September 19, 2008: CEOs who destroy Teamster jobs get rewarded with concessions.

Teamster officials who negotiate the concessions get rewarded with pay hikes.

What is wrong with this picture?

The CEOs who brought us the sub-prime mortgage crisis and Wall St. meltdown have been handsomely rewarded for their failures.

The press reports that Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld made $45 million last year while he drove his firm over the cliff. That’s $17,000 an hour!

But it’s not just on Wall Street where there’s a disconnect between results and compensation.

Yellow Roadway’s Bill Zollars has taken home more than $40 million as CEO while steering the company’s stock to record lows.

In carhaul, Allied management gave themselves illegal bonuses after driving that company into bankruptcy. The same pattern is at work in our union. Hoffa administration officials are enjoying record pay hikes while negotiating the most concessionary contracts in Teamster history.

President James Hoffa, who has called on members to sacrifice to boost the profits of our employers, gave himself a $77,000 raise. His total compensation is now $413,234.

Hoffa promised that concessions would deliver job security. The opposite has happened. Yellow Roadway and DHL are downsizing. Even super-profitable UPS is eliminating full-time jobs in violation of the contract. It’s time to stop giving concessions to corporations that destroy our jobs.

It’s time for Teamster members to stand up and hold our top officials accountable for failing to defend our jobs and our contracts.