When Teamsters for a Democratic Union began warning about the looming issue over two years ago, few people listened. Many Teamster officials said it was “TDU propaganda.”

But we kept educating—with help from the Pension Rights Center—and a movement has taken off.

Retirees and working Teamsters have formed over 20 committees. Together, they’ve:

• taken hundreds of actions

• organized multiple lobbying trips to Washington DC and rallies at Central States

• made the cuts a national media story and generated over a hundred items in the press, TV, and radio

• introduced a bill to solve the problem into Congress (KOPPA) now co-sponsored by a few dozen Senators and Representatives

• informed tens of thousands of retirees about the fight, in meetings, rallies, forums, Facebook pages, and the TDU and Pension Rights Center websites

• reached out to win the support of seniors’ groups and unions beyond the Teamsters, and more.

It’s a good start. But we need more support, more organization and more power to win this fight.

The various Pension Protection Committees are doing a tremendous job lobbying, publicizing, outreaching, but we need more of them. More active committees in more states means more influence on the ground and more ability to mobilize for major actions.

Demand Teamsters Union Support—and Get it

Members and retirees deserve to have the power of their union put behind this movement.

So far the Hoffa administration has issued some good statements, token funding, and photoops. We’ve won this support through grassroots pressure—and we can win more.

Local unions are key. Activists are asking locals to open their halls and to commit money to build this movement—and they’re getting results.

Louisville Local 89 has pledged $25,000 to a special fund drive to help jump start a big campaign. The funds will be managed by the Pension Rights Center.

Local 89 is one local—now every local in the Central and Southern Region should contribute to build the pension fight. Smaller locals can’t afford that sum, but almost all locals can afford to contribute something. Columbus Local 413 has already joined in with a pledge of $5,000.

Local 89 President Fred Zuckerman sent a letter to General President Hoffa requesting that the IBT help the campaign by contributing $.50 or $1 per participant in the Central States Fund.

If officers refuse to help defend our pensions and our pension fund, it’s time to call them out for it. Let members know where they stand.

This dedicated fund will enable us to turn local media coverage into national coverage, to expand our lobbying, to involve more allies, and to further explore any possible legal avenues.

Two Big Elections

One year from now there will be two very important elections.

First, the federal election for President and Congress, and second, the Teamster election for General President and all International officers. Each of them gives some leverage to our movement.

Congressional candidates who see a meeting of hundreds of angry retirees in their district will feel pressure and may see a political opportunity. This strategy is paying off—and needs to be escalated in the coming election year.

Teamster officials can feel the same pressure, including Hoffa, Hall, and the International officers and local officers who are aligned with them.

The Teamsters United team, led by Tim Sylvester, is committed to strengthening Teamster pension funds, not giving them away to employers or letting them fail.

The pension protection movement is for all Teamsters and is non-partisan, as it should be. But the fact is that the Hoffa administration has run the Central States Fund into the ground. In Hoffa’s second year in office, our union had 181,000 Teamsters under contract with employers paying into Central States. Today, that number is under 60,000.

Hoffa lost two-thirds of the fund’s support base. He gave UPS an exit pass and other employers followed, and now he is trying to let Kroger bail out of the fund.

Building a strong Teamsters United campaign will pressure the Hoffa administration to take more meaningful action to protect our pensions. A winning campaign will mark a sea change in our Union and for the Save Our Pensions movement.

A Winter Offensive

To win, the pension movement needs to expand its visibility and organization in the coming months.

The Treasury Department’s Special Master, Kenneth Feinberg, will be holding public forums which will be an opportunity to mobilize and make our voices heard. Forums with political officials who are running for re-election are another.

We should organize coordinated Days of Actions in the coming period, to bring national attention to our cause.

The movement is growing and we have a chance to defeat mean-spirited pension cuts and score a win for all working Americans and retirees.

The time is now to build the pension movement on all fronts. In numbers, public outreach, and political clout.

If you are not involved, get in the game. You’ll find friends, knowledge, and solidarity. United, we win.

“We’re in the fight of our lives to defend our pensions. We’re holding monthly meetings and actions in Kansas City. We held a rally downtown to get our message out to the public.

“Now we’re gearing up for some more media attention by rallying in front of the Kansas City Star. We need to be loud and visible if we’re going to beat these cuts.”