Facing fresh member dissatisfaction, Teamster President James Hoffa and his Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall are headed to court to try to make contested Teamster elections a thing of the past.

Whether they succeed will determine the future of one of North America’s most powerful unions. Will it continue to manage decline and concessions, or tap the power of organized transport and distribution workers to reverse them?

The 1.25 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is unique among the largest North American unions in that every five years it has a hotly contested rank-and-file election for the top leadership.

The right to vote is protected by a 1989 consent order, a court-approved agreement that Teamster officers reluctantly accepted to avoid a racketeering trial.

In that landmark legal case, the reform movement Teamsters for a Democratic Union intervened to oppose court-imposed government oversight of the union’s operations. Instead, to root out systemic corruption, TDU proposed that members directly elect top officers.

Previously, Teamster presidents were elected at conventions. The 1986 “election” gave incumbent Jackie Presser 99 percent of the vote.

USING THE VOTE

TDU’s blueprint was largely adopted, and 1991 saw the first-ever election. Members used their new vote to elect a whole new leadership slate, headed by Ron Carey. The candidate who’d gotten 1 percent under the old system, Sam Theodus, easily won the rank-and-file vote for vice president.

The election rocked not only the Teamsters, but the labor movement. The first-ever contested election in the AFL-CIO quickly followed.

After Carey won again in 1996, defeating Hoffa, he led UPS workers out on strike in 1997. With bold demands such as 10,000 more full-time jobs (with the rallying cry, “Part-Time America Won’t Work”) and innovative tactics that evolved over the year of rank-and-file organizing leading up it, this strike started to put labor on the offensive.

That success was tragically cut short later that year when aides to Carey were found engaging in illegal campaign fundraising. The scandal paved the way for Hoffa’s rise and the old guard’s return to power.

Now the Hoffa administration has taken the first step to try to end the consent order by submitting a letter to federal judge Loretta Preska. The IBT claims the consent order is no longer needed because the union is reformed.

The U.S. Attorney and TDU have submitted letters opposing the change . TDU is also intervening in the court proceedings and has launched a campaign  to defend the right to vote.

TDU agrees that mob control of the union has diminished—precisely because the right to vote has given members a tool to tackle corruption and hold leaders accountable.

Other unions have membership elections in their constitution, but what makes the Teamsters unique is independently supervised elections, coupled with an organized national reform movement of leaders, activists, and members. It’s TDU that gives life to members’ right to vote.

‘GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT’

Hoffa and Hall claim their goal is to end government oversight. But their real target is the one-member, one-vote elections.

To be clear, there is no “government oversight” of any of the union’s operations—not bargaining, political action, organizing, contract campaigns, budgets, salaries, or hiring and firing.

Instead, the consent order provides for an Independent Review Board, selected by IBT leadership and the U.S. Attorney, to bring corruption charges against individual officials. And it provides for the right to vote for international officers under fair election rules.

Both are important to members, but the right to vote is the most critical.

Without these rules, the current leaders will be free to change nomination requirements to make it impossible for opposition candidates to get on the ballot.

Currently, nominations for top offices require 5 percent of elected convention delegates. But the incumbents want to raise that bar.

Every challenger to Hoffa has met the 5 percent requirement, but none would have been nominated if 10 percent were required—though each, once nominated, ran a competitive race and forced national debates on the union’s direction.

Teamster leaders have already amended the IBT constitution so the board can write its own rules for any election and pick the election supervisor. For now, these amendments are trumped by the provisions of the consent order.

But if the consent order were lifted, these safeguards would go out the window.

So would election rules that partially level the playing field by providing opposition campaigners’ access to employer parking lots, “battle pages” of campaign material in the Teamster magazine, and fair rules for delegate elections.

WHY NOW?

Hoffa and Hall have good reason to make this move now. Hoffa, who won reelection in 2011 with 59 percent of the vote, faces a different political outlook as the 2015-2016 campaign approaches.

Over the past year, the majority of members in the freight industry, UPS Freight, and UPS have all voted to reject concessions in their contracts—only to have them imposed by Hoffa and Hall.

