January 30,2005: As an employee of Allied Systems in Windsor, Ont., and a member of Teamsters Local 938, I would like to address the issue of the fast card program [for crossing the U.S./Canada border]. I, like many others, am in the process of obtaining a fast card to hold my job. At this point I do not have my fast card and therefore I am unable to work until I obtain one.  I have applied for...

“Herman Benson launched the union democracy movement almost single-handedly, nearly 50 years ago,” says Ken Paff, TDU national organizer. Now Benson has written a book about the history of the union reform movement he  took part in: Rebels, Reformers and Racketeers: How Insurgents Transformed the Labor Movement. Benson writes the account of union reformers in the United Mine Workers, the Laborers, the Longshore Workers, the Teamsters, and other unions—all “independent-minded unionists who are loyal to...

February 6, 2006 Dear Brothers and Sisters: Since joining the IBLE in 1974, I have devoted my entire career to improving the lives of locomotive engineers and their families. I have always put the best interests of the membership first. Regrettably, President Hahs and I have too many fundamental differences about how the organization should represent the members’ best interests. In my opinion, his views and decisions are adversely impacting the survival of our craft...

When the mob wanted IBT anti-corruption investigations in Chicago shut down, they turned to three Hoffa allies to make it happen, intelligence sources told investigators. Three Teamsters were identified as “the key figures” behind the shutdown of organized crime investigations in Chicago, including John Coli, the president of the 100,000-member Joint Council 25.Coli also heads Teamsters Local 727, one of the locals targeted by Stier’s investigators for organized crime influence and corruption, including: Allegations of...

A recent suit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) charged Local 743 President Robert Walston and the other officers of Local 743 with election fraud and other violations. This comes as the result of a local election challenged by longtime TDUer Richard Berg and the New Leadership Slate. The complaint in federal court states Local 743 officials, “denied members the right to vote when Defendant mailed members’ ballots to incorrect addresses, the ballots...

James Hoffa has been getting a lot of press these days for being part of a group of labor leaders who formed the Change to Win Coalition. What does this new group stand for, and what does it mean for Teamsters? The Change to Win Coalition, led by the Service Employees (SEIU) and joined by the Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers, UNITE-HERE, the Laborers, Farm Workers, and Carpenters says its purpose is to make...

Frank Halstead Local 572, Ralphs Grocery Los Angeles The Hoffa Unity Slate is cracking into two. More and more members are seeing that we won’t stop the decline of Teamster power until we change our union’s leadership at the top. Now, even members of Hoffa’s own team are realizing the same thing.Hoffa, the candidate, promised to restore Teamster power. But when the Hoffa train left the station, his platform stayed behind. Instead of restoring the...

Under Hoffa, multiple salaries and political patronage are at an all-time high. • Hoffa pays multiple salaries to 148 political allies. • Multiple salaries are up 722 percent under Hoffa. • A record 119 officials on the International payroll make $100,000 or more—80 percent get multiple salaries. The salary gap is widening between the majority of local union leaders and a layer of super-compensated officials—most of whom are on Hoffa's payroll. • Half of all...

December 5, 2005: TDU members who filed a class action lawsuit against Tyson Foods have won a landmark victory at the Supreme Court that will put millions in the hands of more than 800 meatpacking workers and help tens of thousands of poultry workers win litigation for unpaid wages. In the first decision of the court under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court cleared the way for 815 Tyson employees to receive...

The following is an interview with Frank Halstead, a grocery worker at Ralphs in Los Angeles Local 572. What are some examples of solidarity, within the IBT and without, that your chapter has been involved in? Our solidarity work is all within the Teamsters. We have our hands full right here! Currently we have a project around organizing a contract campaign for the Sysco facility. This has tremendous promise because we have numerous issues to...