News Archives for Jan-Feb 2010

Stories on this page:

• Still Room Available for Feb. 20th OSHA 10 Disaster Response Training
• DOT HazMat Training Offered This April
• NCCCO Crane Certification Training Coming April 1st-2nd
• New Leadership Development Program Kickoff February 27th
• Teamsters Seek Reversal of Bush Era Hours-Of-Service Rule
• Beverage News: Coke Bargaining Session Postponed
• Sisters in the Building Trades Disaster Site Clean Up Training
• U.S. Celebrates Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• E-Board Sworn in By IBT VP Ken Hall
• WA Business Climate Gets Even Better
• Teamsters Launch Multi-Local Beverage Industry Campaign
• Congress, Don't Tax Our Health Insurance Plans
• YRCW Bond Exchange Successful
• Last Year's Financial Unfairness
• Teamsters Say YRCW Bond Investigation Needed

Still Room at 2/20 OSHA 10 Disaster Response Training
There is still room available for this Saturday's Sisters in the Buildihg Trades OSHA 10 Disaster Response Training Class. This course, open to all Trades and free of cost, will be held at Pugest Sound Electrical JATC, 550 SW 7th St. in Renton, WA. The class starts at 7:30 a.m. and runs to 6:30 p.m.

This course is required for the OSHA 7600 class, which will be held March 6-7th. You can register by sending your information to Shyeshye@gmail.com.

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Teamsters Training Center
DOT Hazardous Materials Training Offered this April

There are two different sessions available:

DOT Hazardous Materials Transportation 8 Hour
Anyone that is involved in the transportation of hazardous materials including Supervisors, Dock Workers, Warehouse Workers, Shipping Clerks, and Drivers should attend this course.

Topics include: Shipping Papers, Driver Pocketbook, Placards and Labels, Segregation, ERG, and Transportation. This meets the DOT requirements
for General Awareness Training and Hazmat Security Training.

When: Saturday April 3, 2010 @ 7:00
Where: Teamsters Local 174, Tukwila, WA

DOT Hazardous Materials 40 Hour Instructor - DOT HMIT
Participants will learn how to become instructors for the Hazardous Materials Transportation Training. The pre-requisite for this course is the 8 Hour class.

Eligible participants include anyone that has the potential to train hazmat employees. This includes Teamster workers, supervisors, and safety personnel. Teamster workers may be eligible for lost wages.

Trainers are provided with a training manual that includes 1S modules regarding Hazmat Transportation. Each module is designed to be taught stand alone. This means the trainer can return to work and instruct a module as part of a safety meeting. Training modules can be combined to make anywhere from a 1 hour to an 8 hour training session.

When: Monday - Friday, April 5- 9,2010 @·7:00
Where: Teamsters Local 174, Tukwila, WA

There is no charge for participating however space is limited! Call today to register: 1-509-545-8297. You can visit the Teamsters Training Center on line at www.teamsterstraining.org

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Teamsters Training Center
NCCCO Crane Certification Small Telescopic Test Preparation
This 2 day Teamsters Training Center seminar, scheduled for April 1st - 2nd, is designed to prepare the participant to take the NCCCO 90 question core exam and the 26 question Small Telescopic specialty exam. Participants should be familiar with Small Telescopic Cranes and should have the ability to pass the Small Telescopic Practical exam at a later date. You can download the Registration Form here

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Local 174 Invitation Reminder:
NEW LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM KICKOFF FEBRUARY 27th
COME JOIN US AS WE LAUNCH 174’S REVAMPED SHOP STEWARDS AND ACTIVISTS PROGRAM

By RICK HICKS, Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer

The new Local 174 Leadership Development Program will be launched February 27 at the Teamster Building in Tukwila in the Main Meeting Hall. It is a Multi-Year Program, with a set curriculum, designed to review for 174 Stewards and Activists what, said Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks, they “need to know in order to be successful in the daily challenges they meet on the shop floor.” (February 1, 2010) The BIG DAY is near. We have retooled our old Stewards and Activists Training Program. We wanted a more dynamic and comprehensive Program for our members. The new Leadership Development Program — or LDP — will be launched February 27, 2010. It features a Multi-Year Program, with a set curriculum, divided into four modules per year — intended to cover the full spectrum of what we believe our Stewards and Activists need to know in order to be successful in the daily challenges they meet on the shop floor.

