January 23, 2013: An NLRB judge has ruled that Voith Services conspired with the United Auto Workers (UAW) to deprive over 100 Louisville Teamsters of their jobs and their union contract. The decision orders Voith to put 85 of the Teamsters to work, pay them nearly a year's back-pay, reinstate the superior terms of the Teamster contract, and void the bogus deal the company signed with the UAW.

The December 21 ruling is a decisive win for the Teamsters. The 40-page decision details how Voith, with Ford Motor pulling the strings, underbid Jack Cooper at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant for some 166 jobs moving and baying new cars, using a substandard contract with the UAW.

The case was heard in a 13-day trial in August, September and October 2012.

The yard work at the plant had been under the Teamster contract since 1952, until early 2012 when the dirty deal was put in place. Teamsters who made $20 per hour, with a union pension, were replaced by UAW members making $11-$14 per hour.

Typically decisions such as this are subject to lengthy appeals. This case is so egregious that the NLRB's General Counsel is requesting an injunction from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to speed up the process. A district court judge declined to issue an injunction.

Hopefully justice will not be delayed much longer.

The judge's decision orders that:

• 85 named Teamsters must be put to work. Other Teamsters must be given a chance to apply for jobs.
• Back pay must be awarded, on the basis of the Teamster contract.
• The pre-existing Teamster contract must be reinstated in full, until a new contract is negotiated with Local 89.
• The UAW contract is voided, because it was the product of illegal discrimination against Teamster workers and collusion between the corporation and the UAW.
• The decision's orders must be posted on bulletin boards, on the web, and read aloud at meetings of all workers.

Hoffa: MIA in Carhaul

The International Union was MIA in the struggle by Local 89 and carhaul members.

In fact, this victory of Teamster jobs and over $5 million in back pay didn't even rate a mention on the IBT website, until this fact was prominently pointed out on www.TDU.org. Then the Hoffa administration decided to claim the credit, falsely describing a "coordinated effort" by the IBT, the Carhaul Division and Local 89.

Hoffa's carhaul director, Roy Gross of Detroit Local 299, has stood by while Voith took Teamster jobs at Ford plants in Michigan. It appears that Local 89 has won what Hoffa and Gross gave away.