Law& Order - International Brotherhood of...

Law&Order

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Law&OrderTEAMSTERS PUSH TO ORGANIZEMEMBERS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

I N T E R N A T I O N A L B R O T H E R H O O D O F T E A M S T E R S S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4

2 TEAMSTER NEWS2 TEAMSTER NEWS

30 COURT MATERIAL30 COURT MATERIAL

22 2003 FINANCIAL STATEMENT22 2003 FINANCIAL STATEMENT

l Edwards Is A Friend Of Labor

l Documentary HonorsSlain Civil RightsWorker

l Teamsters MournWendel Kiser

l Rail Conference Gains 3,000 Members

l Indiana Casino WorkersWin Justice

20 ORGANIZING20 ORGANIZINGl Local 299 Welcomes

More Freight Members

l LifeSource Drivers Choose Local 727

l Amerijet Workers Join Local 769

l Laundry Workers Choose Local 705

l New York AmbulanceWorkers Join Teamsters

IN THIS ISSUEIN THIS ISSUE

14 Driving For RespectUSF Dugan Workers Stand Together, Win Justice

16 A Tale Of Two AmericasWorking Families Struggle While The Rich Get Richer

32 In The RingLocal 714 Member Is World-Class Boxing Referee 14

32

F E A T U R E S

8 Law and OrderTeamsters Establish National Law Enforcement League

20

International Brotherhood of Teamsters25 Louisiana Avenue, NW,Washington, DC 20001-2198202-624-6800

The Teamster (ISSN 1083-2394) is the official publicationof the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 25Louisiana Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20001-2198. Itis published eight times per year. Periodical postage paidat Washington, D.C. and at additional mailing offices.

SEPTEMBER 2004 / VOLUME 101, NO. 5

© 2004 International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Allrights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part withoutwritten permission is prohibited. Postmaster: Sendaddress changes to The Teamster, Affiliates RecordsDepartment, 25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC20001-2198. Subscription rates: $12 per year. Singlecopies, $2. (All orders payable in advance.) Membersshould send address changes to their local union.

www. t e ams t e r. o r g

290-M

hen casting your vote for president in November,it is important to look at the candidates’ actionsand not just listen to their campaign rhetoric.

The Bush administration’s actions speak loud-er than its words. It has consistently ignored theneeds of working families while putting the privi-leged first. The Bush/Cheney White House haschosen tax cuts for the wealthy and special favorsfor big business while millions of high-wage, highproductivity manufacturing jobs have been lost or

outsourced overseas. In fact, the latest Bush proposal willeliminate overtime for 6 million workers.

In stark contrast to Bush, John Kerry is a man who hasconsistently stood with and helped working people. Kerryhas a 90 percent AFL-CIO voting record over an 18-yearSenate career. He has fought to raise the minimum wage,co-sponsored bills to outlaw striker replacement and pro-vided workers with family and medical leave to spend timewith a new child or care for a family member. He has helpedbeat back Republican efforts to gut OSHA, weaken workersafety rules and cut funds from worker training andemployment programs. And he has fought for a workers’right to organize in his home state of Massachusetts.Whereas Bush talks a good game, John Kerry lets his recordon behalf of working people speak for itself.

Won’t Be Fooled AgainWorking families can’t afford to be fooled by Bush and hisbig business cronies again in 2004.

Don’t forget that during the 2000 Republican Conven-tion, the Bush/Cheney ticket presented Enron CEO KennethLay as its featured speaker. Prior to going bankrupt, Enronhad special access to the Bush White House and was Bush’sleading political contributor before destroying the retire-ments of thousands of its employees and becoming the tar-get of a multitude of criminal and congressional probes.

Again, Bush talks tough about curbing corporate fraud, buthis actions betray him as he has done nothing of substanceto crack down on corporate crime and his CEO pals whowreak havoc on the stock market and directly hurt thou-sands of Teamsters through losses to their pension funds.

Kerry’s PrioritiesJohn Kerry’s priority is middle class families working to coverthe mortgage and pay down the skyrocketing cost of healthcare, college tuition and gasoline. I recently spoke at theDemocratic National Convention in Boston to emphasize thatKerry’s priorities are the Teamsters’ priorities. Kerry knowsthat working families are the backbone of the U.S. economy.That is why he has worked on their behalf his entire politicalcareer. The Bush/Cheney campaign machine will try to pasteJohn Kerry and John Edwards with every negative label theycan think of because they have no record to run on. TheBush/Cheney campaign will avoid talking about issues andfocus instead on values. But for all their talk of values, whathave they done on behalf of everyday Americans?

A passage in the Book of James states, “What good is it ifa man claims to have faith, but has no deeds?” George Bushclaims to be a pro-worker president but he has performedno deeds on behalf of working people. His empty wordshave provided nothing of substance for Americans wonder-ing how to pay for health care or their child’s college educa-tion. He has consistently worked to denigrate workers’ rightswhile fattening the wallets of his rich CEO friends. TheBush/Cheney White House is out of touch with the needsand values of working Americans. John Kerry will be a realpro-worker president. He has shown that he will fight forworking families—and he has the record to prove it.

WActions Speak Louder Than Words

A M E S S A G E F R O M T H E G E N E R A L P R E S I D E N T

GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD

In picking John Edwardsas his running mate,John Kerry has selected

one of labor’s most impor-tant advocates.

