August 10, 2007: By Jane M. Von Bergen, Inquirer Staff Writer: The leader of one of Pennsylvania's most powerful unions has been ousted after allegations that he lied to a federal investigatory board.

Francis "Frank" J. Gillen, a longtime officer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, cannot hold any union office for five years and cannot belong to the union as a truck driver for three years.

To read the full story, click here.

July 12, 2007: Master contracts are the foundation of our union’s power. Will Hoffa let that foundation crumble? And what can concerned Teamsters do about it?

Master contracts cover about 25 percent of Teamsters, but they set standards for the majority. They are the foundation of Teamster power.

Jimmy Hoffa Sr. understood this principle and built up our national contracts. Is Hoffa Jr. giving up on the master contracts that were his father’s greatest legacy?

Just look at the warning signs that are flashing at us right now.

UPS. The Hoffa administration claimed early bargaining would deliver stronger pension and health benefits. But top officials are leaking that Hoffa may go along with UPS’s proposal to break up the Central States Pension Fund.

CARHAUL. The Hoffa administration has allowed 3,300 carhaulers, nearly 40 percent of Teamsters covered by the contract, to have their wages slashed to 17.5 percent below union scale—and frozen for years. This has happened even as billionaire Ron Burkle has taken over 60 percent of the industry.

FREIGHT. Freight division leaders openly question whether Hoffa has given up on this core industry. ABF’s CEO is promoting a scheme to bust out of Teamster pension plans and set up a company pension, or even just a 401(k).

DHL. IBT insiders report that Hoffa will allow DHL out of the National Master Freight Agreement.

UPS FREIGHT. Over a year ago Hoffa claimed a national cardcheck agreement would soon unionize 15,000 UPS Freight employees. Now management is playing hardball and attacking our union—and union officials in freight are concerned that Hoffa will give up Teamster standards to get the company under a contract.

UPS CARTAGE. Hoffa’s so-called “master” contract leaves substandard wages in place and no protection against subcontracting.

Master Contracts:Fact From Fiction

A true master contract uses our union’s national power to raise all Teamsters up to the highest level.

What the Hoffa administration calls a “master contract” is any contract that covers multiple locations, even if there’s no Teamster pension, the wages vary by location, and the conditions are inferior to our national standards.

Hoffa’s “master contracts” mean drastically lower wages (carhaul, UPS Cartage), undercutting our national standards (DHL and UPS Freight), and potentially even busting up our pension plans (UPS, freight, and UPS Freight).

Rank and File Can Make a Difference

Our Right to Vote on contracts gives members the power to prevent Hoffa from selling out our national contracts. But rank-and-file Teamsters need to be informed and united to use the power in our hands.

In carhaul, members nearly voted down Hoffa’s massive givebacks, but we fell just 2 percent short. With just a little more rank-and-file involvement, a 17.5 percent wage cut could have been prevented.

Do you want to be part of a movement to defend our contracts and rebuild our union’s power? Or do you want to sit on the sidelines?

Contact Teamsters for a Democratic Union today to find out how rank-and-file Teamsters can stand up for our contracts and the future of our union.

Click the links below to read more:

Save Our Pensions

UPS Freight Attacks Teamsters Union

Don't Let DHL Out of National Contract

UPS Cartage Services: Teamster Success Not Secure

July 12, 2007: General President Hoffa is the sugar daddy to many, but when it comes to multiple salaries Local 63 officials have a special place in Hoffa’s heart.

Led by International Vice President Randy Cammack, no less than ten Los Angeles Local 63 officials get a second union salary from the International Union.

Together, these ten took home more than $1.4 million from Local 63 and the International Union in 2006.

Multiple Salaries

Hoffa pays multiple salaries to nearly 200 officials who already make other full-time salaries. This money could be used for organizing or contract campaigns.
Instead, Hoffa uses our dues money to buy something even more important to him: political loyalty. Officials making multiple salaries are a “Who’s Who” of Hoffa campaign donors.

If an official doesn’t kiss enough Hoffa butt, they are off the gravy train. After the 2006 election, Hoffa removed Larry Brennan, Dennis Hands, Jim Ayers, Carlos Ramos, Dan Virtue, Jerry Halberg and others for failing to toe the line.