We are also creating a more advanced curriculum in the second year for those who complete the First Year’s Training and so on throughout the Three-Year Program. There will also be an additional participatory component not seen in previous Trainings whereby participants will be expected to volunteer for a couple of coordinated outside activities.

In years past we added the category of Activist to our Steward’s Training Program, recognizing that you can only have so many Stewards, so why limit the training to only Stewards? We now want to take the next step in this ongoing process — and try to involve those members who have never been involved before. Our goal is not just to continue with the usual “how to” training and information sessions. Rather we want to identify, develop and nurture the future leaders of Local 174.

We believe by assisting our members in meeting their individual goals we strengthen our Local and assert our influence throughout our Community for the benefit of our Local’s membership. We’ll keep everyone informed as the LDP evolves in 2010 and beyond.

Our first Class February 27th will be entitled “The Ethical Steward” and will feature presentations on these subjects:

• “Setting a Good Example on the Shop Floor”
• “Understanding Weingarten”
• “Your Role in Maintaining Confidentiality”
• “Basics of Grievance Processing”
• “Is There Such a Thing as an Unrepresentable Member?”
• “Grievance Tracking.”

I hope to see everyone there! It’s free, and open to all Local 174 members. Our chief instructor will be our Senior Business Agent and Education Director Tim Allen. Many of our staff members will be assisting Tim, and we’ll have some interesting guest speakers.

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(January 28, 2010) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Teamsters Union urged federal regulators at a hearing last week to reverse a Bush Era midnight regulation that increased the number of hours truckers can drive.The Teamsters have been fighting the regulation since it was first issued in 2003. It raised the number of hours truck drivers can spend behind the wheel from 10 to 11 consecutive hours each shift, and from 60 to 77 hours of driving each week. The rule cut off-duty rest and recovery time at the work week’s end from 50 or more hours off duty to as little as 34 hours off duty.

“We must protect our truck drivers’ health and safety,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Study after study shows that more time behind the wheel is dangerous for truckers and for the driving public.” 

According to LaMont Byrd, above, Director of the Teamsters’ Health and Safety Department, “The current rules regarding hours of service, the 34-hour restart provision and the sleeper berth provision must be changed.”

LaMont Byrd, Director of the Teamsters’ Health and Safety Department, commented publicly during the first of four listening sessions held by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The agency is preparing a proposal for new hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers. He noted: 

“The agency issued a rule that favors increasing driver productivity and increasing the profits of motor carriers over driver health and safety. The current rules regarding hours of service, the 34-hour restart provision and the sleeper berth provision must be changed.”

Byrd said the Union opposes the provision that allows drivers to return to work after only 34 hours off duty. “We negotiated language into our collective bargaining agreements that prohibits the use of restart, except in rare situations, and those runs are negotiated with the employer on a case-by-case basis,” he said. 

Despite legal challenges, the Bush Administration in November 2008 issued the regulation allowing longer driving time. The Teamsters — along with Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the Truck Safety Coalition — challenged the rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In October 2009, the Teamsters agreed to put the lawsuit on hold in exchange for an agreement with FMCSA that it would revise the hours-of-service rule. 

The percentage of fatal crashes that result from driver fatigue rose 20 percent from 2004 to 2005, the first year in which the longer hours of driving were allowed. Roughly one-third of the Teamsters’ 1.4 million workers are commercial drivers covered by the hours of service regulation. 

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Coke Bargaining Postponed
(January 25, 2010) As you know, bargaining between Coke and the multi- Local coalition of the Teamsters Union was originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, January 26, 2010. Coke has informed the Union that they have not yet designated someone to Chair negotiations. As a result, bargaining with the Company has been postponed until further notice. Stay informed by talking to your Shop Steward and Business Representative and checking for updates at your Local Union’s website.

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Sisters In The Building Trades
Disaster Site Clean Up Training

(January 25, 2010) This CERT, Community Emergency Response Training, is in anticipation of the Green River Valley Flood and is designed to prepare you for Disaster Clean Up Work. OSHA 10 is a prerequisite for this training, which is coming up March 6 and March 7.