On July 5, the Teamster-endorsed presidential candi-date selected the Senator fromNorth Carolina as his choicefor Vice President. Edwardshas long sought the counsel ofthe state’s labor leaders—including Jack Cipriani, Inter-national Vice President andPresident of Local 391 inGreensboro, North Carolina.

“I consider John Edwards afriend more than anythingelse,” Cipriani said. “I got toknow him before he ran forthe Senate and we hit it off realwell. I saw something good inhim then and I think he wouldmake an excellent Vice Presi-dent.”

In the eight years they haveknown each other, Ciprianihas become an informal laboradvisor to Edwards.

Always Time forTeamsters“Whenever labor issues comeup, he talks to me aboutthem,” Cipriani said. “He isvery much on the side oflabor—and not because hehas to be. John Edwards is onthe side of labor because of theway he was brought up. Herecognizes the importance ofthe American worker.”

Even when Edwards, theson of a mill worker, was run-ning for the Democratic nom-ination for President, therewas never a time when hecouldn’t meet with Teamsters.

“He has always been therefor the Teamsters Union,”Cipriani said. “He would nevershy away from meeting withus. He would even come toshop steward seminars.”

Words and ActionIn action as well as words,Edwards is firmly on the sideof organized labor. During a

debate in September 2003, hehad this to say:

“We need to empowerworking people to organize,”Edwards said. “We need laborlaw reform in this country.Things like card check neutral-ity, putting teeth in the law tomake sure that those who vio-late the law during organizingcampaigns are, in fact, heldresponsible. And I think weought to make the hiring ofpermanent replacement work-ers for strikers—we ought toban it. We ought to make it thelaw of the land tomorrow. Weneed to empower workingpeople so that they have more

voice, not less voice in thiscountry.”

“Thank God we’ve gotsomebody like John Edwardsstanding up for the workers ofNorth Carolina,” Cipriani said.“We’re going to work hard tomake sure he stands up for allof America’s workers as theVice President.”

TEAMSTER NEWSTEAMSTER NEWS

James P. Hoffa General President 25 Louisiana Avenue,NW Washington, DC 20001

C. Thomas Keegel General Secretary-Treasurer 25 Louisiana Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001

VICE PRESIDENTS AT-LARGE Randy Cammack 845 Oak Park Road Covina, CA 91724

Fred Gegare 1546 Main Street Green Bay, WI 54302

Carroll Haynes 216 West 14th Street New York, NY 10011

Tom O’Donnell 1 Hollow Lane Suite 309 Lake Success, NY 11042

Ralph J. Taurone47 West 200 SouthSuite 300Salt Lake City, UT84101

TEAMSTERS CANADA Robert Bouvier,President Teamsters Canada 2540 Daniel Johnson Suite 804 Laval, Quebec, Canada H7T 2S3

Joseph McLean 460 Parkdale Ave. N.,Hamilton, Ontario Canada, L8H 5Y2

Garnet Zimmerman 7283 149th A StreetSurrey, B.C. CanadaV3S

CENTRAL REGION Patrick W. Flynn 4217 South HalstedStreet Chicago, IL 60609

Walter A. Lytle 2644 Cass Street Fort Wayne, IN 46808

Dotty Malinsky 9409 Yukon Avenue S.Bloomington, MN55438

Lester A. Singer 435 South HawleyStreet Toledo, OH 43609

Philip E. Young1668 N.W. 1000 RoadCredighton, MO 64739

EASTERN REGION Jack Cipriani P.O. Box 35405 Greensboro, NC 27425

Ken Hall 113 Goff MountainRoadCharleston, WV 25313

John Murphy 765 East Third Street Boston, MA 02127

Richard Volpe 6 Tuxedo Avenue New Hyde Park, NY11040

SOUTHERN REGION Tyson Johnson 1007 Jonelle Street Dallas, TX 75217

Ken Wood 5818 E. MLK Jr. Blvd.Tampa, FL 33619

WESTERN REGION J. Allen Hobart 553 John Street Seattle, WA 98109

Chuck Mack P.O. Box 2270 Oakland, CA 94621

Jim Santangelo818 Oak Park RoadCovina, CA 91724

TRUSTEES Frank Gallegos 207 North SanbornRoad Salinas, CA 93905

Ron McClain544 28th StreetWest Des Moines, IA50265

John Steger25 Louisiana Ave., N.W.Washington, DC 20001

John Edwards–Friend of LaborNorth Carolina Teamster His Longtime Labor Advisor

“We need to empower

working people so that

they have more voice,

not less voice in this

country.” – JOHN EDWARDS

REU

TER

S

Almost 30 years ago, thewife of a Local 247business agent was

murdered by segregationistsin Alabama after a civil rightsmarch. Viola Liuzzo was theonly white woman murderedduring the civil rights move-ment and, as such, she shouldhave an esteemed place inAmerican history.

That’s not what happened,though. After her murder, thegovernment set out to smearLiuzzo’s name and history hasforgotten her. Now a new doc-umentary, “Home of theBrave,” sets the record straight.

