CAYCE - An overwhelming majority of about 440 workers at the UPS Freight (formerly Overnite Transportation) terminals in Gaffney, Greenville and Columbia have signed authorization cards to become Teamsters.

The move brings the total number of drivers and dockworkers seeking to join the union to about 7,640 since Jan. 16, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa announced.

The workers at the three terminals are seeking to join Local 509 in Cayce.

"I'd like to thank all the committee members who work at UPS Freight as well as Teamsters Package Division Director Ken Hall," said L.D. Fletcher, Local 509 President. "We're glad to welcome the UPS Freight workers to Local 509. It's gratifying to see that after a 50-year struggle for Overnite workers to join the union and win a Teamster contract, it's finally happening. We look forward to representing the workers and giving them what they need in the future."

"We know the workers in South Carolina have endured a long struggle, and we're very excited to see this day," Hall said. "The committee did a great job on the campaign and soon we will begin negotiating a contract for these workers that will give them the protections and guarantees they deserve."

In addition to the South Carolina workers, a majority of UPS Freight workers in West Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Indiana, California, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, New York, Kentucky and New England, including the large cities of Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas, Nashville, San Antonio, Cleveland, Atlanta, Houston, San Diego, St. Louis, Orlando, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Oakland, Seattle, Memphis and Detroit, have submitted cards to become Teamsters.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.