Atlanta Gathering Builds Forces for Change
June 6, 2005: Teamsters from 15 different locals in the South and Southeast converged in Atlanta on July 9 to discuss plans for the 2006 IBT election and delegate races, and to learn how to be more effective Teamsters. Nearly all of the 50 members on hand are preparing to run for IBT convention delegate in early 2006. The meeting was an opportunity to share ideas and strategies for the elections.“We need to take steps...
Members Respond to Local Officers’ Call for New IBT Leadership
June 6, 2005: In May, concerned Teamster officers announced that we were forming the New Leadership Committee, to put together the program and leadership team that can defeat Hoffa in next year’s IBT election. Since then, messages have poured in from Teamster members who want to be part of the effort to beat Hoffa in 2006 and rebuild Teamster Power. We want to hear from you with your concerns about our union’s future and your...
Teamster Pension Funds Could Be Strengthened
June 6, 2005:It's no secret that United Parcel Service wants to pull all their employees out of Teamster pension funds. Like any corporation, they'd rather have unilateral control over their employees' pensions and convert them to 401(k) plans. UPS took a step forward on that plan in May with the acquisition of Overnite. Now they have 10,000 less-than-truckload freight workers who are not in any Teamster plan, and they plan to grow that number as...
Central States Spin
May 4, 2005: Members of Local 407 received the letter below from their local. It’s a short summary of information provided to the local by the Central States Pension Fund. From the letter, its clear that the CSF is still spinning the numbers—if the fund’s financial situation is improving, isn’t it time to improve Teamster retirees’ financial situation? Of course spun information is better than none at all. Thanks to member pressure over the last...
New England Fund Reverses Some Cuts
April 29, 2005: The recently announced pension cuts in New England went over like a Yankees victory in Fenway Park. The angry uproar by members and local officers has pressured the New England Pension Fund Trustees to reverse two of their most unfair pension cuts announced in July. The new is not all good. The restrictions on 25-and-out and 30-and-out pensions before age 57 remain in place. New England Teamsters who did not have enough...
Feds, IRB Pursue Investigations Shut Down by Hoffa
April 25, 2005: While Hoffa prepares to release a report justifying his shutdown of RISE investigations into organized crime, government investigators and the press are pursuing the leads Hoffa claims are a dead end: Joint Council 25 President John Coli is under investigation by the FBI based on the leads Hoffa chose not to pursue including allegations of organized crime influence and benefit fund scams in Local 727. The Independent Review Board is investigating Local...
The Mob and Members’ Money
April 5, 2005: With members facing pension and health care cuts, RISE investigators uncovered multiple benefit funds in Chicago that contract to service providers with apparent connections to organized crime. RISE investigators discovered that several funds are giving business to the notorious Group Administrators (GA), an outfit run by David Dorfman. Dorfman’s father Allen is an organized crime figure who was indicted for bilking the Central States Pension Fund out of millions. Dorfman and GA...
Married to the Mob?
April 5, 2005: “My problem is with one man: Jim Hoffa.” That’s what Ed Stier said when he resigned last year as the head of Project RISE, the internal Teamster anti-corruption program. Now we know why. TDU has obtained a confidential report that Stier issued to Hoffa. It warned of intelligence reports that Chicago mafia figures were exerting influence in the General President’s office to block investigations into their organized crime interests. The report charges...
After Largest Dues Increase in History...Why Is the IBT in the Red?
April 5, 2005: How many times have you seen Hoffa and Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel brag that they have put the International Union into the black financially? And that it was “bankrupt” when they took office six years ago? The truth is that the International Union is millions of dollars in the red. Don’t take our word for it. This data comes from the IBT’s own audited reports and financial reports filed with the U.S. Department...
Southern California Grocery Teamsters Face Tough Negotiations This Fall
February 5, 2005: The contracts that cover about 8,000 Teamster drivers, warehouse workers and office clerks in the Southern California grocery industry are set to expire Sept. 15, 2005. Coming on the heels of last year’s grueling four-and-a-half month strike and lockout of the UFCW store clerks, these negotiations are sure to be some of the toughest and most demanding in recent history. Are the employers in a position to take us on like they...