The documentary tracesthe story of how Liuzzo, amother of five and wife ofAnthony Liuzzo, a Teamster

official, followed her con-science from Detroit to Selma,Alabama to participate in thecivil rights movement. Whileshuttling workers from Selmato Montgomery, she was

gunned down in her car by KuKlux Klansmen, who wereswiftly arrested. It wasn’t long,however, before the FBI start-ed leaking false informationabout her.

The SmearThe FBI branded her hus-band as a corrupt Teamsterand to discredit her they saidshe had been an unfaithfulwife who was taking drugs.According to the documen-tary, all of this was a smoke-screen to cover the fact thatan FBI informant could havecommitted the crime.

More than 750 peopleattended the burial service forViola Liuzzo on March 30,1965. The mourners included

Martin Luther King Jr., andother civil rights leaders,Teamsters President James R.Hoffa and United Auto Work-ers President Walter Reuther.

“The deeper I investigatedthis story, the more my owninnate sense of fairness gotriled up,” said Paola di Florio,director of “Home of theBrave.”“It drove me tenacious-ly to stick out the gruelingprocess of making the film.”

“By reexamining the mur-der of Viola Liuzzo and herlegacy, this film not only doesa great service to Liuzzo andher family, it erases an uglystain in our nation’s history,”said Jim Hoffa, TeamstersGeneral President.

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Rewriting HistoryDocumentary Sets the Record Straight

Union Mourns Wendel KiserKiser was a Teamster for 70 Years

Wendel J. Kiser, a member of Local 386 in Modesto, California since1933, died peacefully in his sleep on July 9. Kiser was 93 years old.

Kiser became active with the Teamsters when he helped reviveLocal 386 and took the lead in organizing fellow workers at the Bor-den Company in Modesto. Soon, he was elected recording secretaryand part-time union representative for the local. By 1936, Local 386was growing rapidly and needed a full time representative. Kisertook on the job, serving as principal officer for the next 36 years.

Kiser was instrumental in improving the lives of his members bynegotiating strong contracts, expanding organizing efforts and fightingfor major advances in pension and benefits packages.

Loyal Teamster“He was a loyal, dedicated Teamster for 70 years, rebuilding this localfrom 60 members to over 3,500 today,” said John Souza, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 386. “He was a pillar of the union.”

He was also very active in the political arena on behalf of orga-nized labor. He proudly rode with President Harry Truman on hiswhistle stop campaign as a labor delegate; was selected to attendnumerous democratic conventions; and was a key figure in the push

for passage of the national Medicare program.Retirement from active membership in 1972 did not mean slowing

down to Kiser. He organized the first retiree chapter in the Modesto-Stockton, California region, serving as president until 2002. Through hisleadership, the retiree chapter has grown to 4,800 members and playsa vital role in assisting all senior citizens in the community. Kiser alsoserved as an executive board member for the National Council of SeniorCitizens for over 20 years.

June marked the begin-ning of Teamster mem-bership for 3,000 Cana-

dian Pacific Railway (CP)workers in Canada.

Formerly members of theBrotherhood of Maintenanceof Way Employes (BMWE),the members voted by anoverwhelming majority to berepresented by the TeamstersCanada Rail Conference. TheBMWE formally recognizedthe Teamsters as its mergerpartner in 2003.

“I think we are alreadyseeing improvements nowthat we are Teamsters,” saidAnthony Della Porta, a mem-ber of Lodge 232 in the Lau-rentian region of Quebec.“We just found out that 50grievances had been settled.We had a backlog of griev-ances going back six years.We are going in the rightdirection and I’ve seen sup-port even before we merged.”

Over 2,200 miles away inthe province of Saskatchewan,Paul Silbernagel, a member ofLodge 304 in Saskatoon,agreed.

“It was the right choice tovote for the Teamsters,” he

said. “We had to do somethingand I am hoping we can get abetter dental plan and sickleave policy.”

Maintenance of the RailsMaintenance of Way employ-ees are responsible for main-taining the tracks, the trackbed, bridges, terminals andother structures owned by therailroads. There are year-round workers such as track-men and track maintainers,who put in new ties, replaceworn rail and level the trackbed. Seasonal workers (fromApril through November) areusually employed to poundspikes, pick up scrap and

assist with maintaining thetrack.

“What the employer hasbeen doing is eliminating theworkforce. Now, many year-round workers are seasonalworkers. We want to force theemployer to create more full-time jobs—like what theTeamsters did with UPS,” saidLouis Wilson, director at largefor the Teamsters Rail Confer-ence, maintenance of waydivision.

“When I began workingfor CP my territory was cov-ered by 23 employees, now weare down to just six,” Silber-nagel said. “Unless repairwork is an emergency, it isplaced on a list for us to tacklein time. We really need morefull-time employees.”

The 3,000 new Mainte-nance of Way employees jointhe 8,000 other Rail Confer-ence members of the Team-sters Canada Rail Conference.This year, 7,000 Brotherhoodof Locomotive Engineersmembers voted to join Team-sters Canada and they are stillbuilding the conference.

Working On The RailroadTeamsters Canada Rail Conference Gains 3,000 New Members

TEAMSTER NEWS

Families FirstPaid Family Leave Law Enacted in California

On July 1, California’s new PaidFamily Leave Law went into

effect thanks, in part, to the Teamsters Union.

