Teamsters 3% - Independent 97%
What do you think of the Teamsters and unions in general today?
"Greedy. Jimmy knew that if you crushed the companies, they couldn't pay anything. I always negotiated for a fair deal with a company, be it a grievance or whatever. They have to make money to be in business don't they? If an employee is bad it hurts everyone. Hurts the company, and then vicariously the membership. You can negotiate the best contract that gives the worker a free lunch, but if it drives the company out of business what good is it? Today they don't think like that. When I was leaving in the 70s they started striking to get time off for hunting season, or their birthday off or for no reason at all. That's just stupid. Used to be the companies took advantage of the employees, now it's the other way around. Today government controls the wages, hours, working conditions... all of it. So the only thing the unions have left to fight for on behalf of the membership is a bunch of bullshit. These poor guys pay their dues and get jiped while the union leaders get cushy jobs doing nothing. It's terrible. In the end the real looser is the membership. If Jimmy was around today, he'd put a stop to that, quick. When Jimmy came in the union there were a lot of communists and low life people like that who didn't want to earn their pay. He threw them out. Doing a bad job and being lazy doesn't help the union, it hurts it."
...read more by clicking the link above.
"Greedy. Jimmy knew that if you crushed the companies, they couldn't pay anything. I always negotiated for a fair deal with a company, be it a grievance or whatever. They have to make money to be in business don't they? If an employee is bad it hurts everyone. Hurts the company, and then vicariously the membership. You can negotiate the best contract that gives the worker a free lunch, but if it drives the company out of business what good is it? Today they don't think like that. When I was leaving in the 70s they started striking to get time off for hunting season, or their birthday off or for no reason at all. That's just stupid. Used to be the companies took advantage of the employees, now it's the other way around. Today government controls the wages, hours, working conditions... all of it. So the only thing the unions have left to fight for on behalf of the membership is a bunch of bullshit. These poor guys pay their dues and get jiped while the union leaders get cushy jobs doing nothing. It's terrible. In the end the real looser is the membership. If Jimmy was around today, he'd put a stop to that, quick. When Jimmy came in the union there were a lot of communists and low life people like that who didn't want to earn their pay. He threw them out. Doing a bad job and being lazy doesn't help the union, it hurts it."
...read more by clicking the link above.
Teamster's
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar andprofessional workers in both the public and private sectors. The union had approximately 1.4 million members in 2008.[1] Formerly known as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, the IBT is a member of theChange to Win Federation and Canadian Labour Congress.
....read more by clicking the link above.
....read more by clicking the link above.
Independent by choice
Hoffa Urges Government To End Oversight of Union
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: December 08, 1998
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — James P. Hoffa took an aggressive stance today in his first news conference since being elected president of the teamsters, calling for an end to Federal oversight of the teamsters and promising to create a bigger, more militant union.
Mr. Hoffa, son of the teamsters' most famous leader, presented an ambitious set of goals, among them uniting the badly divided union, redoubling organizing efforts and building the nation's largest political action committee.
Asserting that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had gone far to root out criminal elements, Mr. Hoffa said it was time to shrink and ultimately phase out Federal supervision, a decadelong effort to clean up a union notorious for corruption even before his father ran it.
Mr. Hoffa complained that the Federal oversight had cost the union more than $80 million since 1989, when the teamsters agreed to the supervision to settle a Federal racketeering lawsuit that charged the union with having entered into a ''devil's pact'' with the mob.
''We should start talking about a diminished role for the Government,'' Mr. Hoffa said in an appearance at the National Press Club. ''It's been 10 years. Is the Government going to be here in the year 2050? In the year 3000? It's something we should talk about because of the tremendous burden on the members.''
As a result of Federal oversight, more than 200 corrupt officials have been ousted from a union in which three presidents, including Mr. Hoffa's father, James R. Hoffa, went to prison and Mr. Hoffa's predecessor, Ron Carey, was expelled. The oversight effort is elaborate, involving a Federal judge, a court-appointed review board, several investigators and a Federal election monitor, as well as judicial hearings, expulsions and appeals. The union pays the salaries of these officials.
'There's been tremendous progress made,'' Mr. Hoffa said. ''They've eliminated certain pockets of corruption. I think it's time for us to move on.''
Mr. Hoffa said he wanted to meet with Justice Department officials to discuss how to shrink and ultimately end the supervision, saying he would move at the same time to strengthen the union's internal watchdog mechanism by, for instance, hiring former Federal Bureau of Investigation agents as investigators.
''The union is as free of organized crime as any institution of its size,'' he said. ''But we have to be ever-vigilant.''
