Teamsters

Jimmy Hoffa Ruffles CEO’s Feathers Over Employees' Decision to Resist Teamsters

John Powell — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:49:16 -0500

What do union bosses do when independent-minded employees refuse to succumb to union organizing pressure?

Well, it turns out Jimmy Hoffa’s solution is to write a letter to the president of the companies he is trying to organize in order to smear those companies.

Teamsters boss Hoffa did just that in writing to CEO Moir Lockhead once FirstGroup employees began showing admirable resistance to the union's thuggish organizing tactics.

Workers at a Hodgkins, Illinois busing facility – owned by the UK-based FirstGroup – are saying “no” to the Teamsters’ unionization hopes, but union bosses don't like hearing "no" from independent-minded employees.

Hoffa's letter underscores the problems with so-called “neutrality agreements,” since FirstGroup entered into such an agreement with the Teamsters union in order to get the union off its back. Neutrality agreements give unions sweeping access to employees’ personal information and ban secret-ballot elections, since the employer agrees to support a union’s attempt to organize its workforce.

Hoffa’s letter shows that anything short of unyielding assistance to lock employees up in forced unionism by employers is unacceptable to union officials.

In a similar Right to Work Foundation-aided case in Batavia, Illinois, another union with a neutrality pledge refused to go away from a FirstGroup facility – just like what is happening here.

Teamsters Picket Update: 10 Arrested for Threatening Conduct

John Powell — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:34:29 -0500

Following up with Justin’s post on an ugly Teamsters picket in Somerville, Massachusetts, today’s news stories report that 10 Teamsters thugs were arrested during the mess.

The Somerville News has the story:

10 Teamsters were arrested “for rude, offensive and threatening conduct,” according to police.

The owner of Russell Disposal, Charles Carneglia, explained that he feared for his safety after Teamsters militants harassed him when he entered the facility:

…when Carneglia walked to front gate the Teamsters would begin taunting and catcalling him. “Ya piece of s**t,” yelled one picketer Thursday afternoon. “You’re a criminal.”

After the incident last week, Local 25 chief Sean O’Brien was apparently “too busy” to address repeated press inquires. Unable to answer for the Teamsters union notorious and thuggish actions, it’s no wonder this union boss went into hiding.

40 Police in Riot Gear Called in as Teamsters Picket Turns Ugly

Justin Hakes — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:25:29 -0500

40 police in riot gear in Somerville, Massachusetts, were called in yesterday to break up a Teamsters picket that threatened to disrupt the city's trash pick up.

"Officers were pelted with stones," (City Spokesman Tom) Champion said, "and our police officials reported that a small but very vocal group of demonstrators was abusive and confrontational and exhibited violence."

The company's owner, Charles Carneglia, said the push was part of an effort to force unwanted unionization on employees, and that:

"The union guys were trying to bully them not to go to work," he said.

Carneglia claims one union operative slashed his pants with a knife during the confrontation. Watch video of a news story about the incident here.

This ugly incident shows the lengths to which some union officials will go to impose unionization on employees regardless of their wishes.

Teamsters Union Vows Not to Leave Housekeepers Alone

John Powell — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:14:46 -0500

Speaking of not taking no for an answer, local story from The Morning Sun in Michigan highlights that the housekeeping staff at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort rejected the Teamsters union in a vote against unionization by more than 2-to-1.

On the surface, one would think that it was a victory for the employees at the hotel and casino. But having received news of the election defeat, Teamsters bosses promised to stick around for another year to make sure they successfully influence the next vote in their favor.

The Morning Sun reports:

“They waxed us pretty good,” said Ed Morin, business agent for Teamsters Local 486. “We’re not walking away from it.”…He said the Teamsters will not go away, and will continue to try to organize other employee groups. “We’ll be around to talk to the other people,” Morin said.

The employees have spoken, but Teamsters officials just refuse to listen.