Hoffa’s attorney said that Virtue was fired because he wanted to win NMFA standards at UPS Freight and DHL. To Hoffa, standing up for our national contracts is a reason to be fired.

Perhaps some of them figured they work for the members, and not for Hoffa. No worries for the Local 63 all-stars on that front.

We’ll report all the facts and figures—and what this spending means for our union—in the August $150,000 Club issue of Convoy Dispatch.

July 12, 2007: The International Union and New York Local 237 are investigating International Vice President Carroll Haynes over tens of thousands of dollars in payments he received from an HMO that does business with the Teamsters.

The union investigation came in response to a report in last month’s Convoy Dispatch. Research by Teamsters for a Democratic Union uncovered that Haynes received $54,500 as a “consultant” to Health Insurance Plans (HIP) of New York, the plan that provides benefits to Teamster Local 237 members.

Haynes served as Local 237 President and a trustee to its benefit funds at the time he took the payments from HIP. He resigned as Local 237 president in April.

Local 237 Investigates

Haynes’ successor at Local 237, Gregory Floyd, told the Chief-Leader newspaper that “on advice from counsel, he had not spoken with Mr. Haynes” since the HIP payments were uncovered.

Haynes served on the board of directors of HIP and on the HIP Foundation board of directors. The stipend came from the foundation board. Floyd, who also serves on the HIP New York board, said he did not receive a stipend and would not accept one.

Haynes has routinely made over $300,000 from his multiple salaries and pensions. In 2003, TDU caught Haynes taking a higher salary than legally permitted by the Teamsters Constitution. After charges were filed, Hoffa allowed Haynes to get off by repaying the $8,000 overpayment, claiming it was a “clerical error.”

Now, Haynes is under investigation for his “consulting” fees.

“We are going to wait and see if it’s permissible to accept stipends,” Floyd said. “At this point we’re not sure, because HIP provides health benefits to the city and does our prescriptions.”

$54,500 ‘Consulting Fee’

TDU uncovered the $54,500 “stipend” on an LM-30 financial disclosure form that Haynes filed with the Department of Labor. By law, union officials must report any income that comes from an entity that does business with their union. The law is intended to flag any conflicts of interest or undue influence that could compromise a union’s ability to properly serve its members.

Local 237 has hired an attorney to investigate whether a technical violation of the Teamster Constitution or Local 237 bylaws occurred.

The larger question is whether a Teamster officer and benefit fund trustee should be taking $54,500 from an HMO that makes millions through its contract with our union’s largest local.

In the old days, vendors made payoffs to officials under the table. Today, they pay “consultant fees.” Does that make it right?

Many city unions in New York contract with HIP and union officers have long served on its board of directors. But while Haynes bagged more than $50,000, officers from other unions—including those from the United Federation of Teachers and AFSCME—did not accept any fees.

July 12, 2007: IBT Election Supervisor Richard Mark has very likely made his final decision of the 2006 IBT Campaign, and done so in a confusing manner.

Mark upheld the firing of Dan Virtue and Carlos Ramos by Hoffa, for the “crime” of Virtue running for Eastern International Vice President. Mark reasoned that since the action was taken after the election was over and certified, Hoffa could fire any political opponents and hire any cronies.

If that’s the case, we wonder why it took six months to issue the decision, which has been appealed by Virtue and Ramos.

In January, Virtue was removed as Eastern Region Freight Coordinator and Carlos Ramos, a Virtue supporter, was removed as an International Rep.

The seven-page decision makes clear that the Hoffa administration, in particular his Executive Assistant Leo Deaner, made up one lie after another to justify their actions. The investigation revealed that Hoffa’s stated reasons for firing Virtue were false.

Freight Director Tyson Johnson and former Director Phil Young testified that that Virtue did an “excellent” job.

The pretenses for firing Virtue included blaming him for Hoffa’s disastrous Red Star strike. Organizing Director Jeff Farmer contradicted that story to investigators.
The Election Supervisor indicates that if the firing had been during the election, his decision would have been very different.

So a thorough investigation showed that Hoffa fires respected leaders who are doing an excellent job for the “crime” of running for office or working to maintain national standards in freight. It may be legal. But it’s not good unionism or good leadership.

