Chicago, IL – Negotiations ended with a tentative five-year agreement, November 16, for the over 10,000 Chicago-area UPS workers represented by Teamsters 705. Ballots, including contract changes, will be sent out shortly for members to review and vote.

Washington, D.C. – The UPS Freight contract was ratified November 12 following a campaign of scare tactics carried out by UPS and the leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).

Chicago, IL – “The charter schools are working educators to the bone, yet still not adequately staffing our classrooms. This isn’t fair to the students or the teachers, and we’re not going to take it,” states Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Charter Division Chairman Chris Baehrend.

Cambridge, MA – On November 5, dining hall workers at Lesley University voted unanimously to ratify a new union contract. This is the second contract for food service workers on the Lesley campus, which is directly adjacent to the campus of Harvard University. This second union contract brings the Lesley workers to an economic standard much closer to that of workers employed by their Ivy League neighbor.

Chicago, IL – Rank-and-file Teamster militants attended the 43rd annual Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) convention in Chicago November 2 through 4. TDU is a reform movement founded in 1980 with the goal of improving the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and making it a union that fights for the members.

_Local 705 Freight drivers vote down proposed contract _

Chicago, IL – Negotiations are set to resume Monday, November 12, between Teamsters Local 705 and UPS over a tentative five-year contract for over 10,000 UPS workers in the Chicago area.

Washington, DC – UPS Freight employees are voting on a Last, Best, and Final offer from UPS on November 9, 10 and 11. This will be the second round of voting in contract negotiations between UPS Freight and the Teamsters. If the contract is voted down a second time, over 12,000 Teamsters could be on strike as early as Monday, November 12.

Chicago, IL – On November 1, John Bolton gave perhaps the sharpest anti-communist speech by a U.S. National Security Advisor since the end of the Cold War. While celebrating the election of far-right thug Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil as a “positive sign” for South America, he condemned Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as “the Troika of Tyranny… the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the Western Hemisphere.” He declared that all peoples of Latin America should “look to the north, look to our flag” and that soon “the Troika will crumble, the people will triumph, and the righteous flame of freedom will burn brightly again in this hemisphere.”

New York, NY – Widespread panic erupted last month as more than a dozen package bombs were sent to public figures critical of the Trump administration. These package bombs contained identical one by six-inch pieces of PVC pipe packed with shrapnel, pyrotechnic powder, a timer and a detonator. Thankfully, none of these packages exploded before being intercepted.

Chicago, IL – The Teamsters Local 705 negotiating committee informed UPS, October 31, that the contract extension covering over 10,000 UPS workers will be over in 30 days. Both sides will likely continue to meet before that date.