One icon of American popular culture of the 1970s was the long-haul trucker, a free-range rebel in jeans and a Peterbilt hat. Think Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit, hauling a load of Coors beer eastward from Texas. Or Clint Eastwood (and his orangutan Clyde) in Every Which Way but Loose. Or of the truckers in the song "Convoy," tearing up their log sheets, triumphing over Smokey, and rockin' into the night. The reckless spirit of the American West firmly relocated itself from pioneer to cowboy to trucker, at least for a little while.

Fast-forward 30-some years: That untamed maverick is harder to find and the open road has gotten a lot less open. In one short generation, technology, from onboard computers to GPS systems, transformed truckers from free-range rebels to carefully monitored employees whose lives are a lot more like cubicle-bound office workers than the iconoclasts of yore.

In the days before GPS, a driver could, if he chose, take leisurely breaks at truck stops then make up the time by racing at 80 miles an hour down the highway, endangering himself, other motorists and company profits.

So most companies that had to get stuff across the country refused to take on the risk and hired freelance drivers who owned their own rigs. Owner-operators, the logic went, would be responsible because they had to account for the cost of wear and tear on their trucks—and the consequences of reckless endangerment. Or, at the very least, any screw ups would cost the driver, not the company.

But this situation of owner-operators hauling on a contract basis was less-than-ideal for companies. Drivers did little to help out with loading or unloading at the warehouse or taking care of special loads, something the company could ask drivers to do if they were full-time employees.

Along came better monitoring via onboard computers or GPS. This fundamentally changed the playing field. Companies could keep reckless behavior in check and benefit from more coordination and extra help at the warehouse. Companies dumped the freelance operators and once again hired their own. (A 2004 study confirms this.)

Call it a victory for the productivity-enhancing effects of information technology, and a loss of autonomy and independence of the trucker on the open road.

Gary Bojczak, who worked for a construction company in northern New Jersey, discovered the personal effects of these tradeoffs. Earlier this year, Bojczak got his 15 minutes of fame (and a $32,000 fine) for jamming the satellite signals of a newly installed air traffic control system at Newark Airport. Bojczak hadn’t procured his illegal GPS jammer for the purposes of disrupting civil aviation. He merely wanted to keep his boss from tracking his whereabouts at all times.

If workers aren't doing anything wrong, one might argue, they shouldn't mind being tracked.

And the benefits – at least for the company's bottom line – are being felt across many industries, particularly those involving tasks like stuffing envelopes or making telemarketing calls where performance can be monitored real-time. Increasingly sophisticated software is able to detect employee misbehavior even in the absence of direct monitoring by flagging suspicious patterns in, say, the drink and meal transactions of restaurant servers. (One recent study found that such surveillance technology increased restaurant revenues by 7%.)

But, perhaps, like Bajczak, we all feel entitled to our privacy and security, whatever our bosses might think, and the effects on productivity be damned.

And maybe – just maybe – workers might feel more empowered and motivated if left alone to do their jobs a little more often.

October 17, 2013: ABF Teamsters in the Central Region are voting on authorizing a strike, but it's a phony proposition. The International union has not put forth any issues or demands to strike for!

Instead, Hoffa and the Freight Division have simply denounced the Central Region members for voting No twice, and tried to divide other freight Teamsters against them.

The votes will be counted on October 29. The International union and ABF management plan to implement the 7 percent wage cut and other concessions at that time.

Meanwhile, YRC management is asking Hoffa for an extension to the concession contract. Hoffa's appointee to the YRC Board, Harry Wilson, is leading the charge for the company. No word yet on what the Hoffa administration will do.

Hoffa's administration has given up on freight and trucking, the backbone of Teamster power. We need to give up on them in the next IBT election, and rebuild Teamster power.

ABF Freight System, Inc., and the Teamsters have reached another contract extension through October 29, 2013, as the two parties work through the process for resolving the two remaining supplemental agreements to the ABF National Master Freight Agreement.

The national agreement was approved on June 27 by a majority of Teamster employees. As previously noted, the increases in contributions to health, welfare and pension plans that were supposed to begin August 1 will not take effect as scheduled until the two remaining supplemental agreements are resolved.

September 26, 2013: Yesterday the IBT Freight Division told local union officers that they will conduct a strike vote among ABF local cartage workers in the Central Region. Gordon Sweeton told local officers that ABF presented a "last, best, and final" offer for the Central Region, and the union has no choice but to conduct a strike vote, following the two earlier membership rejections.

Posing the vote as a strike authorization, rather than over a contract proposal, is designed to get the contract settled, because at this point members are more interested in contract improvements than in a strike.  Sweeton emphasized that vote for strike authorization would do serious damage to ABF and the IBT will strongly urge against authorization. The vote total in the second rejection was 716 No to 562 Yes.

Sweeton also reported that the Freight Division had OK'd ABF to haul 300 loads out of Michigan, to Chicago, by a nonunion operator. That work has already started.