Why you should take the Training:

• The Green River Valley will likely flood, a little or Lot this year
• We live between 2 active volcanoes and in an earthquake subduction zone
• A lot of people are out of work...you have the time
• The training will make you better qualified for Disaster Site Clean up work or to Volunteer to help out in your community
• It will look good on your resume when you are putting in for work
• It will better enable you to care for your coworkers, family, home and community in case of a Disaster

For more information on this issue:

• King County Regional Flood Preparedness
• Army Corps of Engineers Maps and clues

Please R.S.V.P. for this training by e-mailing ShyeShye@gmail.com or calling 253-850-1458

Download a printable flyer about this event here.
Download a PowerPoint Presentation here. (Size = 5.4MB)

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday:
THE U.S. CELEBRATES THE LIFE OF ITS FOREMOST CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER
THE TEAMSTERS UNION ALSO PRAISES DR. KING FOR HIS MANY SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE FIGHT FOR WORKER RIGHTS

(January 18, 2010) Today Teamsters, along with everyone else in American Society, are pausing to commemorate the achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The legacy of this brave Civil Rights leader is an amazing one. His contributions to his fellow citizens were countless.

A man who promoted peace and equality for all, King devoted his life to securing rights for minorities and eliminating segregation in Society. He was also a strong supporter of Labor and a friend to the Teamsters Union.

The Teamsters and all of Organized Labor cannot talk about or celebrate their successes without acknowledging the important help of Dr. King. The history of the Labor Movement and the history of the Labor Movement are uniquely tied together by shared social and political history.

During his heyday in the 1960’s the Teamsters Union donated much funding to his activities. In 1961, the Union sent supplies to marchers and other Civil Rights workers camped out in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and at other locations along the freedom ride routes.

King was supporting black public sanitary workers in Memphis the day he was assassinated, April 4, 1968.

Today, Teamsters across the country are committed to the union’s tradition of standing up for social justice. Through organizations like the Teamsters Human Rights Commission, Teamsters are able to carry on the legacy started by King.

“The Teamsters Human Rights Commission is devoted to eliminating discrimination in the workplace and promoting the value of diversity in all facets of society,” said Antonio Christian, Director of the Teamsters Human Rights Commission. “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left a beautiful example for us to follow. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for our cause and we would not be where we are today were it not for his vast contributions to society.”

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By BILL McCARTHY, Communications Specialist

After their formal swearing-in, the members of the newly re-elected Local 174 Executive Board posed for a picture with Teamsters International Vice President and IBT Package Division Director Ken Hall. Left-to-right: Trustee Terri Zinter (King County), Vice President Ken Marshall, President Ted Bunstine, Trustee Abe Taylor (Columbia Distributing), Hall, Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks, Recording Secretary Carl Gasca and Trustee Gary Bolen (YRC/Safeway).

(January 14, 2010) The first 2010 Local 174 General Membership Meeting took place on Thursday, January 14 starting at 7 p.m. at the JC-28 Building’s Main Meeting Hall. There was a short agenda which featured the swearing-in of the newly re-elected Executive Board. On hand to administer the oath of office to the Board members was Ken Hall, Teamsters Union International Vice President and Director of the IBT Package Division.

After the Board was sworn-in, the GMM proceeded as usual, with a report by Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks of Local 174 negotiations completed, in progress, or in the planning stages. He also reviewed changes on the Local 174 Office Staff, and welcomed the new members of 174 who had also been sworn-in. The new members had been administered their oath of membership in Local 174 by 174 President Ted Bunstine.

Hicks introduced IBT Vice President Hall to the GMM audience. He called Hall one of the best Teamster negotiators he has ever seen, and praised him for his dedication, hard work and superior leadership skills in Package Division bargaining. Hall is also President and Principal Officer of Local 175 in Charleston, West Virginia.

The Teamsters Package Division serves more than 200,000 members throughout the United States. United Parcel Service is the single largest employer in the Teamsters Union, and the Division is responsible for ensuring that management abides by the National Master Agreement.

As the IBT Website’s Package Division page notes, “Under the direction of Ken Hall, the Division maintains an increasing number of staff charged with effectively serving UPS members throughout the United States. The Division staff currently includes four full-time International Representatives who handle both local and member issues and who monitor Area Grievance Panels for proper enforcement and protection of Teamster jobs, 13 part-time Division Representatives, and three researchers who closely monitor industry trends and developments.”

Hall addressed the GMM, saying it was a privilege to be able to swear-in the Board. He added that Local 174 is one of the best known, most successful, and toughest Teamster Locals of all — and said it is a pleasure for him to work with Hicks and the other 174 Negotiating Team members during negotiations.

After Hall spoke the rest of the GMM proceedings were completed, and then the members partook in a catered dinner that was waiting for them. It featured Italian pasta, meatballs, lasagna, salad, rolls, drinks — and for dessert a piece of the special cake commemorating the beginning of the second three-year term of the Hicks Administration.