May 23, 2007: International Vice President Frank Gillen was charged by the Independent Review Board (IRB) last month for giving false testimony to cover up his association with Thomas Ryan. Ryan was banned from the Teamsters for embezzling union funds.

Billy Hogan, the former president of Chicago Joint Council 25 and formerly Hoffa’s running mate, has been ordered to appear before judge Loretta Preska on charges of criminal contempt for repeatedly violation his ban on associating with Teamster members. (That hearing was scheduled for May 21 but has been postponed until July 17 because Hogan is getting a new attorney.)

Some Teamsters have asked, "Should association with a banned former Teamster official be an offense that you can be charged for?"

The logic is that once an official is removed for corruption, they should not be allowed to influence or direct our union through their contact with officials.

Opponents says that the ban outlaws contact that can be purely social in nature and that it unfairly restricts members’ free speech and association rights.

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May 9, 2007: Justice was slow but Hoffa and his slate have finally been forced to pay over $100,000 that they failed to pay employers during the 2006 election campaign. On March 28 the Election Supervisor ordered the Hoffa campaign to pay in full, with interest (2007 ESD 407).

Hoffa had tried to convert the debt to employer contributions, but TDU attorney Barbara Harvey successfully argued that it would be illegal.

Hoffa’s attorney (and son), David Hoffa, first tried to deceive the Election Supervisor by claiming that Hoffa’s running mates had all contributed the maximum allowed. The Election Supervisor proved that most of these rich officials had actually contributed zero or close to it, after they pressured local officials to pony up plenty.

After the March 2007 General Executive Board meeting, Hoffa’s running mates were told they would have to pay up. The meeting turned into a shouting match, because some International officials had been lied to about who donated what. Then they saw the truth, as calculated by the Election Supervisor. Read more: www.tdu.org/hoffamustpay.

May 9, 2007: International Vice President Frank Gillen was charged on April 26 by the Independent Review Board (IRB) with giving false testimony under oath. He faces a hearing and could be expelled from the Teamsters Union, if the charge is sustained. Gillen is charged with lying to cover up his association with Thomas Ryan, who was banned from the Teamsters for embezzling union funds.

Gillen heads Local 500, Philadelphia Joint Council 53, the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters, and is an International Vice President for the Eastern Region, part of the Hoffa slate. These four salaries pay him $231,796 per year in salaries, plus many thousands in allowances.

Billy Hogan, the former president of Chicago Joint Council 25 and formerly Hoffa’s running mate, faces a hearing in federal court in New York on May 21. Hogan was expelled in 2002 from the Teamsters Union for colluding with a non-union employer that his family owned to sign a sweetheart deal undercutting Teamsters in Las Vegas.

Hogan now faces a charge of criminal contempt. He is charged with repeatedly violating his prohibition on involvement in the Teamsters Union.

Now Gillen, who leads state and regional Teamsters organizations as well as Local 500 in Philadelphia, faces allegations by a federal investigatory board that may cause him to lose all his leadership jobs and his union membership.

Read the full article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

May 2, 2007: It’s been a bad week for top associates of James Hoffa: Billy Hogan, Hoffa’s one-time running mate, has been charged with criminal contempt. And Frank Gillen, recently elected IBT Vice President on the Hoffa ticket, was charged by the Independent Review Board (IRB) with lying under oath about his associations with a banned Teamster official.

Frank Gillen and James Hoffa, Jr.Hogan has been charged with criminal contempt for violating his permanent ban from the Teamsters. He has been ordered to appear before U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska on May 21.

In 2002, Hogan was permanently barred from the Teamsters in 2002 for colluding with a nonunion employer to enter into a sweetheart contract that undercut trade show Teamsters in Las Vegas.

Despite his ban, Hogan has “continued to knowingly associate with various Union members and officers on at least 150 occasions” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Hogan, the former head of Chicago Joint Council 25, was nominated to run for General Secretary Treasurer during Hoffa’s first bid for General President. He was removed from the slate after an embarrassing corruption scandal led to the trusteeship of his home local.

While Hogan answers to a federal judge, Frank Gillen is facing charges from the IRB for lying about his associations with Tommy Ryan, the banned former head Local 107, who was tossed out our union for embezzlement of union funds.

In addition to serving as Eastern Region Vice President, Gillen is the president of Philadelphia Joint Council 53.