Hoffa warns of potential strike in Teamsters' office

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6567525.html

By HOLLY ROSENKRANTZ Bloomberg News
Aug. 10, 2009, 5:16PM

James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is bracing for what he called the “embarrassment” of a potential strike by his own employees.

Hoffa, in a letter to officers of the union, warned that contract negotiations with workers in the Washington office “are not going well.” The workers “refuse to acknowledge the current economic conditions,” he said.

About 150 workers in the Washington office of the Teamsters, whose contract expired June 30, are represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union, said Bret Caldwell, director of communications at the Teamsters.

Hoffa wrote that the union members “have a right to take strike action, and their union knows the embarrassment that such an event would create.”

“However, no amount of embarrassment will cause us to commit to a collective bargaining agreement that jeopardizes the financial health of your international union,” he wrote.

The union, which has negotiated previous contracts with the Teamsters, needs to share in “prudent belt-tightening,” Hoffa said.

The Teamsters represent U.S. truck drivers, airline employees, workers in the solid waste industry, and other workers.

Representatives of the Office and Professional Employees International Union didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

www.bloomberg.com

[JackintheGreen]

1. Maybe the Teamsters would have more to offer

to their workers if the admins didn't line their pockets with so much lucre.

And I'm saying this as a Teamster.