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Washington State Labor Council Followup:
WASHINGTON’S BUSINESS CLIMATE GETS EVEN BETTER
BUT IN-STATE “ECHO CHAMBER” OF NEGATIVE AGENDA-DRIVEN RHETORIC INCREASES

A WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL COMMENTARY
(January 14, 2010) Last summer, the Washington State Labor Council published a series of reports entitled "Outside the Echo Chamber" that was intended to counter the politically motivated, demonstrably untrue rhetoric within our state suggesting that Washington is a bad place to do business. The reports demonstrated that objective assessments — from outside the state conducted by public policy, industry and media experts with no agenda — consistently rank Washington as one of the very best states to do business.

Since those reports were released, the good news about Washington's business climate and about the costs and effectiveness of our state's safety nets for laid-off and injured workers has kept coming. Despite this, the Washington-bashing negative rhetoric from the state's business lobbying groups has increased.

Why? Cynical opportunism.

In light of Boeing’s decision to expand 787 production in South Carolina instead of Washington, business lobbying groups are again blaming our state's business climate. They claim that the costs of workers' compensation and unemployment insurance, among other things, are driving employers away from the state. (For its part, Boeing said its decision was based on "workforce stability" and its desire to have a second, competing workforce in South Carolina — one that will discourage work stoppages and costly wage/contract improvements among Boeing employees here in Washington.)

In addition, the national recession has created high unemployment, a state budget crisis and, as described in the latest WSLC Legislative Update newsletter, an opportunity for the business community:

They know that the best time to increase private profits by cutting wages, benefits and regulatory costs is when unemployment is high, working people are desperate and the government is broke.
They know that blood is in the water in Olympia and there's never been a better time to eliminate government regulation of their businesses. They know it's open season on the unemployment and workers' compensation systems and anything else they declare to be "uncompetitive" or a "job-killer."

It has gotten so bad that some of our state's elected officials, including Democrats like Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, have begun repeating these false anti-Washington business-climate talking points. These leaders are the very people who are supposed to be the champions of economic development in our state, touting Washington as a great state to start and grow a business, but instead some of them still insist -- as one Boeing executive infamously said in 2003 -- "we suck."

The Washington State Labor Council has revisited the annual state business-climate rankings and other data comparing our unemployment and workers' compensation systems to those of other states. If it is true that Washington is slipping from its lofty rankings because of rising business costs or other factors, perhaps that would be a cause for concern.

What did we find? 

National experts are saying that the Washington's business climate has gotten even better in the past year as compared with other states. They continue to point out that our state suffered the negative economic impacts of the recession later than most, and we are projected to be one of the first states to have its economy emerge from the national downturn.

But don't trust our word. The WSLC, admittedly, has an agenda of its own — which is, among other things, to protect the safety nets for laid-off and injured workers from the legislative assaults of business lobbying groups. Read the revised and updated "Outside the Echo Chamber" reports and follow their links to outside-the-state sources of information for yourself:

Part 1 -- Washington: A business-friendly state-- This report is a collection of rankings from national publications, universities and public policy organizations that analyze state business climates. They say we have comparatively low business taxes, a lighter regulatory burden, a highly skilled and highly trained workforce, excellent higher education, and for those reasons and many others, our state economy consistently outperforms those of other states.

In fact, since this report was originally published in July 2009, our state has risen even further on those rankings. For example, Forbes magazine lifted Washington from 3rd to 2nd best place to do business in 2009, and the conservative Tax Foundation moved our state from 12th to 9th best state in terms of its business tax climate. Read Part 1.

Part 2 -- Our state's workers' compensation advantage-- With the Department of Labor and Industries' 2010 rate increase, business lobbying groups have mounted an aggressive campaign to criticize our state-run workers' compensation system, and to undermine public confidence in it. They claim its costs are too high. They are asking the Legislature to allow compromise-and-release (or as advocates for injured workers call it, "starve-and-settle"), where employers can negotiate lump-sum settlements with injured workers who've lost their income and are often desperate circumstances after the lengthy claims-and-appeal process. Meanwhile, some business groups appear poised to support a potential ballot initiative this fall sponsored by the insurance industry that would privatize our state-run system.