Merry Christmas- You're Indicted

Justin Hakes — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:19:15 -0500

A high-level Teamsters official from New York yesterday was indicted on federal embezzlement and extortion charges for demanding among other things:

"...that his employees mow his lawn, clean his gutters and chauffeur his family."

Sounds like quite the life. According to the article:

"The indictment said the employees complied with Rumore's demands because they feared they would suffer economic harm or even lose their jobs if they did not."

Rumore was released on $250,000 bond, I wonder where he got all that cash. He also faces up to 25 years in prison.

As noted by the late Senator John McClellan, "Compulsory unionism and corruption go hand-in-hand." These are the sorts of misdeeds union officials perpetrate at the expense of rank-and-file workers when the do not face the accountability instilled by a Right to Work law.

“I’m not real big on people threatening me”

John Powell — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:24:34 -0500

Right to Work attorneys helped Montana timber trucker Michael Weller file federal charges against the Teamsters Local 2 after union officials unlawfully ordered him to pay hundreds of dollars in forced dues.

When Weller exercised his rights under Beck, Teamsters union officials responded by illegally threatening to have him fired from his job.

The Daily Inter Lake quoted Weller:

“It’s the principle of the matter. What prompted this was them threatening my job. I’m not real big on people threatening me.”

The Only Way Out of a Union Pension is to “Quit, be fired, or die”

John Powell — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:01:57 -0400

When a company official told Perfecseal, Inc. employee John McHenry and his coworkers that the only way out of a union-controlled pension fund was to “quit, be fired, or die,” they fought back.

With help from Right to Work attorneys the employees forced Teamsters Local 14-M officials to stop requiring the pension fund contributions, though union officials stopped short of returning the pension fund money that John and others already contributed.

Like many employees, John continues to feel intimidated at his workplace. But when one company official said John’s “name was mud” and claimed that “corporate” was “pissed” at him for standing up for his legal rights, John refused to back down.

Teamsters Target 15,000 UPS Freight Workers with "Card Check"

Justin Hakes — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:22:43 -0400

A top ranking Teamsters official boasts today about a recently ratified contract with UPS that:

“Once the national UPS and the local UPS Freight agreements are both ratified by our members, we will have a ‘card check/neutrality agreement’ with UPS Freight."

Let's hope no dissenting workers targeted with "card check" suffer the same fate as Rod Carter, a former UPS driver who Right to Work attorneys helped file suit after Teamsters operatives viciously attacked him for refusing to walk off the job.

Every week, it seems that union officials target more workers with coercive "card check" organizing.

Teamsters' Policy Poses 'Immediate Danger' to First Amendment Rights

John Powell — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:14:25 -0400

Pennsylvania Turnpike employees should watch the Teamsters union-Turnpike Commission talks closely as another union-ordered statewide strike looms.

Why" Past experience shows that Teamster union bosses tried to block Turnpike employees from exercising their constitutional rights to refrain from formal union membership and cut off compulsory dues unrelated to monopoly bargaining.

In recent months, the National Right to Work Foundation helped 28 Pennsylvania Turnpike employees file separate federal civil rights lawsuits against Teamsters union locals 77 and 250, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, and two Turnpike Commission officers for illegally seizing union dues from the employees’ paychecks.

The breakthrough came for the Turnpike employees when a federal judge ruled that Local 77’s union policy prohibiting employees from resigning from membership (so-called "maintenance of membership" clauses) likely violates First Amendment.

The federal judge enjoined the Teamsters union locals and the PTC from seizing the forced dues from the employees’ paychecks. But most importantly, the judge found that union officials’ actions demonstrated a “real or immediate danger to their First Amendment rights.”

Union officials commonly use the "maintenance of membership" clauses to trap workers in union ranks. And you can bet that as Teamsters union officials sit at the table with PTC officials, they’ll be pushing for this clause to stay so that union bosses can thwart any employee effort to reclaim forced dues.

Teachers Hit WEA Union with Statewide Class-Action Suit to Reclaim $200,000 in Dues Seized for Politics

Webmaster — Mon, 19 Mar 2001 00:00:00 -0500