The new law provides most Californians six weeks of partial paywhen taking leave from work to carefor a seriously ill parent, spouse, childor domestic partner, or to bond with anew baby, foster or adopted child.

“The new policy reflects the kindsof lives that families lead now,” saidJim Hoffa, Teamsters General Presi-dent. “The rules have to change alongwith the American family and theTeamsters Union is doing its part tomake sure the laws keep up.”

Taking the LeadThe Teamsters are part of a labor coali-tion in California that works on issuesthat benefit working families. On thisissue, the coalition worked with theLabor Project for Working Families, anonprofit organization in Northern Cali-fornia. The Teamsters worked withother labor groups to educate the pub-lic, push for the legislation and, ulti-mately, win these rights.

“Labor is once again taking thelead in making the workplace betterfor all working families,” said NetsyFirestein of the Labor Project for Work-ing Families.

The groundbreaking legislation cre-ates the first comprehensive paidleave program in the nation. Paidleave benefits are entirely employee-funded through California’s State Dis-ability Insurance (SDI) program andallows employees to collect up to 55percent of their salary, up to a maxi-mum of $728 per week, while caringfor their loved ones.

“It was the right choice

to vote for the

Teamsters. We had to

do something and I am

hoping we can get a

better dental plan and

sick leave policy.”— PAUL SILBERNAGEL, LODGE 304,

SASKATOON

4 T E AM S T E R | S E P T EMB E R 2 0 0 4 | w ww . t e am s t e r. o r g

When you bet on a surething, you come up awinner. That’s the les-

son casino workers in Indianalearned when they chose tohave the Teamsters Union rep-resent them.

Local 89 in Louisville, Ken-tucky recently secured a card-check agreement at the Cae-sars Indiana Riverboat Casinoand Hotel in Elizabeth, Indi-ana, giving 198 workers a

strong and united voice atwork. A card-check agreementallows the local to skip the typ-ical election process.

The Teamsters representthe front desk workers, bell-hops, valets and slot represen-tatives. Armin Lawson, one ofthe slot representatives, saiddeciding on the Teamsterswasn’t a difficult choice.

“The Teamsters are one ofthe best unions around and it

was clear that their people arewhat makes the union great,”said Lawson, who has workedthere for six years.

Fairness, Finally“We wanted the Teamstersbecause we wanted fairness.We want the company to stopchanging policies every time itsuits them. We’re sick of some-one being written up forsomething but another personnot being written up for theexact same infraction,” Lawsonsaid. “That kind of thing has tostop and, with the Teamsters,fairness is going to play amuch bigger role in our jobs.”

Local 89 secured the card-check agreement along withtwo other unions—the Hotel

Employees and RestaurantEmployees Union and theInternational Union of Oper-ating Engineers—which willrepresent approximately 600additional workers betweenthe two unions.

“Prior to getting the cardscounted, we were able tosecure an access agreementand a neutrality agreement,”said Veronica Stephenson, anInternational Representativewho helped organize theworkers. “That allowed theorganizers to have access to thevarious work areas, and thecompany agreed to stay neu-tral. Now we’ll be in a positionto pursue similar agreementsat other Caesars properties inthe area.”


Striking BackSysco Strike Ends in Victory

Member solidarity andcommunity supportconvinced a hostile

company in an unsympatheticarea to negotiate a fair contractfor striking Teamsters.

Teamster drivers and ware-house workers at Sysco’s Nor-man, Oklahoma facility over-whelmingly ratified a newcontract and settled a nearly15-week strike against thecompany. The members ofLocal 886 voted 96-6 in favorof the new agreement. Morethan 8,000 Teamsters work atthe company’s 49 locationsacross the country.

“This victory sends a mes-sage to an employer of this size

that you can’t shove a smallunit around and pick us offone by one,” said John Howry,President of Local 886 inOklahoma City. “This win isall about our members—100percent of them stayed out forthe entire strike. It shows realTeamster solidarity.”

Looking Out for Each Other“Everyone who works forSysco really came together forthis strike,” said Gerald Kirk, adriver who has been withSysco for nine years. “Beforethe strike, the warehouseworkers and the drivers wereseparated but now we look outfor each other. This not onlybrought us together but it gotus a great contract.”

The settlement includesimportant discipline and dis-charge provisions that were at

the heart of several unfairlabor practices charges that theTeamsters filed against Sysco.In addition, workers firedbefore the strike will receiveexpedited arbitration by a two-man Teamsters-Sysco panel.

Throughout the dispute,the Teamsters Union workedwith Local 886 and the Team-sters Warehouse Division toprovide assistance in develop-ing a strong customer/com-

munity campaign. Accordingto members, it worked.

“The community supportwas incredible,” said JakeMcClelland, a six-year ware-houseman at Sysco. “Okla-homa has never been a union-friendly state but during ourhand-billing campaign, weturned quite a few customersaway from certain restaurants.People seemed genuinely sym-pathetic to what was going on.”

A Safe BetCard Check Agreement Garners Casino Workers


TEAMSTER NEWSTEAMSTER NEWS

A Stronger VoiceLakota School Bus Drivers Win New Contract

Rejecting A RaidSchool District Employees Remain Teamsters

Jefferson County School District employees in Louisville,Kentucky recently voted by a 2-1 margin to continue rep-resentation by Local 783 in Louisville. The vote ended an

aggressive take-over attempt by the Kentucky Education Sup-port Professionals Association (KESPA), which is affiliatedwith the Kentucky Chapter of the National Education Association (KEA).