The Vote No movement helped launch a new formation, Take Back Our Union, that’s already organizing meetings to plan for the 2016 election.

Hoffa won most of the UPS locals in 2011. But his prospects among that group of 250,000 Teamsters look much dimmer today. And dissatisfaction is not limited to just UPS and trucking Teamsters: Hoffa’s policy of retreat has led to defeats and lackluster organizing in warehousing, delivery, public service, airlines, and other Teamster fields.

Take Back Our Union has started to forge a coalition of the opposition forces in the union, bringing together TDU, which backed New York Local 805 President Sandy Pope in the 2011 election, and other local officials who ran on a separate slate.

Combined, these contenders won 41 percent last time—and that was before this wave of membership anger at concessions.

Once again, members are gearing up to take the wheel of the union.

 

June 13, 2014: The next International Union election will be held in 2016. What will it take to elect new Teamster leadership?

Two years from now, the IBT Convention will be held in Las Vegas to nominate candidates for General President and all 28 International officers.

Will there be reform delegates from your local union? Who will be nominated there? What will it take to win and how can we get started now?

The Vote No movement showed that a majority of Teamsters in key industries oppose Hoffa-Hall’s concessions. What happens now that the national contracts have been settled and, in the case of UPS, imposed on the members?

Will Teamsters opposed to concessions become a force for change? That depends on what Teamsters like you do now. Being fed up won’t do the job.

We need a united, national campaign organization of members in every industry working together to channel that anger into votes for change. 

Members are forming a network, Take Back Our Union, to start the education process, build local committees of members who will run for convention delegate and nominate and support a coalition of candidates. 

Initial meetings are being held and more will be scheduled. 

Why Start Early

Hoffa and Hall have a built-in campaign organization: they have a huge payroll with over 100 officials getting multiple salaries from the IBT. Hoffa and Hall don’t have to start early because they have already have a fundraising and campaign patronage machine. 

We need a different kind of machine, a grassroots army of Teamster volunteers.    

How the Election Works

The IBT Election is governed by Election Rules and overseen by an independent Election Supervisor.

Ballots will be mailed to all Teamsters in October 2016, but the election process starts nearly two years before that, when an Election Supervisor is named.

Next June (2015) petitioning starts to accredit candidates; accreditation entitles candidates to get a copy of the Teamster membership list and to reach members through campaign pages in five issues of the Teamster magazine.

Members in every local union elect convention delegates to represent them at the Teamster Convention where candidates for International Union office are officially nominated.

In the last election, many locals where members voted against Hoffa were represented at the convention by officers who nominated Hoffa-Hall and tried to keep all opposition candidates off ballot. 

It’s up to active members to make sure that doesn't happen again. We need to start organizing now and forming local committees.

What it Takes to Win

Hoffa has been able to win the last three elections with 60-65 percent of the vote. To defeat him, it will take about 200,000 votes. What will it take to achieve this goal?

• A Grassroots Army. Hoffa has a top-down machine; we need a grassroots army. TDU has analyzed the local-by-local results from the last six IBT elections. In each election, members voted for reform in local unions where Teamsters were actively campaigning for reform candidates. We need boots on the ground to win.

• A Campaign War Chest. We do not have to outspend Hoffa because we will outwork him. But we need to raise enough money to pay for campaign mailings to the membership and other Get Out the Vote costs. It will take at least $500,000 to win.

• A Full Slate and Coalition Effort. Last time anti-Hoffa forces split into two camps. Together, they carried a majority of the votes in over 100 locals. There is growing momentum toward a united coalition that includes not only TDU but everyone who wants to rebuild Teamster power. That is what Take Back Our Union is all about.  

---

 

 

 

April 28, 2014: One thousand Teamsters joined a conference call Saturday. Get the latest information on Hoffa-Hall over-riding the contract votes at UPS, including a leaflet and FAQs and find out what members are doing next

Teamsters are taking action to oppose concessions, stand up to Hoffa and Hall and build a movement to take back our Union. 

One thousand members from UPS, UPS Freight, YRC and other employers joined a national conference call Saturday to learn how they can take action.