Sweeton stated that he thinks they can get a settlement in another rejected supplement, covering the Western office Teamsters.

Jeffrey A. Rogers, the president of YRC Freight, the long-haul unit of less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier YRC Worldwide Inc., was fired today, according to industry sources.

James L. Welch, YRC's CEO, has assumed responsibility for the unit, according to industry sources. Welch was unhappy with the pace of progress at the division and had become increasingly involved in the unit's affairs, according to industry sources.

The company is expected to make an announcement after the equity market closed at 4 pm Eastern time.

Rogers was named president of YRC Freight in September 2011 after three years running YRC's profitable Holland subsidiary. Prior to that, he served as chief financial officer of the YRC regional companies, which includes three in the U.S. and one in Canada.

Rogers was named to the YRC Freight post shortly after Welch assumed the reins at the parent company. At the time, YRC was struggling badly with much of its problems laid at the feet of the long-haul operation, which accounts for about 60 percent of the company's revenue. The long-haul unit is the amalgamation of the former Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express. Yellow bought Roadway in 2003 but in the past decade has struggled mightily to profitably integrate the two companies.

YRC Freight was believed to be making headway—albeit haltingly—under Rogers. In last year's fourth quarter, the unit's operating ratio—the ratio of revenues to expenses and a gauge of a transport company's efficiency and profitability—improved 600 basis points year-over-year to 97.3, the company's best fourth-quarter operating ratio in six years.

However, the unit posted a lower second-quarter revenue and a wider operating loss over the year-earlier quarter. Company executives attributed the declines to the impact of a major network realignment implemented in May, a period that coincided with an increase in traffic. As a result, operations and service quality were affected, the company said.

We have a legal right to a fair and informed vote on our national contracts. But our rights have not come without Teamsters for a Democratic Union taking on big battles.  Here is a summary of some key legal – and membership – victories involving our rights in national Teamster contracts.

We Won the Right to a Fair and Informed Vote

Bauman v Presser.  This case set a precedent for a “fair and informed” vote.  We obtained an injunction stopping a UPS national contract vote and requiring a do-over on fair terms.  As Bill Bauman (who was a steward in St Louis Local 688) stated at the time: “We won a democratic voice in collective bargaining for Teamster members.”   Without this victory, Hoffa-Hall could mail out proposed contracts or supplements for a vote without any prior information available or adequate time for debate among members.

We Won the Right to Vote on Supplements and Riders

Davey v Fitzimmons.  In this case we claimed that some supplements to the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) were so different, they required separate membership votes. We lost; the court gave the IBT leadership wide latitude to interpret the IBT constitution, and said we had to change the constitution if we wanted separate votes on supplements and riders. TDU Organizer Ken Paff was one of six plaintiffs.

We then built a movement to do just that, and succeeded at the 1991 IBT Convention; working closely with a good Teamster leader, then Harrisburg Local 776 president Tom Griffith, and with some fine work by reform delegates to the Convention to overcome the opposition of the IBT officials. That victory gave members more power to win better contracts.

Without this victory, the UPS contract would have been all over back in June.

We Won the Right to Observers at the Contract Vote Count

McCuiston v Hoffa. A consent order coming out of this carhaul contract case gave us the right to have rank and file observers at contract vote counts. Prior to this, the Hoffa administration handpicked a few observers – and not from all supplements and riders – who were not independent and kept secret from members what happened at the count.  This is a crucial step for transparency and fair contract votes.

We Won Majority Rule on Contracts

In the Harmon case, we challenged a national contract vote where 64% voted no, but the union imposed the “2/3 to reject a contract” rule.  We argued some members had been denied ballots, enough to possibly make it 2/3 No. Pressure built on the issue, and finally the IBT leadership conceded, and granted Teamster members majority rule, which is written into the IBT Constitution. This was a huge victory – UPS knew they only had to get 1/3 of voters to approve a contract. TDU fought to win majority rule for years, and it was finally won.

We Won the Right to Access all Proposed Supplements and Riders

In the Braxton case we won the right to get all tentative agreements for all supplements and riders, at the time of the “two-man” meeting, so that we can make them available to all members before voting. Prior to this victory, members only had access to their own supplement to the national contract and “highlights” or IBT PR. John Braxton was a UPS worker in Philadelphia who also worked for Teamster president Ron Carey. Now you can find the supplements and riders posted on www.TDU.org, and the IBT (in response to TDU) posts them as well.

We Won the Right to Quarterly Central States Fund Financials

When the Central States Pension and Health and Welfare Funds refused to give members access to quarterly financial and special-counsel reports which were filed with the court, we intervened and won in court. (The lead plaintiff, Tommy Burke, is a retired UPS driver in North Carolina.) The quarterly financial and analytical reports are available to members only on www.TDU.org.

Members of TDU are proud of this history. We believe these victories have made our union stronger, and given members a seat at the table. We thank the members who made this possible through their support, and we thank our great legal team.