Federal officials indicated that they were in no rush to end their oversight of the union. Mary Jo White, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, who oversees teamster investigations for the Justice Department, said she looked forward to meeting with the union's new leadership to insure that progress under the consent decree continued.
''The consent decree has been and remains a powerful tool in ridding the I.B.T. of the influence of organized crime and corruption,'' Ms. White said.
Several officials said they would consider ending oversight only when more corruption had been rooted out and union officials demonstrated over a period of time that they were indeed cleaning their own house.
Mr. Hoffa complained that unlike oversight agreements involving other unions, the teamsters' consent decree has no expiration date. The supervision can end only when the union, the Government and a Federal judge agree on such a step.
''I don't think any outside observer would say now is the time to do this,'' said Michael Cherkasky, the Federal election monitor. ''We just had a election in 1996 which had to be overturned because of the misuse of union funds. The key here is not only for the union to be free of criminal elements, but to make sure these reforms have caught on. We're not at that stage yet.''
Federal monitors fined Mr. Hoffa's campaign $167,675 after finding that he had filed false reports about the source of some donations in the 1996 campaign. Mr. Hoffa lost to Mr. Carey in 1996, but that election was overturned and Mr. Carey was expelled after Federal monitors found that three of his aides had siphoned union money into the Carey campaign.
According to a final vote count announced tonight, Mr. Hoffa had 193,944 votes, or 55 percent; Tom Leedham, his main opponent, had 139,767, or 39 percent; and John Metz, a St. Louis teamster, had 21,886, or 6 percent. The election monitor does not plan to count 34,331 challenged ballots.
Mr. Hoffa appeared comfortable and proud about being elected to the powerful post held by his father from 1957 to 1971. His father built the teamsters into the nation's biggest and strongest union, helping to double members' wages and to establish the first nationwide contract for long-haul truck drivers. But his father was linked repeatedly to mobsters who plundered the union, and he was imprisoned after being convicted for mail fraud and jury tampering. The elder Hoffa disappeared in 1975 in what was widely seen as a mob slaying.
Asked what his father would say about his victory, Mr. Hoffa said: ''I think he'd be excited by it. He'd say, 'The membership has spoken.' ''
Mr. Hoffa, 57, a labor lawyer from Detroit, had a strong message to employers, insisting that he would deliver at the bargaining table for the union's 1.4 million members, the nation's second-largest union after the National Education Association. ''There's going to be a new militancy among the teamsters,'' he said.
Mr. Hoffa recalled that the teamsters once had the nation's largest political action committee, but it has declined to sixth or seventh. He said he would try to make it the largest again, noting that money gets members of Congress to pay attention.
In order to increase the union's size, Mr. Hoffa said he would emphasize organizing, saying the teamsters should unionize not just nonunion truck drivers, but also increase the numbers of public employees, hospital workers and nursing home workers in their ranks. The union's membership has slid to 1.4 million from 2.3 million two decades ago, largely because of labor's overall weakness and the many bankruptcies caused by the deregulation of trucking.
Mr. Hoffa vowed to balance the union's budget, attacking Mr. Carey for letting the union's assets slip to near zero from $162 million when he took office in 1991. He said he would cut the staff size and earn the union money from commissions by having companies issue teamster credit cards and insurance policies.
Published: December 08, 1998
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — James P. Hoffa took an aggressive stance today in his first news conference since being elected president of the teamsters, calling for an end to Federal oversight of the teamsters and promising to create a bigger, more militant union.
Mr. Hoffa, son of the teamsters' most famous leader, presented an ambitious set of goals, among them uniting the badly divided union, redoubling organizing efforts and building the nation's largest political action committee.
Asserting that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had gone far to root out criminal elements, Mr. Hoffa said it was time to shrink and ultimately phase out Federal supervision, a decadelong effort to clean up a union notorious for corruption even before his father ran it.
Mr. Hoffa complained that the Federal oversight had cost the union more than $80 million since 1989, when the teamsters agreed to the supervision to settle a Federal racketeering lawsuit that charged the union with having entered into a ''devil's pact'' with the mob.
''We should start talking about a diminished role for the Government,'' Mr. Hoffa said in an appearance at the National Press Club. ''It's been 10 years. Is the Government going to be here in the year 2050? In the year 3000? It's something we should talk about because of the tremendous burden on the members.''
As a result of Federal oversight, more than 200 corrupt officials have been ousted from a union in which three presidents, including Mr. Hoffa's father, James R. Hoffa, went to prison and Mr. Hoffa's predecessor, Ron Carey, was expelled. The oversight effort is elaborate, involving a Federal judge, a court-appointed review board, several investigators and a Federal election monitor, as well as judicial hearings, expulsions and appeals. The union pays the salaries of these officials.
