The IBT has reached a tentative deal with Yellow Roadway, but no information about the deal has been released. Click here to read more at Freight2008.

December 13, 2007: Online grocery giant FreshDirect is axing scores of immigrants in a crackdown on undocumented workers at its Queens warehouse. Teary-eyed workers filed out of the delivery company's factory in Long Island City yesterday after supervisors demanded they produce papers proving their immigration status is legal. Union organizers say the move may be part of an effort to intimidate the 900 or so warehouse workers in advance of a union vote set for...

December 13, 2007: Bill Clinton has severed business ties with Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, fearful that their deals could erupt into bad publicity damaging his wife's presidential bid, according to sources who know both men. In April 2007, investors of Hawk Opportunity Fund sued Burkle over charges that Yucaipa's acquisition of Allied Holdings, Inc., North America's largest car-hauling company, gave it an unfair share of the market. The suit was dismissed. But the transaction,...

December 11, 2007: The FMCSA today issued an "Interim Final Rule" on drivers’ hours of service regs which retains the 11-hour drive time and the 34-hour reset. Both of these regulations were struck down in September by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. as inconsistent with the law passed by Congress in 1995. The Court gave the FMCSA 90 days to comply. Rather than return to the 10-hour drive time and eliminate the...

December 11, 2007: Charged with embezzling $58,000 in members’ money, BLET president Don Hahs has made a settlement with the International Union for a six-month suspension. This deal, however, has not yet been finally approved. In September, the Independent Review Board (IRB) charged Hahs, the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, with embezzling union funds. Hahs admits that he spent the money on everything from Cleveland Cavalier season tickets to a fishing...

December 11, 2007: Teamster engineers have voted down an early deal in a close vote on the Norfolk Southern. BLET negotiators asked members to accept a new contract that would last until 2014, but rank-and-file Teamsters voted down the proposed deal by 1,143 votes No to 1,050 votes Yes. The current on-property agreement does not expire until 2009. The proposed agreement would have continued a controversial bonus pay system, but reduced the bonus after 2009....

December 5, 2007: New York Local 804 members voted by 3 to 1 to reject the national contract and the Local 804 supplement. Now, that No Vote has paid off.Members are preparing to vote on a better offer from UPS that restores 30 & Out benefits to $3,600 a month-without key givebacks that were included in the first offer.The Local 804 Executive Board unanimously endorsed the company's first offer which would have eliminated 25 &...

December 5, 2007: UPS Teamsters were not able to defeat givebacks this time. An analysis of voting results shows what it will take for us to succeed in the future. UPS entered contract talks making record profits of more than $4 billion and under pressure from stockholders to settle the contract early. Our chief negotiators James Hoffa and Ken Hall had the leverage to make UPS deliver. Instead, they gave the company the early deal...

December 5, 2007: With the new 2008 contract, Hoffa and Hall gave back to UPS the key gains of our historic 1997 strike: strong Teamster pensions, 10,000 full-time jobs, and more. This happened in no small part because Hoffa and Hall gave up on the contract campaign strategy that made those gains possible. In 1997, our International Union launched a year-long campaign that gave information and power to our members. Every UPS Teamster had a...

December 5, 2007: As freight talks resume on Dec. 5, the information blackout continues and rumors are flying high. Members are left wondering what our goals are. Freight negotiations between the International Union and Yellow Roadway resume in early December, with attention shifting from the supplements to the master contract. The information blackout continues, leaving rumors flying high and members wondering what the bargaining goals are. Negotiations with ABF are on a slow track, waiting...