Transport Topics May 25, 2012 View the original piece Canadian Pacific Railway suspended its freight service across Canada after engineers, conductors and other workers went on strike, the Canadian Press reported Wednesday. Teamsters Canada, which represents the 4,500 workers, said the strike started just after midnight Wednesday after the parties were unable to reach an agreement, Canadian Press said. The union and the railroad company both said talks would continue Wednesday. Canada's labor minister on...

MasTec, Inc. Reuters May 25, 2012 View the original piece MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Precision Pipeline, LLC, along with other members of the Pipe Line Contractors Association ( "PLCA"), have fully withdrawn from the Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund multi-employer pension plan (the "Plan"), effective November 15, 2011. In connection with the withdrawal, MasTec will record a one-time expense of $6.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011...

Mara Lee Hartford Courant May 24, 2012 View the original piece Strikers at the East Hartford Coca-Cola bottling plant have found the plant's closest neighbor receptive to the union's request to boycott Coke, but how much the boycott movement could hurt local sales is yet to be seen. Teamsters Local 1035 members, who began striking a week ago, plan to hand out leaflets asking customers to boycott Coke at local stores, and will publicize the...

William B. Cassidy The Journal of Commerce May 23, 2012 View the original piece Trucking giant YRC Worldwide chose a Scott D. Ware, a 27-year trucking veteran, to serve as president of its regional less-than-truckload subsidiary Holland. Ware, 51, who has worked for Holland since 2007, succeeds Michael J. Naatz, who left the trucking company May 4 to become CIO at railroad Kansas City Southern. Ware formerly was vice president of operations at the Holland,...

Peg Brickley Dow Jones, Daily Bankruptcy Review May 18, 2012 View the original piece Hedge funds owed nearly $53 million have moved to push Allied Systems Holdings Inc. into an involuntary bankruptcy case, a remedy for what they said are improper moves by owner Yucaipa Cos. Affiliates of Black Diamond Capital Management, LLC and Spectrum Investment Partners LP asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to move promptly to appoint a trustee to run...

Bob Connors and Ilana Gold NBC Connecticut May 17, 2012 View the original piece Workers at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in East Hartford went on strike on Wednesday, threatening to disrupt distribution of the soft drink in Connecticut. About 350 members of the Teamsters Local 1035 walked off the job at 4 p.m. and began picketing outside the plant at 471 Main St. Their contract expired on Dec. 4, and the union members decided to...

David Twiddy Kansas City Business Journal May 15, 2012 View the original piece YRC Freight plans to hire 200 over-the-road truck drivers in 13 U.S. cities, including Kansas City. The company, a subsidiary of Overland Park-based YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: YRCW), said Tuesday that the new hires are needed because business is improving. “YRC Freight is growing, and our volumes are building,” Jeff Rogers, the unit’s president, said in a release. YRC and its parent...

Labor Notes Staff Labor Notes May 10, 2012 View the original piece If there's one consensus opinion about the weekend's Labor Notes Conference, it's certainly that there's more than any one attendee could keep track of. Or even a dozen. Sameerah Ahmad first came to a Labor Notes Conference as a student activist and was impressed to find a place where rank-and-file workers, union activists, and troublemakers of all stripes—from all over the world—had a...

Bruce Vail In These Times May 09, 2012 View the original piece Allows company to cancel union contracts; on same day, Twinkie-maker sends lay-off notices to all 18,500 workers. A federal judge is moving to end a tense labor standoff at Hostess Brands by bringing the heavy hand of bankruptcy law down in favor of the corporate managers and against the employees who produce the cakes and breads that have made the company famous. Judge...

Market Watch May 07, 2012 View the original piece Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa announced today the union's endorsement of President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012. Hoffa made the official announcement to more than 1,500 Teamster members attending the union's annual conference in Las Vegas. "President Obama is the clear choice for working families in November," Hoffa said. "Despite inheriting the worst economy since the Great Depression, President Obama has led the country down...