'There's been tremendous progress made,'' Mr. Hoffa said. ''They've eliminated certain pockets of corruption. I think it's time for us to move on.''
Mr. Hoffa said he wanted to meet with Justice Department officials to discuss how to shrink and ultimately end the supervision, saying he would move at the same time to strengthen the union's internal watchdog mechanism by, for instance, hiring former Federal Bureau of Investigation agents as investigators.
''The union is as free of organized crime as any institution of its size,'' he said. ''But we have to be ever-vigilant.''
Federal officials indicated that they were in no rush to end their oversight of the union. Mary Jo White, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, who oversees teamster investigations for the Justice Department, said she looked forward to meeting with the union's new leadership to insure that progress under the consent decree continued.
''The consent decree has been and remains a powerful tool in ridding the I.B.T. of the influence of organized crime and corruption,'' Ms. White said.
Several officials said they would consider ending oversight only when more corruption had been rooted out and union officials demonstrated over a period of time that they were indeed cleaning their own house.
Mr. Hoffa complained that unlike oversight agreements involving other unions, the teamsters' consent decree has no expiration date. The supervision can end only when the union, the Government and a Federal judge agree on such a step.
''I don't think any outside observer would say now is the time to do this,'' said Michael Cherkasky, the Federal election monitor. ''We just had a election in 1996 which had to be overturned because of the misuse of union funds. The key here is not only for the union to be free of criminal elements, but to make sure these reforms have caught on. We're not at that stage yet.''
Federal monitors fined Mr. Hoffa's campaign $167,675 after finding that he had filed false reports about the source of some donations in the 1996 campaign. Mr. Hoffa lost to Mr. Carey in 1996, but that election was overturned and Mr. Carey was expelled after Federal monitors found that three of his aides had siphoned union money into the Carey campaign.
According to a final vote count announced tonight, Mr. Hoffa had 193,944 votes, or 55 percent; Tom Leedham, his main opponent, had 139,767, or 39 percent; and John Metz, a St. Louis teamster, had 21,886, or 6 percent. The election monitor does not plan to count 34,331 challenged ballots.
Mr. Hoffa appeared comfortable and proud about being elected to the powerful post held by his father from 1957 to 1971. His father built the teamsters into the nation's biggest and strongest union, helping to double members' wages and to establish the first nationwide contract for long-haul truck drivers. But his father was linked repeatedly to mobsters who plundered the union, and he was imprisoned after being convicted for mail fraud and jury tampering. The elder Hoffa disappeared in 1975 in what was widely seen as a mob slaying.
Asked what his father would say about his victory, Mr. Hoffa said: ''I think he'd be excited by it. He'd say, 'The membership has spoken.' ''
Mr. Hoffa, 57, a labor lawyer from Detroit, had a strong message to employers, insisting that he would deliver at the bargaining table for the union's 1.4 million members, the nation's second-largest union after the National Education Association. ''There's going to be a new militancy among the teamsters,'' he said.
Mr. Hoffa recalled that the teamsters once had the nation's largest political action committee, but it has declined to sixth or seventh. He said he would try to make it the largest again, noting that money gets members of Congress to pay attention.
In order to increase the union's size, Mr. Hoffa said he would emphasize organizing, saying the teamsters should unionize not just nonunion truck drivers, but also increase the numbers of public employees, hospital workers and nursing home workers in their ranks. The union's membership has slid to 1.4 million from 2.3 million two decades ago, largely because of labor's overall weakness and the many bankruptcies caused by the deregulation of trucking.
Mr. Hoffa vowed to balance the union's budget, attacking Mr. Carey for letting the union's assets slip to near zero from $162 million when he took office in 1991. He said he would cut the staff size and earn the union money from commissions by having companies issue teamster credit cards and insurance policies.
SOME CRITICAL THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE TEAMSTERS CONSTITUTION
If you become a member of the Teamsters, you will be required to abide by the union’s constitution. In fact, unions often view their constitutions as a contract between the union and the members. This is why you really need to find out about the fine print in the Teamsters' constitution.
Did you know that, if you violate the Teamsters’ rules, the union can legally put you on trial?
If the Teamsters find you guilty of violating its rules, the Teamsters can fine you money, suspend you from membership or kick you out of the union! If the Teamsters fine you money and you refuse to pay, the union can take you to court to collect its fine from you!
For more on union fines, go here.
With more than 200 pages within the union's rulebook, it is impossible to point out all of the things you need to know about the constitution. However, [click here] are just a few of the more important section you should know about.
Did you know that, if you violate the Teamsters’ rules, the union can legally put you on trial?
If the Teamsters find you guilty of violating its rules, the Teamsters can fine you money, suspend you from membership or kick you out of the union! If the Teamsters fine you money and you refuse to pay, the union can take you to court to collect its fine from you!
