Top Union Leaders Featured In Online Video
Some of the country’s top union leaders recently took part in a town-hall style
forum that is now available to watch on The Association of Union Constructors’
(TAUC) Web site www.tauc.org.
Never before have such prominent labor leaders gathered for such a unique
discussion that included an audience of several hundred contractors from around
the nation. The five general presidents responded to hard-hitting questions at
TAUC’s 2008 Leadership Conference, an annual event that attracts leading union
contractors, labor representatives, employer associations, and construction
users from around the country to discuss the future of the union construction
industry.
The union leaders who participated in the discussion moderated by Mark Breslin
included the following: General President Patrick Finley of the Operative
Plasters and Cement Masons' International Association, President John Flynn of
the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, International President Edwin Hill of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
General President Joseph Hunt of the International Association of Bridge,
Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers and General President James
Williams of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
“This was a critical step in the ongoing path to improving the dialogue between
the building trades and contractors. Ensuring a viable working relationship
between both groups means high quality and affordable industrial construction,”
TAUC CEO Stephen Lindauer said.
In addition to the general presidents’ video on TAUC’s Web site, there are
several others that cover a variety of topics. The audiovisual presentations
spotlight the benefits of being a member of TAUC, special industry events, and
the value of union construction.
To view the selection of videos, visit www.tauc.org.
About The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC):
TAUC is an association of 2,500 union contractors from across the United States,
primarily engaged in steel erection, industrial maintenance and construction. The
mission of TAUC is to act as an advocate in advancing and enhancing the value of
the union construction industry through an educated and action driven membership
that fosters the promotion of labor-management cooperation, workplace safety and
health, and collaboration with construction users in order to help union
contractors compete more effectively in the marketplace.
Big Teamsters Contract At UPS Freight Marks Key Win
WASHINGTON (PAI)--A big Teamsters contract at UPS Freight, the former Overnite
Express, marks a key win in the union’s 50-year campaign to organize the parcel
package firm--a campaign that was boosted to victory when Teamster-organized UPS
bought Overnite several years ago and agreed to card-check recognition there.
The result has been an organizing drive, unimpeded by past Overnite labor
law-breaking, that has signed up 11,700 former Overnite workers in 41 states as
Teamsters, and that produced the contract covering 1,700 of them nationwide. The
pact was ratified Aug. 18 by a 94%-6% margin.
The new pact comes on the heels of a first nationwide UPS Freight contract,
ratified in April and covering 9,900 workers. The margin there was 89%-11%. It
followed bargaining after a successful 3-month card-check organizing drive.
And both those pacts, in turn, were modeled on the union’s first UPS Freight
contract, in its Indianapolis terminal, ratified in late 2007, 107-1.
“We welcome these UPS Freight workers to the Teamsters and we are proud to have
negotiated for them a terrific contract. Having a binding contract with your
company means employees have job security,” IBT President James Hoffa said.
“With this latest vote the Teamsters now represent more than 92% of UPS Freight
workers eligible under our card check and neutrality agreement. These drivers
and dockworkers have shown a great commitment to joining the Teamsters and we
look forward to representing them,” said Teamsters Package Division Director Ken
Hall. “We encourage the remaining UPS Freight workers who have not yet signed
cards to do so now so they can also start benefiting from a great contract.”
The new contract, covering the 1,700 workers at 50 terminals, expires on July
31, 2013. Highlights include: Pay hikes totaling $4.35 per hour or nearly 11
cents a mile over the contract; a better health care plan with lower employee
premium costs and no increases in costs to employees over the life of the contract; overtime pay for work exceeding 8 hours per day or 40 hours per
week; locked-in current pension benefits, and a cut in cost of retiree health
insurance for most retirees with no increase in premium cost to employees over
the life of the contract.
The Teamsters vowed to continue organizing the remaining eligible UPS Freight
--Overnite--workers nationwide. The union said there are currently more than
15,000 UPS Freight workers, with 12,600 eligible to sign union authorization
cards. The contract ratification caps a 50-year Teamsters struggle to organize
Overnite, which was UPS bought in 2005 from Union Pacific Railroad and renamed
UPS Freight.