August 7, 2009: Over the past four years, members of Chicago Local 726 have organized a movement called “Fighting for the Future” to clean up their local and restore membership control. Now, the members’ allegations of financial wrongdoing and greed have been verified by serious charges leveled by the Independent Review Board (IRB). Members of Fighting for the Future did the hard work to investigate their local, and contacted the IRB to get action. Thomas...

August 6, 2009: The vote count is proceeding among the approximately 27,200 YRC Teamsters who mailed in a ballot on proposed deep contract concessions. Today was spent sorting the ballots by local union and opening ballot envelopes. Many ballots have been placed into “yes” and “no” piles by local union, but some have not been opened yet, and no actual counting has taken place. International Union officials stated they would not do counting today. The...

August 3, 2009: Employer demands for pay cuts and for employees to pay part of health premiums are pretty common these days, but we don’t expect them from the top officers of our union. But James Hoffa and IBT secretary treasurer Tom Keegel are demanding such concessions – and more – from the employees of the International Union. On July 31, Hoffa-Keegel used a new tactic: they sent dozens of letters informing employees that they...

August 3, 2009: The reins of Teamsters Local 726 -- which represents numerous blue-collar workers with Chicago city government -- were seized Monday by the group's parent union, which stripped leaders of their posts amid allegations of financial mismanagement. James P. Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, implemented what's called an "emergency trusteeship" for Local 726, a Des Plaines-based group of roughly 4,500 active members. Click here to read more at Chicago...

July 30, 2009: Employer demands for pay cuts and for employees to pay part of health premiums are pretty common these days, but we don’t expect them from the top officers of our union. But James Hoffa and IBT secretary treasurer Tom Keegel are demanding such concessions—and more—from the employees of the International Union. They are also threatening that if the employees strike against concessions, they will cross the lines and defeat the strike. Click...

July 29, 2009: The proposed temporary withdrawal by YRC from all Teamster pension funds could have a serious impact on some Teamsters in the West. The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund requires that some Teamsters must have 1,000 hours of contributions within the last 24 months prior to retirement, or they will lose eligibility for their PEER 80 early retirement benefits. Those Teamsters who have 25 credited years are protected, and don’t have to...

July 28, 2009: An International Brotherhood of Teamsters local violated federal labor law when a union steward told a United Parcel Service Inc. employee in the presence of other employees that the union dropped his grievances because he had run against an incumbent in a union election and because the company did not like him, the National Labor Relations Board held July 24 (Teamsters Local 886 (United Parcel Serv. Inc.), 354 N.L.R.B. No. 52, 7/24/09...

July 24, 2009: UPS announced after-tax profits of $445 million for the second quarter of 2009, up from $401 million in the first quarter. Given the global economic downturn, UPS’s volume and profits are both down from last year. UPS made $873 million in the second quarter of 2008. Market Watch reports that Brown’s earnings were in line with analyst expectations. In the worst economy in our lifetimes, UPS has turned $846 million in after-tax...

July 24, 2009: ANAHEIM, Calif.—Most employers' defined benefit pension plans are in trouble and need government help, C. Thomas Keegel, general secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said July 22. Speaking at the 27th annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, presented by National Labor Relations Board Regions 21 and 31, Keegel called for an amendment to the Pension Protection Act to allow for a 30-year amortization of plans' unfunded liabilities. The federal government's deregulation...

July 22, 2009: Yellow Roadway CEO Bill Zollars put his foot so far down his throat that he gagged on his shoe, and had to apologize for a press release bragging that he would subcontract out more Teamster work. Just as ballots are arriving at Teamster homes, giving members the choice of giving up their pension and more wages or losing their job, Zollars issued a press release on Monday bragging about his “strategic partnership”...