Local 783 has represented more than 1,400 district publicschool bus drivers, mechanics, maintenance workers andsecurity officers since 1986. Prior to representation from theTeamsters, the support employees were considered a “sub-group” to teachers. Under that classification, support employ-ees would receive whatever money was left for wage and ben-efit increases after all of the teachers’ contract demands weremet.

“The Teamsters refused to see them be treated with suchdisrespect,” said Jerry Vincent, Secretary-Treasurer of Local783. “From the very start we insisted that these workersreceive the same treatment as the teachers. They rememberthat.”

The group overwhelmingly chose the Teamsters. Local 783officers feel this vote of confidence will put them in a goodposition for contract negotiations this summer.

“You wouldn’t believe all the crazy stuff they were promis-ing us,” said John Stovall, a longtime school district employee.“It was obvious they couldn’t match the support and protec-tion that we get from the Teamsters.”

M embers of Local100 in Cincinnatihave ratified a new

contract with the LakotaSchool District. More than220 bus drivers and aidesratified the three-year con-tract by a count that was just one vote shy of beingunanimous.

“The contract negotia-tions went very well,” saidSteve Scarth, a business agentfor Local 100. “The membershave received the improve-ments to the contract theydeserve. And, just as impor-tant, they have been given avoice on the county commit-tee that handles major healthcare issues facing workersemployed by the countyschool districts.”

Scarth also believes thepositive outcome for the bus

drivers will lend strength toanother current organizingcampaign by Local 100. Themembers are seeking tobring 600 additional LakotaSchool District employees,such as teachers’ aides andsupport staff into the union.

“Winning a voice on the

committee during this

contract fight increases

our ability to maintain

fair health coverage.

Now we can make sure

the decisions are not

anti-union and anti-family

like they have tended to

be in the past.”— LYDIA COMBS, LOCAL 100 STEWARD


A Learning Process“The negotiation process waslong and difficult at times. Itwas definitely a learningprocess,” said DavidHumphrey, school districtemployee. “We were able to getwhat we needed and it waslargely because we had astrong union on our side.”

The ratification of thisstrong contract comes lessthan one year after Local 100assisted the group in winning amajor arbitration victoryagainst the school district forunauthorized changes tohealth benefits in the previouscontract.

“Winning a voice on the

committee during this contractfight increases our ability tomaintain fair health coverage,”said Lydia Combs, steward atLocal 100. “Now we can makesure the decisions are not anti-union and anti-family like theyhave tended to be in the past.”

Highlights of the contractinclude:

■ Wage increases of 50 centsthe first year, with re-openclauses for the following years;■ Major language changes toaccurately reflect and coincidewith job duties;■ Improved health care lan-guage and options; and■ Clarifications in absen-teeism language.

Raising The BarMark Johnson Named National Training Director

In an effort to build the number of skilled workers in the Teamsters, the union has named Mark Johnson to serve asa full-time National Training Director. In this role, he will build an alliance between training programs across the

country, expand the program to address the needs of even more workers in a variety of industries, and develop acommunication structure to share information about training between locals and other union affiliates.

“We can and must ‘grow our own’ with a comprehensive, strategicTeamster training program across this nation,” Johnson said. “I am hon-ored to have been asked to lead this effort.”

“Training is so important to the future of our union,” said Tom Keegel,Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer. “Today, with the rapid changes inour workplace and the economy of our nation, we must become evenmore aggressive to ensure that our union contin-ues to have skilled members.”

Vision for the FutureJohnson is a 39-year Teamster who joined theunion in 1965 as a Local 951 member workingin a Tacoma, Washington dairy. He transferred toLocal 959 in Alaska when he went to work as atechnician for a NASA contractor, and worked hisway up through the local from shop steward tochief steward to executive board member andTrustee. In 1992, he was assigned as the Train-ing Director for the Alaska Teamster-EmployerService Training Trust. Before he took over opera-tion of that fund, fewer than 100 members werebeing trained each year. Today, his staff trainsaround 1,000 members each year—approximate-ly 25 percent of the local’s membership.

“I don’t think the Teamsters could havemade a better choice than with Mark,” said George McMahon, Appren-ticeship Training Coordinator for Minnesota, based at Local 120 in Min-neapolis. “He is a progressive thinker, he’s a leader and he has visionfor the future. Mark is going to be exceptional in this job.”

The National Training Program will be designed to not only increase theskill level of existing members, but to help bring new workers into the union.

Nonunion companies are already training workers in advanced skills, whichmakes new workers more likely to go in that direction rather than seekingout union jobs. This program hopes to turn that around and communicatethe message that the Teamsters have far more to offer to workers.

Training To Grow“We offer a better-trained worker to the employ-er,” said Michael Blackburn, Executive Directorof Training for Local 251 in Providence, RhodeIsland. He said the local’s training effortincludes Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) cer-tification, a 10-hour OSHA safety course requiredby the state for all drivers entering constructionsites, a 40-hour hazardous materials awarenesscourse, and others. “We offer that stuff right upfront, and we promote unionism in our train-ings.”

