April 12, 2010: Depending on your viewpoint, Waste Management President Larry O'Donnell's star turn in the CBS reality show "Undercover Boss" confirms everything you need to know about America's largest trash company. O'Donnell spent a week doing entry-level jobs for his company, including riding on the back of a garbage truck, sorting recycling and cleaning portable toilets. At one job, he gets fired for not working quickly enough; at another, he marvels at the speed...

April 9, 2010: The Wall Street Journal reports on a UPS training facility, "Integrad," where drivers get hooked into a contraption that simulates walking on ice and learn to "bond with their keys." Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal: UPS Thinks Out of the Box on Driver Training LANDOVER, Md.—Vexed that some 30% of driver candidates flunk its traditional training, United Parcel Service Inc. is moving beyond the classroom to ready its rookies for the...

April 9, 2010: April 9, 2010: Bill Zollars, the CEO of YRCW, took a 10 percent salary cut in 2009, according to YRC’s annual report to shareholders. But he will not qualify for food stamps. His total compensation, including stock awards, was $2.5 million last year. This was down from a total compensation of $4.4 million in 2008. The report includes compensation for all top YRC executives. Click here to read the salary report.

April 6, 2010: Garbage company Waste Management said Tuesday night that the union representing garbage haulers in King and Snohomish counties has broken off contract talks. A spokesman for Teamsters Local 174 says the company is refusing to bargain. Teamsters spokesman Michael Gonzales says the roughly 400 garbage haulers will be on the job as usual Wednesday. Beyond that, he says "we're weighing all of our options." The company says it has replacement drivers on...

April 6, 2010: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Friday issued a rule that will require carriers with serious patterns of hours-of-service violations to user electronic on-board recorders in all vehicles. FMCSA estimated that 5,700 truck and bus companies would be required to use EOBRs after the first year of implementation for the rule, which goes into effect June 1, 2012. Click here to read more at Transport Topics.

April 5, 2010: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has seen a lot in its 107 years of existence. But in its near two-year effort to rescue troubled trucker YRC Worldwide Inc., it's a safe bet the venerable union went where it has never gone before.!--break--> During 2009, as YRC's financial situation grew more precarious, its 35,000 Teamster employees agreed to two wage reductions and an extraordinary 18-month freeze on YRC's pension contributions. Click here...

April 2, 2010: The latest proposed change of operations submitted by YRC has been approved. The telephone bid will be conducted on April 12, 2010 while the implementation date is slated for April 18, 2010. Click here to see the decision. The Change of Operations includes the elimination of some meet and turns and the reduction of road drivers at end-of-line terminals. The proposal calls for the elimination of “duplicate terminals” in some areas. The...

April 2, 2010: Teamsters who believe in protecting our contracts and benefits are coming together for change. If it seems like contract enforcement has never been weaker, you’re not imagining things. The Hoffa administration has given up on standing up to the employers until the recession is over—at least. Don’t take our word for it. International Union officials say so themselves. Hoffa’s point man at UPS, Ken Hall, recently announced that “2009 was not the...

April 2, 2010: The 2009 financial reports for Teamster locals, joint councils, conferences and the International Union are now available. The International Union form, which is 432 pages long, shows some big cuts made: Representation spending is down by 15 percent. Political activity is down 43 percent Grants to locals and strike benefit expenditures are down, too. But Hoffa took a raise. Last year his total compensation was $362,869. With members hit by wage cuts...

April 9, 2010: Baltimore Teamsters have suffered some of the worst pension cuts in the country. Turning that around won’t be easy. But members are coming together to fight for their rights. In 2008, pension trustees in the largest fund in the local, the Local 355 Fund, blindsided members and cut their pension accrual to zero, freezing their pensions. Those cuts affected members at UPS, Sysco, U.S. Foods, and many smaller employers. Earlier this year,...