But as this report points out, independent objective analyses from outside the state tell a very different story. In fact, the gap between the truth and the negative rhetoric about Washington's workers' compensation costs is shocking.  Not only do we have comparatively low premiums, by the national measure most often cited, the workers' compensation costs to employers here are the fifth lowest of any state in the nation. Read Part 2.

Part 3 -- Unemployment Insurance is saving Washington business, jobs-- Washington has one of the healthiest U.I. systems in the nation. In contrast, at least 26 states have systems that are broke in 2010. Those states are borrowing billions from the federal government that will have to be repaid by raising employers’ taxes amid the recession.

This report has been updated with new figures, released Wednesday by the state Employment Security Department, indicating that $4 billion in U.I. benefits was pumped into our state economy in 2009. This system is designed not only as a temporary safety net for families who’ve lost sources of income through no fault of their own, but also as a safety net for businesses. It provides economic stability in times of recession, like the current one. In 2009, our U.I. system created more than $6.5 billion in purchasing power on Main Street in Washington. This money is saving jobs and businesses. That’s what it’s designed to do, and that’s what it’s doing every day.

In addition, new figures from the U.S. Department of Labor indicate the average U.I. tax rates for Washington employers have declined significantly, dropping our state out of the top ten for high costs. That trend is sure to continue given the state's U.I. tax rate cuts enacted effective Jan. 1, 2010, given that most other states are being forced to increase their rates (and slash benefits) to rescue their bankrupt systems. Read Part 3. 

If you have any questions about the "Outside the Echo Chamber" reports, contact David Groves at dgroves@wslc.org or 206-281-8901.

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"Let's send a strong message..."
TEAMSTERS LAUNCH MULTI-LOCAL CAMPAIGN

Beverage News
(January 13, 2010) Teamsters from across the region have joined forces in a united multi-Local campaign to achieve strong collective bargaining agreements for working families in the beverage industry. Since early January, Teamsters at Locals in Everett, Port Angeles, Olympia, Tacoma and Tukwila have filled their respective Union halls to state their priorities in bargaining and map out a coordinated strategy.

“It’s important for all of us to stick together, especially in this economy,” said Local 117 member John Sharp, a 15-year Teamster mechanic at the Coca Cola bottling plant in Bellevue. Said Chris Pringle, a longtime Local 174 Shop Steward at Coke, “The advantage to multi-Local bargaining is that if there is a labor dispute, we have the ability to take out all of Western Washington.”

Sharp and Pringle, along with approximately 240 of their fellow Teamsters from Locals 174 and 117, gathered for a Coke demands meeting on Saturday, January 9. Earlier in the day, Teamsters from Safeway beverage held a similar meeting while later that afternoon an assembly of another 120 or so Teamsters from the Pepsi Bottling Group outlined their demands. Members at the meetings were quick to point out that the beverage industry as a whole has performed remarkably well despite the economic downturn. Coke reported “strong profit growth” in 2009 with 3rd quarter profits up in excess of 15% from the same period in 2008 while Pepsi stock soared to a 52- week high in late 2009.

Bargaining is set to kick off on January 26, 2010 with Teamsters Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer Tracey A. Thompson heading up the negotiations. A force of Teamsters executive officers, business agents, and rank-and-file leaders from Locals 38, 117, 174, 252, 313 and 589 will make up the bargaining committee. Teamsters contracts in Southern California and Northern California are also up for negotiations. Bargaining is being coordinated with the help of the IBT Brewery and Soft Drink Conference to ensure maximum leverage for all Teamsters Locals.

Solidarity, a united front, and a strong Union presence are the keys to a successful bargaining campaign. Talk to your Local Union’s Shop Steward and Business Representative about staying involved. Keep an eye out for upcoming meetings, planning mobilizations, and bargaining updates by talking to your fellow members and checking in at your Local Union’s website.

Said Pringle, “Let’s send a strong message to the Company that we’re serious about making our lives better.”

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By JIM HOFFA, International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President
(January 11, 2010) Last week, Jim Hoffa continued speaking out against the idea of taxing workers’ health care plans. His comments were posted on The Huffington Post website and on the IBT website. His editorial follows.

MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS DON’T WANT
AND CANNOT AFFORD A BIG NEW TAX
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The last thing the American middle class needs right now is a big new tax on health insurance plans.