Dale Robbins, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 315in Martinez, California, and Co-Trustee of theNational Training Program, said programs like Local251’s are critical for offering skilled workers andqualified drivers.

“We need to have a skilled, well-trainedworkforce available for our signatory employers,”Robbins said. “With certification requirements

on CDLs and certain equipment like forklifts and boom trucks, theTeamsters Union must provide training for our membership.”

The program can be used to develop trainings that go beyond jobskills and licensing, however. Blackburn said he and Local 251 Secre-tary-Treasurer Stu Mundy are working on a longer-term training plan toraise awareness of regarding security issues.


TEAMSTERS DELIVER JUSTICE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS

&LAW ORDER

For nearly a quarter-century, Sgt. Patrick O’Connorhas watched over murderers, rapists, robbers andother offenders inside the walls of the Washingtonstate Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

A steward for about 17 years, O’Connor has seen several unionscome and go over the past 24 years. He’s glad that since early 2002Local 117 in Seattle has represented himself and 5,300 otherDepartment of Corrections workers across the Evergreen State.

“If Local 117 can’t get it for us, it’s not going to happen,” saidO’Connor, sitting in his office proudly displaying a Local 117pin on his uniform.

Every day, Teamster law enforcement professionals likeO’Connor provide security to residents across the country,whether it’s keeping inmates inside prison walls, fighting crimeon the streets or making sure our communities’ schools are safe.

In return, the Teamsters Union helps provide these hardwork-ing men and women with a secure future for themselves and fortheir families. The Teamsters Union represents more than20,000 law enforcement professionals at hundreds of agencies


“MEMBERS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT DESERVE RESPECT—THE

from coast to coast. Recently, the unionestablished the Teamsters Law Enforce-ment League aimed at increasing collectivebargaining strength, boosting organizingefforts and increasing political power.

Longtime Vision“In addition to being America’s union fortransportation, my father’s vision of theTeamsters was to also be America’s unionfor law enforcement,” said Jim Hoffa,Teamsters General President. “In recentyears, we have made great strides in orga-nizing more law enforcement profession-als. With the Law Enforcement League, wewill build on that success.”

The Law Enforcement League is mod-eled after a statewide effort in Iowa knownas the Iowa Teamsters Law EnforcementLeague. The league is part of the Team-sters Public Services Division—one of thelargest divisions within the union withmore than 200,000 members.

“By establishing this league nation-wide, we will increase awareness that theTeamsters Union represents correctionsofficers, court officers and peace officers ofall kinds,” said Carl Haynes, Director ofthe Public Services Division and Presidentof Local 237 in New York City. “Members

of law enforcement deserve respect—theTeamsters know how to deliver respect.”

For prison officers like O’Connor, payincreases and improved retirement securi-ty are two top issues. Officials with Local117 are working hard to address thoseconcerns in contract negotiations thatwere under way at press time.

“For the first time ever, we are able tonegotiate wages with the state, and ournumber one focus is to increase wages andbenefits,” said John Williams, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 117, who is headingcontract talks. “We have put together agreat team to negotiate a strong contract.”

Local 117 has also hired two organizersand is reworking, streamlining andimproving the grievance process. The localhas held steward trainings and hasimproved communications through a tele-phone hotline, web site and newsletters.

‘Going to Bat’Dennis Coble, a 13-year veteran at thepenitentiary, said Local 117 representa-tives have stepped up to the plate afteryears of inferior representation by other unions.

“Local 117 has been great—they’vebeen addressing many issues,” Coble said.

“They’ve been going to bat for us so wecan keep our bid system, and they madesure we can build up comp time instead ofhaving to cash it out.”

On a recent 99-degree afternoon, Sgt.Jean Meyer peered closely at the dozens ofinmates running around the “Big Yard,” the4-acre courtyard where inmates get theirtwo to three hours of daily recreation.

“I like it that Local 117 isn’t afraid tofile a lawsuit to get the state’s attention,”Meyer said. “Since Local 117 took over,things are looking up.”

‘Best Ever’Al Smith, staffing the penitentiary’s frontentrance, has worked at the prison formore than 18 years. “Local 117 providesopen communications, and we’ve beengiven more knowledge. The representa-tion is the best it’s been. We need theunion here, because a lot of times whenrules and regulations are written, manage-ment has its own interpretation. You needthe union to mediate.”

Across the state, southwest of Seattle,officers at the Washington CorrectionsCenter near Shelton share similar concerns.

Steward Rod Bremer, a 27-year statecorrections employee, said Local 117 is


TEAMSTERS KNOW HOW TO DELIVER RESPECT” CARL HAYNES, PRESIDENT LOCAL 237

responsive to the concerns of workers.“When they become aware of an issue,they get right on top of it.”

An example occurred when manage-ment required more paperwork withoutgiving proper notice. Bremer said heworked with Local 117 to get the require-ment temporarily suspended.

In addition to officers, Local 117 repre-sents maintenance workers, cooks, medicalstaff, office assistants and records workers atthe prisons. Darlene Knight, a senior officeassistant and 10-year employee at Shelton,said,“Local 117 has done more than anyother union. They are very accessible.”

