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Local and National Union News
Teamsters document the disaster of deregulation
July 8, 2026 | Deregulation of the trucking industry almost 50 years ago produced a Wild West of fly-by-night operators, declining wages, and abominable working conditions—such as workers driving too many hours on too little sleep—and scattershot service to shippers, the Teamsters say in a long analysis of the history of the industry. It’s printed in the latest issue of the union’s magazine. And the deregulatory saga is relevant today, and not just in trucking, though the union doesn’t say so. Read more here.Penske Teamsters in Florida and Missouri authorize a strike
June 29, 2026 | Ahead of a June 30 contract expiration, Penske workers represented by Teamsters Locals 79, 512, 541, 618, and 769 have taken an overwhelming strike authorization. The Southcentral and Southeastern Regional Master Agreements cover the nearly 250 Penske Teamsters. In addition to making insulting proposals, Penske has engaged in illegal, regressive bargaining, with the most recent example happening today when they significantly changed the health care proposal that both parties had already tentatively agreed to. Learn more. Note: Local 355 represents Penske workers in Maryland. Amazon ordered to bargain with CA Teamsters on eve of Prime Day
June 23, 2026 | Teamsters are lauding a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordering Amazon to bargain with workers at its DCK6 facility in San Francisco. The ruling came only hours before the start of Prime Day, one of the company’s biggest events of the year. It’s the second bargaining order in less than three months that the e-commerce giant has received from the NLRB. The board previously demanded that it comply with federal law and begin bargaining with Amazon Teamsters at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island. Learn moreOlder posts can be found at 355 News
Elsewhere in the News
How Unions Pave the Way to the American Dream
July 14, 2026 | JUSTICE | Marcelo Assis recalled how his family arrived in the United States about 35 years ago, “poor as hell”—yet certain that America offered the path forward that they’d never find in their native Brazil or anywhere else. The following years brought ups and downs, with Marcelo serving as a combat medic in the Army and then falling disillusioned with low-paying nonunion work that held him back instead of helping him move ahead. …Marcelo vividly remembers the moment years later when he looked around his newly purchased home, thought about the good life he provided to his family, and realized for the first time that he’d made it. The American dream endures. We just have to stand together to claim it. Full story at Nation of Change
Three Gallons of Water. Ten Hours of Heat. Zero Relief from UPS.
July 13, 2026 | HEALTH & SAFETY | I drink three gallons of water a day, never drink soda or alcohol, and I’ve never lit a cigarette. I meal prep on Sundays, wake up at 5 a.m. sharp, and go to the gym five times a week to keep my body functioning like a well-oiled machine. I stretch and prioritize sleep like it’s part of my job, because in many ways, it is. But I’m not an athlete. I deliver packages. The average American household receives approximately 167 packages per year, which translates to about three packages a week. The total number of packages shipped daily across the United States is 61.3 million. Twenty-one percent of the total package volume in the U.S. is delivered by UPS — and that’s where I come in. Continued at Just Cause Teamsters
Week Ending 07/11/2026
• Unions sue feds over termination of CBAs
• Safety: A July checklist for union families
• Cargill workers battle a billion-dollar bully
• Bimbo Bakeries Teamsters win up to 40% wage increase
• Teamster-backed Warehouse Protection Act becomes law in RI
• [Union] labor journalists on unions, organized workers’ movements, and AI
The Supreme Court Freed College Athletes to Earn. Collective Bargaining is the Next Step
July 10, 2026 | OPINION | It is past time for Division I colleges and universities to recognize that their student-athletes deserve both the right to bargain collectively and recognition that they are employees because of the compensation their institutions provide to them and the control those institutions have over them. A deluge of media coverage has been aimed at other issues in big-time college sports, particularly football and basketball, but too little attention has been given to what should be center-stage — how student-athletes should be fairly treated by the institutions that benefit from their athletic prowess. Continued at The Philadelphia Inquirer UMD’s Oluchi Okananwa is one of the player leaders of the United College Athletes Association (UCAA) advocating for collective bargaining. PHOTO: JAYNE KAMIN-ONCEA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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