March 16, 2009: TDU members and other Teamsters met this weekend in Sacramento and Tracy, Calif. to talk about how to beat apathy and get members involved in building a stronger union.

“I learned a lot and came away from the meeting inspired—and so did the other members I came with,” said Richard Andazola, a shop steward at Safeway. “We’re taking the information we got back to the warehouse,” Andazola said.

UPS Teamsters from Sacramento Local 150 also met last weekend to talk about what they can do to enforce their contract—from excessive overtime violations to the destruction of full-time combo jobs that were won through the 1997 UPS strike.

TDU organizer David Levin was a guest speaker at both meetings.

Enforcing the UPS Contract in Sacramento

UPS has eliminated more than 60 full-time combo jobs in Local 150’s jurisdiction in violation of the national contract. More full-time jobs may be on the chopping block soon. Management reportedly plans to shut down the day sort at the West Sacramento hub.

At the TDU meeting, members got an update on the national petition drive to make UPS create all 20,000 full-time jobs required by the contract. Click here to read more about the national petition drive.

Local 150 members have already collected 200 petition signatures as part of this campaign. At the meeting, they made plans to distribute Convoy Dispatch, TDU’s newspaper, and collect petition signatures at all four UPS buildings in Sacramento.

“I’ll be there to leaflet on Saturday. I want to show support. It’s good to see our union mobilizing members and reaching out to the public to protect good jobs. That’s what we need to be doing, especially in this economy.” Bob Ream, Young’s Local 150, Sacramento

Union Solidarity

Local 150 Teamsters who work at C&S came to the TDU meeting and rallied support for Local 439 Teamster grocery drivers in Sacramento, who are being told that they will be replaced by nonunion drivers on March 28.

Some TDU members will be turning out to leaflet a Foods Co. in Sacramento as part of a campaign organized by Local 439 to defend these jobs. Click here to read more about this story.

“I’ll be there to leaflet on Saturday,” said TDU member Bob Ream, a Local 150 shop steward Teamster at Young’s Market. “I want to show support. It’s good to see our union mobilizing members and reaching out to the public to protect good jobs. That’s what we need to be doing, especially in this economy.”

Building TDU

Several Local 150 Teamsters signed up to join TDU. Members in Sacramento formed a rank-and-file committee to coordinate the UPS petition drive, information distribution and solidarity actions.

Informing and uniting Teamster members to enforce our contracts and defend good Teamster jobs. That’s what TDU is all about.

If you’re interested in finding out more about setting up a TDU meeting in your local, call TDU at 313-842-2600 or click here to send us a message. A TDU Organizer will get back in touch with you.