Hoffa and Hall may be able to use legal loopholes and twist the Teamster Constitution and force through the UPS contract. It’s up to Teamster members to make sure that they are never in the position to do this to us again.

Download a bulletin and FAQs and get information for yourself and other members.

Sign the Online Petition to support members who are coming together to Take Back Our Union.

You can use the player below to listen to a recording of the conference call.

jwplayer("LAF3494_04262014080458440_1165360").setup({ flashplayer: "https://www.freeconferencecalling.com/recordings/jwplayer/player.swf", file: "http://rec001.freeconferencecalling.com/mp3/1128685/344450/LAF3494_04262014080458440_1165360.mp3", controlbar: "bottom", fullscreen: "false", height: 24, width: 200, modes: [ { type: 'html5' }, { type: 'flash', src: 'https://www.freeconferencecalling.com/recordings/jwplayer/player.swf' }, { type: 'download' } ] });

Build the Movement to Take Back Our Union

Join forces with members who are building a movement to Take Back Our Union in 2016. Click here to send your question or message and to find out more.

 

April 2, 2014: With the Louisville Air Rider headed down in flames, Hoffa and Hall are considering a secret plan to impose the UPS contract.

UPS Teamsters in Louisville, Philadelphia, and Western Pennsylvania have Voted No and rejected their supplements.

Now Hoffa and Hall are considering a plan to take away their right to vote and impose the UPS contract.

Teamster members won the right to vote on supplements and riders in 1991 and have used that right in record numbers this year to reject 18 supplements and riders.

Sixty-three percent of UPS Teamsters work under a supplement or rider that was voted down.

The Vote No movement paid off and forced Hoffa and Hall to improve Team Care benefits, and won other improvements in some supplements.

Since then, Ken Hall has worked hand-in-glove with management to vote and re-vote the rejected supplements to get them passed.

But members in three areas have held out against concessions and for improvements in their supplements: Louisville, Western Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia.

These UPS Teamsters are ready to stand up and even vote to strike, if that threat is needed to bring the company to the table to bargain a fair contract.

The supplements could have been settled a long time ago if the International Union had stepped in and backed the members.

Instead, Hall has played politics and lashed out at the Local 89 leadership and the Vote No movement and tried to blame them for holding up the national contract and members' retro checks.

The company has taken its cues from Hoffa and Hall and refused to budge at the bargaining table. In Louisville, UPS has even reduced its offer.

This is exactly why Teamsters fought for the Right to Vote on supplements and riders in the first place: to stop employers from imposing concessions in supplements and riders by pushing through a contract nationally.

Before we had this right in 1991, the master contract and all supplements and riders were voted on in one national vote. That gave employers a tool to push through concessions at the supplement level.

The Right to Vote on supplements and riders changed all that.

In 2007, Local 804 members voted no and rejected their supplement. They won a better contract offer that saved 25 & Out pension benefits the company was trying to take away.

The Right to Vote on supplements stopped contract concessions and won improvements.
Now Hall is now floating the idea of imposing the UPS contract and abrogating members’ right to vote on the outstanding supplements. This plan has started to leak out from Hall loyalists.

All members need to be prepared to stand with these Teamsters and defend our Right to Vote.

UPS cannot operate without the Louisville Worldport and Philadelphia Airport which together handle a huge volume of air packages.

The Local 705 and 710 contracts covering 15,000 UPS Teamsters in Chicago, Illinois, and Northern Indiana are also not settled. These contracts are separate from the national agreement, still open, and vital to UPS’s operations.

With a united approach, our union has more than enough leverage to defeat concessions and win acceptable contracts in Louisville, Western Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and in Chicago Locals 705 and 710.  

The Right to Vote gives working UPSers leverage. Hoffa and Hall should be using it to negotiate contract improvements, not threatening to take that right away.

---

“We Voted No because we oppose Team Care and want other improvements in our supplement like more full-time jobs, protecting our feeder work, and a better grievance procedure.

“The Union could easily achieve these improvements and settle the contract if they would just show some backbone for a change.