Dangerous WorkWorking inside a prison can be very dan-gerous, and the officers say it’s nice to knowthey have a strong union to back them up ifthey need to challenge a policy or condi-tions within the barbed-wire fences.

“I have the kind of job where I don’tknow if I’m going to go home at night,”said Jeff Sanders, a sergeant who supervis-es the tool room. He said he’s excitedabout the contract talks that are underway. “I feel real confident with where we’regoing. It feels great to have a local withreal backbone. We have to have a strong

contract to make sure the state is holdingup their end of the deal to take care of meand my family.”

Steward Rob Leonard, an 11-year vet-eran at Shelton and Local 117 negotiatingcommittee member, said he tries hard tokeep his coworkers informed. “I try to dothat on a daily basis. The contract is onlyas good as the people policing it.”

Corrections officers often feel ignored bysociety in general.“The officers, once theyare behind closed doors, are out of sight,out of mind,” said Steward Patty Schrum.“Local 117 is making sure that is not thecase. The public is starting to understandour concerns more. For the first time inyears, I’m actually seeing someone fightingfor our rights, trying to get back what theprevious unions gave away.”

Success in IowaWhile Washington state corrections officersare seeing first-hand the benefits of beingTeamsters, police officers and sheriffsdeputies in Iowa, are at the epicenter of theunion’s efforts.

Rik Willett serves as Recording Secretaryat Local 147 in Des Moines. Willett said hedeveloped the idea for the Iowa TeamstersLaw Enforcement League about three years

ago. The idea arose when Willett saw howcoordinated cities and sheriffs were throughtheir associations when it came time tonegotiate contracts with the union.

“I asked, why aren’t we? We decidedthat we needed to get our cops together,”Willet said.

Today, the Iowa Law EnforcementLeague—comprised of three locals—rep-resents about 70 law enforcement agenciesacross Iowa. That includes 1,100 mem-bers. Since 1982, the Teamsters have morethan doubled the number of Teamster lawenforcement agencies in Iowa.

The Iowa Law Enforcement League—as well as the Teamsters Law EnforcementLeague—has three main objectives: Toincrease the collective bargaining strengthof organized law enforcement, to orga-nize/affiliate independent unions and toincrease political power of organized lawenforcement.

“Police have their own identity, and thekey to the league’s organizing success is hav-ing cops talking to cops,” said Jim Romar, adetective with the West Des Moines PoliceDepartment and a 22-year Teamster.

The league has coordinated 12 organiz-ing campaigns during the past two yearsand has won every campaign, said Romar,

a 31-year police veteran who is director ofthe Iowa Law Enforcement League.

If a local union gets a tip that officers areinterested in joining the union, Teamsterpolice officers and sheriff ’s deputies meetwith their fellow cops to discuss the bene-fits of joining the Teamsters. They outlinethe resources the Teamsters have available.

“Cops are cynical by nature. Their jobsrequire them to be distrustful and suspi-cious,” Romar said. “It helps to have otherofficers talk to them.”

At press time, members of the Iowaleague were assisting an organizing cam-paign for the Nashville Metro Police,which could add 1,250 officers to theTeamsters’ ranks.

On a Roll in FloridaIn Florida, Local 385 is another model forsuccess. In 1996, Local 385 organized the160-strong Daytona Beach Police Depart-ment. Because Daytona Beach is such aprominent community with its auto racingand annual Bike Week and other celebra-tions, and because of the great contractsLocal 385 has negotiated, word has spreadabout Teamster power. Now, Local 385 rep-resents nearly 1,000 police officers and sher-iff’s deputies in Central Florida. Just this pastFebruary, deputy sheriffs in Volusia County

voted 281 to 47 to join the Teamsters.“A lot of our success has to do with

how we’re doing with our contracts inDaytona Beach. Other police officers arebecoming aware of our success,” said ScottFrantz, a Daytona Beach officer and chiefsteward. “Now we’re working on morethan a half-dozen organizing campaigns.”

Local 385 has negotiated superior con-tracts in Daytona Beach. Officers maychoose the area where they want to workbased on seniority. In addition to greatpay and benefits, the local has establishedan aggressive grievance process, and asolid rapport with the department’sadministration and with city officials.

The local is also very successful becausemembers are politically active, supportingelected officials who are allies. Membersrecently raised $22,000 that they donatedto local charities and used the leftovermoney to support political campaigns.

Talking ShopLocal 385 Business Agent Jeff Candage,who served 20 years on the Daytona Beachforce, also said that successful organizing isrooted in cops talking to cops. “The Day-tona Beach Bike Week is our primary con-tact with other area police. We talk aboutwhat we have, and they talk about what

they have. That gets the interest started.”To help kick off the Law Enforcement

League, Candage and officers from Floridaand Iowa recently attended the NationalPolice Week in Washington, D.C. and dis-tributed Teamster organizing materials topolice officers from across the United States.

“Our goal is to unionize the majorityof Central Florida under the Teamsters,”Candage said.

Eric Ryan, a five-year veteran of theDaytona Beach police, said police alwaysappreciate backup support, and the Team-sters deliver.

“I know I have backing with everythingI do,” Ryan said. “I know if I have a ques-tion or concern I can call Scott or Jeff. It’struly a brotherhood.”

