Tobacco users will be particularly hit hard, seeing premiums more than double, compared with increases of as much as 41 percent for singles, according to Making Change at Wal-Mart, a group backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which has been pressuring Wal-Mart on worker rights.
     “Health care costs are continuing to go up faster than anyone would like,” said Greg Rossiter, a Wal-Mart spokesman. “It is a difficult decision to raise rates. But we are striking a balance between managing costs and providing quality care and coverage.” He emphasized that Wal-Mart’s health care coverage remains “top tier” among its peers.
     A number of companies have been looking for ways to cut health care costs and have been shifting more of the burden to their employees. The costs of employer-sponsored health insurance surged 9 percent this year, according to a report released last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. But Drew Altman, president and chief executive of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said that a big package of cuts from one company is unusual.
     “While we do see increases in cost sharing, this is unusual and is outside the bounds,” Altman said. “I don’t think this will have a major impact on those who tend to do a little bit of everything to control costs, but it could provide more cover for other employers who are looking to move in that direction.” Only about 42 percent of overall companies offer health care coverage to part-timers, according to Kaiser.

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