The Hoffa-Hall Concessions Stand
January 9, 2015: They’ve delivered contract givebacks, healthcare cuts, and a pension disaster in the Central States.
Strikers Win at Waste Management
January 8, 2015: Hoffa administration VP Rome Aloise told Teamsters to cross the picket line. But Waste Management workers won a strike that will raise their pay from $12.50 to $20 an hour.
Read more2014 Teamster Hall of Shame
December 23, 2014: Contract concessions, pension cuts and attacks on our rights. The 2014 Teamster Hall of Shame tells the facts and names the names.
Ken Hall: Imposes Contract Over 94% No Vote
An incredible 94 percent of UPS Teamsters in Louisville Local 89 Voted No to reject their supplement. Thousands more Teamsters in Western Pennsylvania and Philadelphia rejected theirs, too. A real union leader would have used this leverage to bargain improvements. Instead, Ken Hall and the General Executive Board imposed the contract and UPS’s concessions.
Hoffa: Tries to Steal the Right to Vote
With a legacy of siding with employers against Teamster members and negotiating weak contracts, maybe Hoffa determined that the only way he could win re-election in 2016 is to cancel the election itself. After his lawyers petitioned the courts to throw out the consent decree (which provides for independent supervision of Teamster elections), members rallied to defend our right to vote. More than 12,000 Teamsters signed TDU’s petitions to the federal judge demanding the right to vote in fair, supervised elections be protected.
Congress: Guts Retirees’ Pensions
In a sneak attack, Congress attached pension cut legislation to a budget bill. Hoffa waited until the bill’s passage was assured and then issued a series of press releases and statements to cover his tracks. While Hoffa was MIA, TDU built a grassroots campaign to protect Teamster pensions. We will continue to partner with the Pension Rights Center and AARP to fight for members’ pensions, from Capitol Hill to the Central States Fund.
George Miranda and Demos Demopoulos: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Merge ‘Em
In early 2014, Local 584 Members First campaigned to reform their by-laws and built a network of stewards and members ready for change in the New York City dairy local. Members First activists had organized against illegal firings and threats to dairy jobs for years. They were prepared to win the local election this Fall. That is, until Hoffa’s New York lieutenants George Miranda and Demos Demopolous stepped in, imposed emergency trusteeship, and then secretly merged Local 584 into the Demopolous-led Local 553 without vote of the membership. They claimed the local had hit hard financial times and emergency measures were warranted. But the real “emergency” to them was another group of rank-and-file reformers poised to take back their local.
Rome Aloise: Living Wages are “Crazy”, Tells Teamsters to Cross Picket Lines
When ILWU-represented Waste Management recycle workers went on strike in Oakland, International vice president Rome Aloise called their demands for a raise “crazy”, refused to extend solidarity to the strike, and had Local 70 Teamster officials instruct members to cross the picket lines. No thanks to Aloise, the “crazy” strikers won raises from $12.50 to over $20 an hour for 130 workers. Aloise said the workers were “pawns” of their union leadership—Aloise exposed himself as a pawn of corporate greed.
Congress, Hoffa Butcher Teamster Pensions
December 13, 2014: Congress has officially passed the spending bill that includes pension cut legislation that was attached as an amendment to the budget bill.
The legislation guts federal pension protections and will pave the way for pension cuts in the Central States Pension Fund.
Teamsters have questions and deserve answers. TDU lays out what the bill means for Teamsters in our Frequently Asked Questions.
The biggest question of all may be: how did Hoffa let this happen in the first place?
While Hoffa was MIA or worse, TDU fought a grassroots campaign to protect Teamster pensions.
We partnered with the Pension Rights Center and AARP and launched a coalition for pension protections, not cuts.
We sounded the alarm when a Congressional sneak attack attached the pension cut deal to the end-of-year spending bill. Growing number of unions spoke out in opposition. We even forced the Hoffa administration to make a show of opposition.
