Teamsters to Receive Pension Contributions Retroactive to 2013

Teamsters Local 710 Trustee John T. Coli has signed an agreement making Local 710 freight members at ABF whole in their pensions. The Teamsters secured an important grievance win settled in favor of the union on February 23.

ABF had continually refused to meet its pension contribution obligations as stated in both the National Master Freight Agreement and the Local 710 supplement agreement for dock and yard workers. Per those contracts, ABF is mandated to make contributions based on a “one punch rule,” which states that any member who punches in once in a given week is eligible to receive their pension contributions for that week.

ABF instead made payments on a day-to-day basis, which is a substantial violation of what was successfully bargained for and agreed to in the contracts. This illegal misconduct was practiced for nearly four years.

“The language in our agreements regarding the ‘one punch rule’ is abundantly clear,” said Local 710 Business Agent Mike Cales. “There was no way we were going to allow ABF to continue to short-change our members in such a blatant fashion. Our team was successful in making sure our members’ pensions remain protected and receive any and all credits owed moving forward.”

Local 710 worked diligently to prepare testimony and gather evidence to support a class action grievance on the matter. Prior to the arbitration hearing, the grievance was settled on terms extremely favorable to the Teamsters.

Under the terms of the settlement, ABF began making the corrected pension payments for the first full pay period following February 23. The settlement also dictated that ABF pay the Local 710 Pension Fund for all lost pension credits to the affected members.

“The freight business agents at Local 710 backed by a strong team of stewards are doing a phenomenal job in protecting our members’ rights,” Coli said. “Their huge success from this grievance win speaks volumes of this Local’s dedication to the membership. They will never back down from a fight, even when the employer pushes back with the unwarranted offense that ABF had here.”

Local 710 represents more than 270 ABF warehouse employees who work as spotters, hostlers, fuelmen, working foremen, wheelers and truck terminal employees at three Illinois facilities in Bedford Park, Des Plaines and Sauk Village.

Teamsters Local 710 is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25, America’s premier labor union for Chicago, Illinois and northwest Indiana.