• Many working people are now poorer than they were 10 years ago. Middle-class families earned less in inflation-adjusted dollars than they did in 1999. Homeowner wealth dropped by $11 trillion in the housing bust, and a staggering one-quarter of them owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
• But the U.S. Senate wants to further impoverish the American middle class. As many as 30 million working people will pay a massive new tax in the first five years of the Senate health care reform plan.
• The House, on the other hand, has the right idea. It pays for health care reform with a small surtax on those who benefited most from changes in our tax code – people who earn more than $500,000 a year. The House also requires most employers to provide health care for their workers.

During the debate of the separate Health Care Reform Bills in the House and the Senate, nearly everyone was focused on the lack of a strong optional public insurance plan for the uninsured in the House proposal, and the lack of any option plan for the uninsured at all in the Senate proposal. Now the approval process has reached the time when the two separate proposals must be combined in a new compromised House-Senate Bill. Well, it turns out something else has entered the picture in the meantime through a side door — the idea, voiced in the Senate, to tax the health care insurance plans of the middle class. This anti-union idea appeared on the Senate playing field while “the people” weren’t paying much attention. Grim Reaper Senator Joe Lieberman may be visiting “insured” folks soon, too, if this idea gets supported in the House also and somehow becomes law.

We support the House plan because it really does reform health care. It will lower costs, deliver more health care and cover more people. It will level the playing field, taking away the unfair cost advantage enjoyed by employers who don’t offer health insurance.

The Senate plan, on the other hand, would punish employers who already provide health care by taxing their health insurance plans. A recent survey found that 87 percent of employers said they will cut benefits if reform increases their costs, and 86 percent said they would pass the additional costs on to workers, according to Towers Perrin.

That isn’t cost control. It also isn’t fair and it isn’t reform.

The Senate’s proposed tax has been mischaracterized as a tax on “Cadillac plans.” That ignores the very real reasons some health plans are expensive. One big reason is that insurance companies take excessive profit, not that they offer too much care.

Many, many people are in expensive plans because they are old or sick or work in dangerous professions. Plans with more women workers have higher costs. Small businesses often have to pay more.

The tax would apply to one-fifth of all employers in 2013, the first year that health reform takes effect. More and more people would get hit each year after that. The threshold for taxable plans is indexed for inflation, which doesn’t rise as fast as health care costs.

Here’s an example of how it would work for federal workers covered by the Blue Cross/Blue Shield standard plan. Single people in the plan will immediately pay an average of about $1,600 more per year for 10 years. Families will get hit in the third year, paying an average of about $2,000 more per year for 10 years.

• By 2022, the Blue Cross/Blue Shield standard family plan will cost $5,500 in taxes per worker. Single people could pay as much as $3,500 per worker.
• Middle-class families in private and public sector jobs, union and non-union alike, will be hit hard by this tax on health care benefits.
• We want to work with the Senate, the House and the administration to achieve real healthcare reform. Adding to the financial burden of middle-class wage earners isn’t the way to do it.

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IBT News Development:
YRCW BOND EXCHANGE SUCCESSFUL
COMPREHENSIVE RESTRUCTURING PLANS NEAR; TEAMSTER PROTEST AVERTED

(January 4, 2010) The Teamsters Union announced, right before New Year’s Day, that progress had been made in the YRCW Bond dispute. A scheduled protest was cancelled. Read the two press releases below for the full details.  

IBT General President Jim Hoffa said, “Our members have made tremendous sacrifices in leading the way to make this restructuring possible. Given the circumstances, this is as good of news that we could have hoped for.”

Bond Exchange Represents Final Major Step In Comprehensive Restructuring Plan
(This press release from the IBT was released December 31, 2009.)
(Washington, D.C.) YRC Worldwide Inc. [NASDAQ: YRCW] announced that it reached the necessary thresholds on its bondholder debt-to-equity exchange offer that concluded today.

The successful exchange is the final piece of a comprehensive restructuring plan that required all key stakeholders — YRCW’s Teamsters and non-union workers, pension funds, secured lenders, and bondholders — to contribute to helping the company weather the worst freight recession in generations.

“Our members have made tremendous sacrifices in leading the way to make this restructuring possible,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Given the circumstances, this is as good of news that we could have hoped for. Today’s announcement that YRCW’s bondholders have agreed to eliminate a significant amount of debt paves the way for the company to re-establish its customer base in the less-than-truckload (LTL) market.”

The successful bond exchange is the culmination of a complex restructuring program in which the Teamsters Union played a leading role over the past 14 months. The Teamsters Union and YRCW reached a labor cost savings agreement in August, and then YRCW reached new terms with its bank lenders at the end of October. Now the bond exchange has successfully concluded.