“It’s time for Hoffa and Hall to stand behind us and UPS Teamsters in Louisville and Western PA, instead of standing with the company and selling us out.”

Bobby Curry, Local 623, Philadelphia Airport

April 2, 2014: Hoffa and his number two Ken Hall raked in more than $300,000 a piece in total compensation last year according to the IBT LM-2 financial report reviewed by TDU.

Hoffa gave himself a Cost of Living increase of $4,000. Most Teamsters don’t see anything resembling that.

Hoffa’s “housing allowance” ballooned to $67,358, bringing his total compensation to $381,409.  Ken Hall also gets that outsized perk.  They work in the Marble Palace; do they live in one too?

Hall’s total compensation was $301,519.

Our union remained the same size as the year previous: 1.258 million.

Click here to review our IBT financial report of 2012. Click here to find out how to obtain a copy of the 2013 financial report for your local union.

The Teamster Rank & File Education and Legal Defense Foundation (TRF) will research  all Teamster LM-2 (and LM-3 and IRS 990) forms and will publish the results later this year.
If you have questions, comments, or want to help change our union’s financial priorities, contact TDU.

March 31, 2014: Unlike many Teamsters, James Hoffa got a nice raise last year. His salary went up by $4,000 to $300,788. But there’s more: His “housing allowance” ballooned to $67,358, so his total compensation went up to $381,409. Ken Hall gets that outsized perk also; Halls’s total compensation was $301,519.

Their appointees and International vice presidents got similar “cost of living” raises, according to the union’s LM-2 2013 financial report just filed with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Our union remained the same size as the year previous: 1.258 million.

You can review the financial report of your local union. These LM-2 reports were required to be filed by March 31.   

The Teamster Rank & File Education and Legal Defense Foundation (TRF) will research  all Teamster LM-2 (and LM-3 and IRS 990) forms and will publish the results later this year.

We believe knowledge is power, and we provide it to the members. You can review a summary of last year’s report. 

If you have questions or comments, contact TDU. If you want to help change our union’s financial priorities from officers’ perks to rank and file power, then Join TDU.

January 3, 2014: The labor movement is launching a national effort to raise the minimum wage. But Teamster wages and benefits are bottoming out under Hoffa and Hall.

The labor movement is launching a national effort to raise the federal minimum wage to more than $10 an hour and to boost local and state minimum wages even higher.

In the meantime, Teamster wages are bottoming out under contracts negotiated by James Hoffa and Ken Hall.

Even under our largest contract for the most profitable Teamster employer, UPS, our wages are falling behind.

If UPS part-time wages had kept pace with inflation since 1982, the starting wage would be over $20 an hour today. Instead under the contract negotiated by Hoffa and Hall, many UPS part-timers will start at $10 an hour through 2018.

That’s less than the $10.10 an hour that is the target minimum wage under federal legislation that will be introduced this year.

Labor unions and community allies are campaigning for even higher minimum wages in many states and local areas. For example: new legislation just won in the two largest counties in Maryland and the District of Columbia will raise the minimum wage to $11.50—raising the pay of Teamsters hired at the Landover, Maryland UPS hub in the middle of the contract term.

Teamsters should not have to wait for minimum wage legislation in order to get a pay increase.

Other Teamsters are not at minimum wage, but their pay and standard of living is falling behind. Under Hoffa Sr., a Teamster job was a ticket to the middle class. Under Hoffa Jr, freight Teamsters have seen their pay and pensions gutted while tycoons like Hoffa appointee Harry Wilson have made millions off of the concessions at YRC.

Hoffa’s pay has ballooned to $367,864 since he took office. He’s not feeling any pinch or planning any fightback. That’s up to working Teamsters to do for ourselves and that is what TDU is all about.

TDU members will be there in the campaign to raise the minimum wage. We’ll also be organizing for living wages and against contract concessions in our own union.

Good pay, quality benefits, a secure pension and some power on the job. These aren’t supposed to be exclusive perks for top Teamster officials. In TDU, we’re working to rebuild a Teamsters Union that fights for a better future for every working Teamster.