The Hoffa administration was worse than MIA. His allies at the Central States Pension Fund were leading proponents of the pension cut deal. Central States Executive Director
Thomas Nyhan was a leading proponent of the pension cut deal. He was paid $662,060 by our pension fund last year. How big of a cut will he take?
Hoffa waited until the day before the legislation passed, Hoffa issued a last-minute letter opposing the pension rip-off. The IBT emailed members calling on them to make phone calls. This wasn't even a matter of too-little-too-late. It was a cover-up.
Hoffa stayed quiet to signal politicians that he backed the pension cut bill; then when the bill's passage was secured, he put on a show of opposition to the membership to cover himself politically.
Teamsters expect Congress to play politics. But they deserve more from their own union leadership.
The Hoffa administration has spent the last year imposing contract concessions, healthcare cuts and pension cuts. It's time for change.
If you agree, get involved in the movement for change in our union.
Sign up for email updates at www.tdu.org and like us on facebook.
Send us a message and tell us what TDU should do next to fight for our union.
Join with Teamsters working to defend pensions, and change the leadership of the Teamster Union. Together, we can rebuild the Teamsters!
Is that a ghost employee?
A review of the IBT’s financial report – or the $150,000 Club Report posted on this website – shows that an International Organizer made a salary of $250,000 last year. Could this possibly be true?
Some members have asked that question, and the answer is No, it’s not true. But that’s what’s reported on the IBT financial report.
Former Teamster organizer Tim Lewis was fired by the Hoffa administration in 2010. He went to court against his unlawful termination and the IBT had to pay over $1 million to Lewis and his attorney’s fees and costs.
That was paid from members’ treasury, not by the officials who did the deed.
Apparently, the International union was still paying for this fiasco in 2013 and chose to list Lewis as an “employee” on the 2013 LM-2 financial report, three years after he was terminated.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) listed Lewis in our report, to conform with data on the LM-2 form filed by the IBT with the Department of Labor. But no, he was not an organizer in 2013 and certainly was not paid an annual salary of $250,000.
$150,000 Club Report
Each year the Teamster Rank and File Education and Legal Defense Foundation (TRF) analyzes hundreds of LM-2 financial reports and IRS 990 tax forms, which have been filed by locals, joint councils, conferences, and the IBT.
Then we publish the 150,000 Club Report, an annual report of Teamster officers who make more than $150,000. This information is factual and nonpartisan, and includes complete listing of every officer we have salary data for.
Hoffa, Hall and top Teamster officials delivered concessions to members—but provided raises and multiple salaries for themselves.
Click here to get the most recent report.
Click here to get your Local's financial report.
James Hoffa and Ken Hall spent their time this year telling Teamsters to take concessions-wage cuts, longer wage progressions, healthcare, and pension cuts.
They Don’t Have a Clue
Put Dues to Work for the Members
Click here to get the 2012 Report.
Click here to get the 2011 Report.
Teamsters & The Right to Vote
Organizing Under Hoffa
- Cut Dues Waste & Put Money into Organizing: The Hoffa administration wastes $3 million every year on multiple salaries for union officials who already have another full-time union job and salary. That money and other dues waste should be put into organizing.
- Strategic Campaigns: To organize nonunion competitors and build Teamster bargaining power, our union needs to make a long-term commitment to strategic organizing efforts in our core industries.
- Fight for Strong Contracts: Concessionary contracts undermine Teamster organizing. Fighting for good contracts—and good first contracts—is a must if we want to grow our union. In industries targeted for organizing, we need to work toward coordinated national bargaining and contract language that builds our bargaining leverage by allowing workers to respect picket lines.
- Support Local Union Organizing Efforts: When local unions are organizing nonunion competitors, the IBT needs to be there with organizers, resources and strategic support.
- Build an Organizing Army: There are many skilled, highly dedicated organizers in the Teamsters—at the International and in the locals. The IBT needs a strategic plan to grow an even bigger army of staff and volunteer organizers. To win against the union busters, we need organizers who are trained in proven tactics and best practices.
Organizing in Waste
Port Organizing
Locals Start Freight Organizing. Where's the International?