“Not only did our members do what was necessary to help YRCW, but the Teamsters Union, under the leadership of General President Jim Hoffa, used all its resources to convince the banks and bondholder’s that they too needed to step up and do their part,” said Tyson Johnson, National Freight Director. "Hoffa's ability to influence actors both behind the scenes and in public made this deal possible.

“All the sacrifices and hard work have paid off with additional liquidity and nearly $500 million of debt off the books. YRCW can now focus on delivering excellent service and winning back customers who were concerned about the company’s financial condition.”

Union Promises To Monitor, Pressure Bondholders To Protect 30,000 Jobs
(This earlier press release from the IBT was released December 30, 2009.)
(Washington, D.C.) The Teamsters Union announced that it will postpone a protest planned today at the headquarters of Brigade Capital Management in New York after conversations with Brigade that the hedge fund does not currently own any YRC Worldwide Inc. [Nasdaq: YRCW] bonds. In addition, UBS has indicated they have tendered their bonds in the exchange.

The Teamsters will continue to monitor the situation and will plan future protests at these institutions and others if contrary evidence surfaces. All bondholders need to understand what is at risk if they do not participate in YRCW’s debt exchange. The company has extended the bond exchange deadline to 11 p.m. EST Dec. 30.

“There is too much at risk for bondholders to sacrifice the livelihood of 30,000 workers for the marginal profits they might realize by their continued inaction,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.

“It’s a simple choice – help a good, U.S. company recover and protect 30,000 jobs or allow our struggling economy to take another devastating hit. I think the choice is clear — bondholders must now do their part.”

Bondholders have two ways to be helpful — take part in the exchange or sell to someone that will. There are existing bondholders that are willing to purchase these bonds.

Last week, the Teamsters Union also called upon the Securities and Exchange Commission, state attorneys general, state insurance commissioners and congressional oversight leaders to investigate the activities of bondholders and traders involved in this exchange.

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Thoughts as 2010 Begins:
LAST YEAR’S FINANCIAL UNFAIRNESS
THE RICH GOT RICH AGAIN AND THE MIDDLE CLASS DECLINED EVEN MORE

(January 3, 2010) The Teamsters Union all through 2009 was critical of the unfairness of the public bailouts of rich folks with public money — with no real benefits falling on middle class citizens. The following editorial on this subject was written by Robert Reich and posted last week as 2009 was drawing to a close on his Personal Blog, and cross-posted on the Huffington Post and the IBT News Service E-Link Network. Reich’s conclusions are something to think about as we start the New Year 2010.

2009: THE YEAR WALL STREET BOUNCED BACK
AND MAIN STREET GOT SHAFTED

Robert Reich is a former U.S. Secretary of Labor, and a current author, television commentator, and professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

By ROBERT REICH
In September 2008, as the worst of the financial crisis engulfed Wall Street, George W. Bush issued a warning: "This sucker could go down." Around the same time, as Congress hashed out a bailout bill, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the leading Republican negotiator of the bill, warned that "if we do not do this, the trauma, the chaos and the disruption to everyday Americans' lives will be overwhelming, and that's a price we can't afford to risk paying."

• In less than a year, Wall Street was back. The five largest remaining banks are today larger, their executives and traders richer, their strategies of placing large bets with other people's money no less bold than before the meltdown. The possibility of new regulations emanating from Congress has barely inhibited the Street's exuberance.
• But if Wall Street is back on top, the everyday lives of large numbers of Americans continue to be subject to overwhelming trauma, chaos and disruption.

It is commonplace among policymakers to fervently and sincerely believe that Wall Street's financial health is not only a precondition for a prosperous real economy but that when the former thrives, the latter will necessarily follow. Few fictions of modern economic life are more assiduously defended than the central importance of the Street to the well-being of the rest of us, as has been proved in 2009.

Inhabitants of the real economy are dependent on the financial economy to borrow money. But their overwhelming reliance on Wall Street is a relatively recent phenomenon. Back when middle-class Americans earned enough to be able to save more of their incomes, they borrowed from one another, largely through local and regional banks. Small businesses also did.

It's easy to understand economic policymakers being seduced by the great flows of wealth created among Wall Streeters, from whom they invariably seek advice. One of the basic assumptions of capitalism is that anyone paid huge sums of money must be very smart.

