The
Central States Pension Fund has suffered an additional loss of $2.6
billion in assets during the third quarter of 2008,
according to fund documents obtained by TDU.
According
to a report from TDU,
the Central States Pension Fund lost $3.1 billion in assets during the first six
months
of this year—half the $6.1 billion UPS paid to leave the fund in December.
This information comes as a result of TDU members winning an order in federal
court that requires the Central States Fund to provide financial reports.
UPS reported diluted earnings per share of $0.96 for
its third quarter on a 7.4% increase in revenue. This represents an 8.6% decline
from the $1.05 per share reported on an adjusted basis for the comparable 2007
quarter. Average daily U.S. domestic volume declined 3.4%, reflecting
on-going weakness in the U.S. economy, with air products posting declines of
6.4% and ground volume decreasing 2.8%. Market
Watch has the relevant
facts and figures.
A lowered profit outlook and troubled economy did not
stop the company from spending more than $1.4 million in the third quarter to
lobby on issues including labor law reform, international mail rates and
aviation competition matters, according to a recent disclosure form. The Associated
Press has more.
Teamsters
for a Democratic Union has issued its annual review of Teamster officials'
salaries and
compensation. In this year's $150,000
Club report, TDU notes that Teamster members are hurting from rising prices
and contracts that aren’t keeping pace but top Teamster officials are making
more than ever.
In
a letter to the company, the FDA said Sysco Food Services of Albany LLC's refrigerated,
ready-to-eat seafood salads and tuna salads "are adulterated in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health."
More from Market
Watch...
A
federal jury has awarded a former UPS package car driver $2.63 million in
damages, including $2
million in punitive damages, after shown evidence of the company having
retaliated against him by, according to one of his lawyers, "...repeatedly
and admittedly sabotaging his efforts to return to work after he filed a
workers’ compensation claim”. The Kansas
City Star has more on this case.
Cox
News Service reports that DHL and UPS officials are disputing claims by Ohio
lawmakers that a pending deal between the two package delivery services amounted
to a "de facto merger" that would devastate
southwestern Ohio's economy and drive up prices for customers. Meanwhile the
deal is being panned by a pilots
union, Ohio
politicians , and Barack
Obama.
Not everyone is happy about the proposed UPS-DHL agreement which is still being
negotiated. The union representing pilots at ASTAR Air Cargo has
filed suit against DHL over the express carrier's plans to turn its U.S. air
transport business over to UPS. Air
Cargo World has the story.
The Dayton
Daily News reports that Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and a team of statewide
political leaders said they're keeping the pressure on in trying to stop DHL
from turning over its domestic air cargo operation in Wilmington to UPS.
A former UPS employee is burning up the blogs,
according to the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, after participating in a picket line of DHL pilots at
the company's corporate headquarters, then quitting his job last week.
The video below shows the ASTAR/DHL pilots picketing
in Atlanta along with other protest information.
DHL,
the struggling U.S.-based express shipping unit of German postal service
Deutsche Post, is working on a deal with UPS to carry some of
its air packages. The agreement is expected to last up to 10 years and
covers express, deferred and international packages, but not freight. UPS also
will transport DHL air packages between the United States, Canada and
Mexico. The Associated
Press provides details.
Officials
of the Platinum Shield Association (PSA), representing UPS
Store and Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees who are engaged in a
legal battle with UPS, have announced that their long-sought "day in
court" with the company will take place February 17, 2009. PR
Newswire has the details.
A
California appeals court has reversed a decision blocking Mail Boxes
Etc. franchisees from proceeding with a class-action lawsuit
against UPS. The Associated
Press has this update.
UPS is the target of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in U.S.
District Court in San Francisco by a UPS Store owner that accuses the
company of wrongly profiting off of UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc.
franchisees by billing them for differences in shipping rates. Business
First has more.
An article from the Dallas
Morning News details the problems UPS store "mom and pop"
franchise owners all over the country are having in that the stores
can't compete with UPS's web site, causing many of them to go out of
business and giving rise to a lawsuit from 220 current and former
franchisees.
The
House has passed a bill that bans the Mexican Truck pilot program by Sept. 6. It
also prohibits the transportation secretary from granting authority to any
Mexican trucks beyond
the commercial zone, unless specifically authorized by Congress. The bill passed
unanimously by a voice vote. PR
Newswire has the story.
However, acting on the first day of Congress'
summer recess, the Bush administration has announced that it is extending the
pilot program, infuriating Democrats. This from the Washington
Times.
These and other stories concerning the Bush administration's
relationship with labor can be found on the Bush Watch
page.