UPS Freight Workers in Mechanicsburg, PA Sign Cards to Become Teamsters
In Latest Victories, About 660 Drivers, Dockworkers Will Join Teamsters Local 776
September 17, 2008
(Washington, D.C.) —An overwhelming majority of about 660 workers at the UPS Freight (formerly Overnite Transportation) terminal in Mechanicsburg, Pa., have signed authorization cards to become Teamsters, bringing the total number of drivers and dockworkers who have signed cards to about 12,400 since January 16, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa announced. The workers will be joining Local 776 in Harrisburg.
Currently, 11,800 UPS Freight workers are covered by a Teamster contract. In April, a new UPS Freight contract covering 9,900 workers was ratified by an 89 percent margin which improves wages, benefits and working conditions. More than 1,700 workers voted last month to ratify the contract—these workers were certified after the April ratification vote.
With the Mechanicsburg victory, about 200 UPS Freight workers at a handful of terminals around the country have not signed cards to become Teamsters.
“In less than one year, nearly all of the UPS Freight drivers and dockworkers eligible to join the Teamsters have signed cards and most of them are already enjoying the benefits and protections of a Teamster contract,” said Teamsters Package Division Director Ken Hall. “These workers have overcome a long history of vicious anti-union campaigns by previous employers, but they are finally getting the respect they deserve. I am confident the few remaining terminals will not want to be left behind and the workers there will turn their cards in soon.”
“This is an historic event for our Local Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,” said Daniel Virtue, President of Local 776. “We have submitted a majority of cards for the 660 UPS Freight workers employed at the company’s largest terminal in the country. I invite all of our membership, but especially workers in our Freight and Package divisions to welcome their new brothers and sisters from UPS Freight. Together we are a stronger voice in the transportation industry.”
A majority of UPS Freight workers in 41 states have submitted cards: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Victories have come in numerous large cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis, Nashville, Oakland, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