• But if 2009 has proved anything, it's that the bailout of Wall Street didn't trickle down to Main Street. Mortgage delinquencies continue to rise. Small businesses can't get credit. And people everywhere, it seems, are worried about losing their jobs. Wall Street is the only place where money is flowing and pay is escalating. Top executives and traders on the Street will soon be splitting about $25 billion in bonuses (despite Goldman Sachs' decision, made with an eye toward public relations, to defer bonuses for its 30 top players).
• The real locus of the problem was never the financial economy to begin with, and the bailout of Wall Street was a sideshow. The real problem was on Main Street, in the real economy. Before the crash, much of America had fallen deeply into unsustainable debt because it had no other way to maintain its standard of living. That's because for so many years almost all the gains of economic growth had been going to a relatively small number of people at the top.

President Obama and his economic team have been telling Americans we'll have to save more in future years, spend less and borrow less from the rest of the world, especially from China. This is necessary and inevitable, they say, in order to "rebalance" global financial flows. China has saved too much and consumed too little, while we have done the reverse.

In truth, most Americans did not spend too much in recent years, relative to the increasing size of the overall American economy. They spent too much only in relation to their declining portion of its gains. Had their portion kept up -- had the people at the top of corporate America, Wall Street banks and hedge funds not taken a disproportionate share -- most Americans would not have felt the necessity to borrow so much.

• The year 2009 will be remembered as the year when Main Street got hit hard. Don't expect 2010 to be much better -- that is, if you live in the real economy. The administration is telling Americans that jobs will return next year, and we'll be in a recovery. I hope they're right. But I doubt it. Too many Americans have lost their jobs, incomes, homes and savings. That means most of us won't have the purchasing power to buy nearly all the goods and services the economy is capable of producing. And without enough demand, the economy can't get out of the doldrums.

As long as income and wealth keep concentrating at the top, and the great divide between America's have-mores and have-lesses continues to widen, the Great Recession won't end -- at least not in the real economy.

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The IBT and YRCW Finances:
INVESTIGATION NEEDED
TEAMSTERS ALERT SEC, STATE REGULATORS AND CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT LEADERS THAT THEY SHOULD LOOK AT QUESTIONABLE INSURANCE PROMOTION FOR BONDS

General President Jim Hoffa is extremely busy these days testifying in various hearings before the House and Senate, as in this recent IBT Website picture. Often, however, he just sends letters, to many interested parties, about issues like the YRCW funding crisis as that Company continues its very disturbing and sad death throes.

(December 28, 2009) Washington, D.C. — Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa last week sent letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), state Attorneys General, state insurance officials and Congressional leaders on financial industry oversight calling on regulators to review the questionable promotion of credit default swaps for bonds of YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NasdaqGS: YRCW), the country’s largest less-than-truckload company.

Hoffa in his communications, dated December 22, urged the oversight bodies to investigate financial firms that are underwriting and/or marketing basis packages that consist of YRC bonds and credit default swaps (CDS).  Financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, TD Bank, Barclays and UBS have a history of making markets in these types of derivative financial products.

• “Certain financial firms, have been or are marketing and/or underwriting a strategy where bonds in YRCW would be bought by investors with the intent of voting against the exchange, thereby triggering a bankruptcy that would pay the investors and possible other financial firms huge profits from the high CDS payments which would be triggered by a YRC bankruptcy or liquidation,” Hoffa wrote. “The profit from the YRCW CDSs would far outweigh losses from the failed YRCW bonds.”

Speculative investors owning credit default swaps for YRCW bonds would receive full payment, and a potential windfall profit based on the depressed market price of the underlying bonds, upon a financial collapse of YRCW, which would destroy more than 30,000 jobs and the financial stability of tens of thousands of families in the midst of an unprecedented recession.  
 
Through the federal bailout of AIG, investment banks received premiums for their CDS, while all other stakeholders suffered.  Today they may be putting the economy in danger once again.  The Teamsters Union supports policies that would regulate such financial instruments and other shadow financial market practices, currently considered by Congress, because these instruments and the way they are packaged distort economic incentives, undermining recovery to provide easy payouts to fat cats.

• “As I am sure you know, CDSs are nothing more than insurance contracts, i.e., the ‘swap’ of a premium for a guarantee that a payment will be triggered by the financial default being insured,” Hoffa continued. “The YRCW long bond/CDS marketing scheme by certain banks and hedge funds that are located within your jurisdiction, is nothing more than an attempt to have investors vote against a restructuring that would save YRCW.”

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