July 8, 2009: Struggling No. 1 U.S. trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc has asked investment bank Rothschild to evaluate potential bond exchanges as part of its restructuring plans, according to a source familiar with the matter. Rothschild was retained early this year by Overland Park, Kansas-based YRC, but has only recently been asked to take a more active role, the source said. Click here to read more at the New York Times.

July 7, 2009: A Bronx, N.Y., bakery whose 134 employees went on strike in August 2008 must reinstate them under the terms of their expired contract and pay them wages dating back to May 6, 2009, when they offered to return to work, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ruled June 30 (Stella D'Oro Biscuit Co., NLRB ALJ, No. 2-CA-38960, 6/30/09). In his opinion, ALJ Steven Davis found that Stella D'Oro Biscuit Co....

July 6, 2009: YRC Worldwide Inc. is set to resume face-to-face negotiations with its union on Wednesday as the two seek a way to help YRC maintain sufficient cash to continue operating. Click here to read more at the Kansas City Business Journal.

July 6, 2009: When he served as president of Teamsters Local 282, based in Lake Success and representing private construction workers, Gary LaBarberawon praise for transforming the organization from a mob enterprise into "a model of union democracy," in the words of his lawyer, Bruce Maffeo. Two years ago, LaBarbera was called in to help salvage the New York City Central Labor Council after ex-Assemb. Brian McLaughlin - due this month to begin serving 10...

July 6, 2009: More than two-thirds (68 percent) of calendar year multiemployer plans with funding problems severe enough to warrant their being in critical status—the red zone—elected to take advantage of a “status freeze” that Congress provided in 2008 to help plans stay out of the red zone in 2009, officials at the Segal Co. told BNA July 2. Those numbers are based on client data that Segal collected at the end of April, the...

July 6, 2009: The IBT and YRC will continue talks on Wednesday, July 8, when they consider a proposal to temporarily terminate YRC participation in Teamster pension plans for about 14 months. The goal is to help restore YRC to profitability. Temporary termination is slightly different from the pension deferral plan initially offered by the union; in this proposal, there would be no obligation on the part of YRC to repay the missing contributions. Teamsters...

July 2, 2009: Do you think Hoffa will be working on Friday, July 3? Too many Teamsters will—and without premium pay. The postal service, government offices and thousands of businesses will observe Friday, July 3 as a holiday. But not UPS, the biggest Teamster employer and largest union contract in the country. It doesn’t have to be this way. UPS needs a limited number of workers to make air deliveries, but could easily recruit volunteers...

June 29, 2009: If you read the San Francisco Chronicle, you might be interested to know that by the end of this month 200 union workers will be out of a job. These are the men and women of the GCC/IBT Local 4-N District Council 2. As if job cuts weren't bad enough, this story has an even more disturbing element as the Chronicle is reportedly outsourcing those 200 union jobs to a non-union facility...

June 26, 2009: The days are over of just paying our dues and not showing up at union meetings and just letting our leaders take care of our business. We are in a fight that is going to take every rank-and-file Teamster to get in and help. It’s clear we need to change our union leadership and shift our energy to direct action. Are our jobs and benefits being protected? I don't see it. Now...

June 25, 2009: It's been superseded by events, but since the settling of the drivers' contract dispute was the probable trigger for last night's announcement of the Strib's reorganization plan, here are a few details you didn't read in the daily: Click here to read more at MinnPost.com.