Hahs Faces Harsher Penalty
December 17, 2007: Charged with embezzling members’ money, Don Hahs faces harsher punishment now that the Independent Review Board has rejected a proposed settlement as too light. In September, the IRB charged Hahs, the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), with embezzling over $58,000 in members’ money. The IRB instructed Hoffa to conduct an internal hearing to hear the charges against Hahs. Instead Hahs cut a deal with Hoffa to repay...
BNA Daily Labor Report: Review Board Rejects IBT-BLE Plan for Penalty on Financial Misconduct Charges
December 17, 2007: The Independent Review Board Dec. 13 rejected an agreement between International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers President Don Hahs for disciplinary action against Hahs on charges of financial misconduct. John J. Cronin, Jr., administrator of the IRB, the court-supervised panel that oversees anticorruption efforts at the Teamsters, told BNA late Dec. 13 that the review board had rejected the plan as insufficient, but did...
Tentative Agreement with YRC
The IBT has reached a tentative deal with Yellow Roadway, but no information about the deal has been released. Click here to read more at Freight2008.
New York Daily News: FreshDirect Axes Immigrant Workers During Teamster Drive
December 13, 2007: Online grocery giant FreshDirect is axing scores of immigrants in a crackdown on undocumented workers at its Queens warehouse. Teary-eyed workers filed out of the delivery company's factory in Long Island City yesterday after supervisors demanded they produce papers proving their immigration status is legal. Union organizers say the move may be part of an effort to intimidate the 900 or so warehouse workers in advance of a union vote set for...
Huffington Post: Bill Clinton Severs Ties with Billionaire Buddy Burkle
December 13, 2007: Bill Clinton has severed business ties with Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, fearful that their deals could erupt into bad publicity damaging his wife's presidential bid, according to sources who know both men. In April 2007, investors of Hawk Opportunity Fund sued Burkle over charges that Yucaipa's acquisition of Allied Holdings, Inc., North America's largest car-hauling company, gave it an unfair share of the market. The suit was dismissed. But the transaction,...
DOT Reissues 11-Hour Driving Rule
December 11, 2007: The FMCSA today issued an "Interim Final Rule" on drivers’ hours of service regs which retains the 11-hour drive time and the 34-hour reset. Both of these regulations were struck down in September by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. as inconsistent with the law passed by Congress in 1995. The Court gave the FMCSA 90 days to comply. Rather than return to the 10-hour drive time and eliminate the...
Hahs Cuts a Deal on Embezzlement Charges
December 11, 2007: Charged with embezzling $58,000 in members’ money, BLET president Don Hahs has made a settlement with the International Union for a six-month suspension. This deal, however, has not yet been finally approved. In September, the Independent Review Board (IRB) charged Hahs, the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, with embezzling union funds. Hahs admits that he spent the money on everything from Cleveland Cavalier season tickets to a fishing...
Rail Teamsters Reject Early Deal
December 11, 2007: Teamster engineers have voted down an early deal in a close vote on the Norfolk Southern. BLET negotiators asked members to accept a new contract that would last until 2014, but rank-and-file Teamsters voted down the proposed deal by 1,143 votes No to 1,050 votes Yes. The current on-property agreement does not expire until 2009. The proposed agreement would have continued a controversial bonus pay system, but reduced the bonus after 2009....
New York No Vote Reverses Pension Givebacks
December 5, 2007: New York Local 804 members voted by 3 to 1 to reject the national contract and the Local 804 supplement. Now, that No Vote has paid off.Members are preparing to vote on a better offer from UPS that restores 30 & Out benefits to $3,600 a month-without key givebacks that were included in the first offer.The Local 804 Executive Board unanimously endorsed the company's first offer which would have eliminated 25 &...
Make UPS Deliver: Lessons from the Campaign
December 5, 2007: UPS Teamsters were not able to defeat givebacks this time. An analysis of voting results shows what it will take for us to succeed in the future. UPS entered contract talks making record profits of more than $4 billion and under pressure from stockholders to settle the contract early. Our chief negotiators James Hoffa and Ken Hall had the leverage to make UPS deliver. Instead, they gave the company the early deal...