You can help us make a lot more history with your support of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, the national network of Teamster reformers working together for a strong and democratic Teamsters Union.

A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss a complaint from an Arkansas Best Corp. (ABFS) unit against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) and other parties for alleged violations of a collective bargaining agreement governing most unionized trucking companies.

Arkansas Best shares were down 7% to $24.73 in recent trading.

The trucking company's largest subsidiary, ABF Freight System Inc., first filed a suit in November 2010 against YRC, alleging the series of labor concessions by the Teamsters to help keep YRC afloat over the last few years violated the National Master Freight Agreement. The suit had previously been dismissed twice, but appealed both times. The Teamsters union represents workers at YRC and Arkansas Best.

In a regulatory filing Friday, ABF said it is disappointed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit's ruling and that YRC received three rounds of concessions from the Teamsters union that ABF did not receive. ABF said is assessing the court's opinion and determining whether to pursue additional options.

ABF noted that, since 2010, it has negotiated its own separate five-year contract agreement with the Teamsters union, which was ratified by a majority of its Teamster employees in June. The lawsuit and recent contract negotiations were separate events, the company said.

Arkansas Best had been approached by YRC in late March about a deal that would have combined the only two big independent players with unionized drivers in the less-than-truckload sector, however it rejected the deal. Less-than-truckload carriers combine loads from multiple customers onto single trucks.

The industry was hit hard during the last recession, and debt-laden YRC narrowly avoided being pushed into bankruptcy as dozens of other firms were forced to close, but the market has in recent months stabilized.

Arkansas Best's stock has more than doubled this year to two-year highs.

UPDATED September 11, 2013: The largest supplement to the ABF agreement – the Central Region local cartage agreement – was rejected again, as was the Western Region office supplement. Updated Local-by-Local contract votes are posted here.

The other five supplements which were previously rejected were accepted in the second round of voting.

The IBT Constitution (Article XII, Section 2) provides that after two such rejections, "The master national negotiating committee shall return to the bargaining table and attempt to address the issues… in the event no new tentative agreement is reached, or if the members reject the new tentative agreement, the master committee shall conduct a strike authorization vote" in the supplemental area.

This should give the two groups some leverage to win changes to the agreement. But the Hoffa administration will likely try yet another "vote till you get it right" push. Hoffa and the Freight Division's game is to divide, discourage, and threaten members.

Maybe they can get a contract passed that way, but they cannot build Teamster power like this. They cannot organize. They cannot defend our pension plans.

The Record in Freight

They did nothing to increase Teamster bargaining power at ABF, misled members, then sold management's deal.

They lied to UPS Freight Teamsters and when the members rejected their deal, Hoffa-Hall went into hiding for over two months, and counting.

It looks like a secret deal with YRC may be in the works, and Hoffa cares more about his hedge-fund pal Harry Wilson than YRC Teamsters.

Worst of all, there is no plan to organize in freight or build Teamster power in trucking.

Teamster power is not just about numbers. It's about a strategy to leverage our power across the supply chain, at ports, plants, rail, trucking, warehousing and distribution, and use that power to grow and diversify our union.

Hoffa wouldn't recognize Teamster power if it stole his golf clubs. We need a new leadership with the vision and commitment to make it happen.

YRC Worldwide Inc.'s regional Reddaway less-than-truckload unit resumed normal operations on Monday after an unauthorized walkout by Teamsters at Southern California terminals in Fontana and Compton, the unit’s president said.

"The two terminals are fully operational now," T.J. O'Connor, president of Reddaway, told TT in an e-mail message, following the one-day action on Aug. 16.

The action wasn't sanctioned by the Teamsters Union, according to O'Connor's statement. The union didn't respond to requests for comment from TT.

The amount of freight affected by the walkout wasn't disclosed. The YRC regional unit official said that freight was rerouted around the affected terminals.

In the statement, Reddaway's O'Connor also said that an arbitration hearing that was scheduled before the walkout "will address related issues."

The company didn't say what the "related issues" were, but the statement noted that the union and the company had agreed to the arbitration process "long before" the walkout.

YRC is ranked No. 5 on the Transport Topics Top 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.

A work action surfaced Friday at two California trucking terminals owned by YRC Worldwide Inc.

Overland Park-based YRC issued a statement that acknowledged the event at its Reddaway regional trucking operation. The statement cited "an unauthorized, non-sanctioned isolated work action with local Teamsters" at Reddaway's facilities in Fontana and Compton, Calif.

Word of a walkout and pickets surfaced on a Teamsters online forum, where members voiced support for the Fontana and Compton workers.

Officials of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to comment late Friday.

The statement said Teamsters union officials had been in touch with the company and "voiced their opposition" to the work action in California. It further said the union officials "assured Reddaway they are working to put an immediate stop to it."

Reddaway said that it was redirecting freight traffic around the two terminals to other nearby facilities and that customers would see no effect.