For more on union fines, go here.
With more than 200 pages within the union's rulebook, it is impossible to point out all of the things you need to know about the constitution. However, [click here] are just a few of the more important section you should know about.
Teamsters Election Supervisor Finds That Hoffa Lied to Cover Up Bribery Attempts, Says Fred Gegare
Teamsters Election Supervisor Finds That Hoffa Lied to Cover Up Bribery Attempts, Says Fred Gegare GREEN BAY, Wis., Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by FRED 2011, Fred Gegare and the Fighting for the Members campaign (www.fred2011.com):
An official investigation by court-appointed IBT Election Supervisor Richard W. Mark into corruption charges against James Phillip Hoffa, his campaign staff and three of his Vice Presidents, including his running mate Ken Hall, revealed "a culture, or mindset where elected union officials do not clearly distinguish between their fiduciary responsibilities to the union and their separate political objectives of achieving election."
In addition, the investigation uncovered "conduct that showed no recognition that campaigning cannot be conducted through and using the union structure itself."
James Phillip Hoffa's integrity deficit was further highlighted when investigators cited his campaign's repeated violation of Election Rules, particularly those "arising from the prohibition against campaign use of union resources."
For details on the investigation, see: http://fred2011.com/docs/Election%20Supervisor's%20Decision.pdf
Fred Gegare, an IBT Vice President who split with Hoffa and is now challenging him for General President, isn't surprised by the Election Supervisor's findings.
"Anybody who knows James Phillip Hoffa knows that this is just more of the same," according to Gegare, "He only cares about himself and will lie, cheat and steal if it serves his purposes. He talks about unity but his actions only divide members against themselves. That's not what the Teamsters are about and that's not how you run a union.
"Hoffa thinks being General President is an inheritance rather than a responsibility. Twelve years of his rule have gutted our contracts and driven us to the brink of bankruptcy. While members are struggling through a tough economy, he's throwing dues money around to buy people off with stipends, raises and pensions.
"Worse, Hoffa actually thought it wouldn't be a problem to bribe IBT Trustees who oversee the union's books -- and to use his candidate for General Secretary-Treasurer to do it! Well, he was wrong and he got caught red-handed this time.
"Teamsters deserve better. They expect a General President who will fight for the members. They are demanding a change and me and my slate are going to give it to them. We will put the Teamsters Union back into the hands of Teamsters in 2011."
For more information about Fred Gegare and the Fighting for the Members campaign, go to www.fred2011.com or visit his Facebook page.
SOURCE FRED 2011
Back to top RELATED LINKS
http://www.fred2011.org
An official investigation by court-appointed IBT Election Supervisor Richard W. Mark into corruption charges against James Phillip Hoffa, his campaign staff and three of his Vice Presidents, including his running mate Ken Hall, revealed "a culture, or mindset where elected union officials do not clearly distinguish between their fiduciary responsibilities to the union and their separate political objectives of achieving election."
In addition, the investigation uncovered "conduct that showed no recognition that campaigning cannot be conducted through and using the union structure itself."
James Phillip Hoffa's integrity deficit was further highlighted when investigators cited his campaign's repeated violation of Election Rules, particularly those "arising from the prohibition against campaign use of union resources."
For details on the investigation, see: http://fred2011.com/docs/Election%20Supervisor's%20Decision.pdf
Fred Gegare, an IBT Vice President who split with Hoffa and is now challenging him for General President, isn't surprised by the Election Supervisor's findings.
"Anybody who knows James Phillip Hoffa knows that this is just more of the same," according to Gegare, "He only cares about himself and will lie, cheat and steal if it serves his purposes. He talks about unity but his actions only divide members against themselves. That's not what the Teamsters are about and that's not how you run a union.
"Hoffa thinks being General President is an inheritance rather than a responsibility. Twelve years of his rule have gutted our contracts and driven us to the brink of bankruptcy. While members are struggling through a tough economy, he's throwing dues money around to buy people off with stipends, raises and pensions.
"Worse, Hoffa actually thought it wouldn't be a problem to bribe IBT Trustees who oversee the union's books -- and to use his candidate for General Secretary-Treasurer to do it! Well, he was wrong and he got caught red-handed this time.
"Teamsters deserve better. They expect a General President who will fight for the members. They are demanding a change and me and my slate are going to give it to them. We will put the Teamsters Union back into the hands of Teamsters in 2011."
For more information about Fred Gegare and the Fighting for the Members campaign, go to www.fred2011.com or visit his Facebook page.
SOURCE FRED 2011
Back to top RELATED LINKS
http://www.fred2011.org