The Transportation Department bowed to congressional pressure Monday and said it would allow more public scrutiny of a proposed demonstration project that would permit Mexican-based trucking companies to operate throughout the United States. Read the full story in Forbes.

In its first study of how an American company treats its workers, Human Rights Watch asserted yesterday that Wal-Mart’s aggressive efforts to keep out labor unions often violated federal law and infringed on its workers’ rights. Read Steven Greenhouse's full story in the New York Times.

May 1, 2007: Nichele Fulmore has been a package car driver at UPS in Lumberton, North Carolina for over 12 years. She is a member of Teamsters Local 391 and has been a full-time steward for two years. She began organizing to reform the Teamsters when she realized that “things weren’t right, especially when members are kept in the dark.” As part of our ongoing “Women Leaders in Our Unions” series, read more about how...

April 28, 2007: Shareholders of Allied Holdings Inc. claim that billionaire Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. improperly conspired with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union to gain control of Allied in Bankruptcy Court. Read the complete story in the LA Times.

April 27, 2007: If you're having trouble finding your local officers this week, here's where they might be: Hoffa's Unity Conference, Inaugural Celebration, Golf Tournament, and Poker Tournament, all happening this week in Las Vegas. The whole gala is paid for by your dues. The Unity Conference starts on Sunday, April 29, and runs through Thursday, May 3. According to the IBT website, from Tuesday through Thursday meetings are only scheduled from 9:00 am to...

April 24, 2007: Public Citizen joined environmental and labor groups late Monday in suing the federal government to challenge an illegal pilot program that will authorize up to 100 trucking companies based in Mexico to perform long-haul operations within the United States. The groups contend that the project violates federal requirements that the public receive notice and time to comment, and that it would have significant environmental and public safety repercussions. Click here to read...

April 20, 2007: Teamsters Local 89 workers are back on the job at a Louisville warehouse and trucking operation that supplies groceries to Kroger stores across Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Click here to read the full story at the Louisville Courier-Journal.

April 20: Justice was slow but Hoffa and his slate have finally been forced to pay over $100,000 that they failed to pay employers during the 2006 election campaign. The Election Supervisor on March 28 ordered the Hoffa campaign to pay in full, with interest (ESD 2007 407). Hoffa had tried to convert the debt to employer contributions, but TDU attorney Barbara Harvey successfully argued that it would be illegal. Hoffa’s attorney (and son), David...

April 20, 2007: On May 9, a hearing in federal bankruptcy court in Georgia could mark a new era for Teamster carhaulers. The Yucaipa investment company is poised to take control of some 65 percent of the carhaul industry in North America, and operate a good bit of it with wages 17 percent below union scale. The days of monopoly management are upon us. Yucaipa is controlled by Ron Burkle, a billionaire investor that the...

April 19, 2007: by Courtney Tower, Journal of Commerce : Rail operations at the Port of Vancouver were returning to normal Thursday as Canadian National Railway lifted its lockout of striking union employees after federal back-to-work legislation was signed into law. The United Transportation Union said its members will return to work today by 6:55 p.m. Eastern Time (3:55 p.m. Pacific Time). A total of 2,800 conductors and yard workers represented by the UTU called...