September 1, 2009: The Hoffa administration continues to threaten the employees who work at the Teamster headquarters, who are bargaining to try to avoid concessions. Their latest threat came on August 25, when Hoffa’s Administrative Assistant Ed Keyser instructed all department heads to prepare a report on how they will work behind picket lines in the event of a strike. Click here to see that memorandum. This follows previous threats, including a July 31 series...

September 1, 2009: It’s a sad day when Teamsters in a core industry desert our union for another., That is what happened today when nearly 300 Teamster carhaulers employed by Gen Auto in Ontario voted to join the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). The 145-47 vote came from carhaulers at three locations, most of them at the Oshawa General Motors plants. Even worse, 700 Teamsters employed at Allied in Ontario are now petitioning for a similar...

September 1, 2009: The Hoffa administration has taken control of bargaining the Northwest Reddaway trucking contract from the local unions in Washington and Oregon, in a move to help YRC impose concessions. The locals in Seattle and along the I-5 corridor in Oregon learned of the takeover by getting a copy of a letter Hoffa sent to Bob Paffenroth, offering him the position of Chairman of a subcommittee of the Teamsters National Freight industry Negotiating...

September 1, 2009: ANAHEIM They routinely sort through trash bags of rotting food, used syringes and even road kill to find what can be recycled. But that's not the part of the job trash sorters – or so-called recyclers – at Republic Services Inc. in Anaheim are complaining about. They say it's the long hours without proper breaks, working without proper protective gear and without any sun shade or protection from the elements. Click here...

September 1, 2009: You take your kid to the dentist and go to pay the $20 co-pay. “Oh, no,” says the receptionist. “You have to pay the whole bill—you don't have insurance.” That’s how a member of Teamsters Local 743 in Chicago found out that his employer, SK Hand Tools, had unilaterally and without notice canceled health insurance for the workforce. The 70 SK Teamsters struck August 25 over this unfair labor practice, and the...

August 28, 2009: Three former officials of one of the largest Teamsters locals in the country were sentenced to prison Thursday for rigging union elections in Chicago in 2004. A federal jury convicted them in April of fraud-related charges for diverting hundreds of secret ballots to family members and friends to prevent Teamsters Local 743 members from voting. Click here to read more at the Chicago Tribune.

August 27, 2009: Arkansas Best Corp.'s ABF Freight System is negotiating with the Teamsters union to obtain cost cuts as a competitive response to a new round of wage and pension expense reductions at less-than-truckload carrier YRC Worldwide. Click here to read more.

August 27, 2009: YRC Worldwide Inc. has named a turnaround consultant to guide the trucking company’s bid to survive the recession. The board of Overland Park-based YRC (Nasdaq: YRCW) named Richard Williamson, managing director of corporate turnaround firm Alvarez & Marsal, as chief strategy officer in a Thursday meeting. Williamson will coordinate and manage YRC’s work to maintain liquidity and fix its capital structure, YRC said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission....

August 26, 2009: Chicago Teamsters are walking the picket line at SK Hand Tools to win back their health coverage. The strikers, members of Local 743, have been working without a contract since March. “SK didn’t even have the decency to let us know they stopped making payments,” commented David Biedrzycki, the union steward. “A doctor told a member there was no coverage last week.” The company is seeking a reduction in wages and employee...

August 24, 2009: "We're prepared to be here all night if we have to." That was the latest word from Teamsters Local 743's Catherine Schutzius, chief negotiator in the union's bargaining with administrators at the University of Chicago Medical Center. I called her nearly two hours after her meeting with managers there was scheduled to begin yesterday afternoon. The union is negotiating over wages and health-care benefits for about 1,400 of its members at the...