“Being with the Teamsters has beenawesome,” said Dennis Towne, a motorcy-cle deputy with the Volusia County Sher-iff ’s Department. “We’re getting solid rep-resentation that we didn’t get before.”

Ed Slater, who worked at DaytonaBeach in the 1970s and returned in 1996,said the prior representatives, the Frater-nal Order of Police and the Police Benev-olent Association, pale in comparison tothe Teamsters. “It’s been great. We haveseen tremendous improvements—pay,benefits, working conditions, discipline


“…IT’S NICE TO KNOW WE HAVE THE TEAMSTERS THERE

procedures, and an open dialogue withmanagement and with the city.

“We’re all on the same team,” saidSlater, an assistant chief steward. “I could-n’t conceive going back.”

New York’s FinestWhen people think about police, most arefamiliar with officers who patrol citystreets. But in New York City, Local 237represents more than 6,000 peace officers,making it the largest Teamsters lawenforcement local. The officers work atthe Big Apple’s schools, Housing Authori-ty, college campuses, at the Taxi & Limou-sine Commission, hospitals, juvenile jus-tice centers and other locations.

“Local 237 has done a very good job,”said Jerry Mitchem, a 26-year officer withthe city’s Department of Juvenile Justice.“It’s been an uphill battle to keep what wehave, but they’re always getting us anincrease in salary and an increase in theuniform allowance. They always fight forour job security.”

Mitchem’s coworker, Sgt. Diane Mar-tinez, a 20-year veteran, said the Teamstershave unified workers in the ongoing bat-tles with administrators and dealing withnew state and federal custody laws.

Robbin Woodford, a 15-year school

safety officer, said the Teamsters havedone a good job representing her inter-ests, and fighting for decent wages andbenefits. That gives her comfort in light ofthe dangers she faces each day.

“I wear a bulletproof vest. Every day

you walk out your door, you don’t know ifyou’ll come back in one piece. Every day atthe end of the day, you thank God you’vemade it through OK,” Woodford said. “So,it’s nice to know we have the Teamstersthere for us, watching our backs.”


Unmatched Political Power

In addition to strong, day-to-day representation and top contract negotiators, the Team-sters Union provides law enforcement professionals with unmatched political clout at cityhalls, state houses and in Congress.For example, Local 237 in New York City has been busy getting several local-sponsored

bills passed by both houses of the New York State Legislature. The new bills would enhancebenefits for School Safety Officers and other peace officers, and Evidence and PropertyControl Specialists.

Of primary importance is a bill on behalf of the School Safety Agents, which providesthat agents injured by assault on the job shall receive the difference between their workers’compensation benefit and their weekly salary for a full 18 months. The bill, S.6450/A.10189,provides that members will receive this benefit without any charge against their annual orsick leave. Determinations of whether an assault has occurred shall no longer be in thehands of the New York City Police Department, but rather will be made by the Office ofAdministrative Trials and Hearings of the City of New York (OATH), an independent body.

“This victory, finally giving our members the respect due them as uniformed peace offi-cers who handle tough assignments, is long overdue,” said Carl Haynes, Local 237 Presi-dent. “Major credit for the victory belongs to those members who braved the winter cold tojoin Local 237’s rally at City Hall Park in January, where we raised a public call for fair treat-ment of School Safety Agents injured on the job.”

FOR US, WATCHING OUR BACKS.”

Driving forRESPECT!> > > > > > USF Dugan Workers Stand Together, Win Justice

IDNEY TAPPER, A CITY DRIVERat USF Dugan in Memphis, is tired

of not being able to spend more timewith his family.

“I want a future and I want to be a goodfather to my sons. I don’t want to work 60hours every week for the rest of my life,”said Tapper, who has worked at Dugan forabout five years.“Some days you work ninehours, then the next day you work 14hours. You’re forced to do what manage-ment tells you to do. They just tell you todo it, or they say ‘hit the road.’”

Tapper and his coworkers are doingsomething about it. In April, the workersin Memphis voted to form a union withthe Teamsters, giving Tapper and 95coworkers a strong voice in the work-place. Earlier, USF Dugan workers inMobile, Alabama and in Cincinnati votedto join the Teamsters. The victories arepart of the union’s national organizingcampaign at USF Dugan. The union isalso organizing workers at USF Bestway.

The Teamsters National Freight Divi-

sion is coordinating contract negotiations,which are under way.

Importance of Freight“Freight is the backbone of this great union,and we will do everything we can to sup-port these men and women at USF Duganand Bestway to get the dignity and justicethey deserve,” said Jim Hoffa, TeamstersGeneral President.“We will not let the com-

pany violate the rights of these workers.”“The workers are demanding respect

in the workplace, and are seekingimproved working conditions,” addedTyson Johnson, Teamsters Freight Divi-sion Director. “They need to know thatthis union stands behind their efforts nowand in the coming months.”

The Teamsters want to provide the newmembers with a voice on the job nowenjoyed by nearly 10,000 members at USFReddaway, USF Holland and USF Bestwaywho are already Teamsters. USF is madeup of several regional LTL carriers.

Staying UnitedDespite the company’s dirty tactics, work-ers in Memphis, Cincinnati and Mobilepersevered and remained united.

“The company made threats aboutrunning freight around us,” Tapper said.“They said they would send freight toNashville instead of Memphis. But we allstuck together and won in the end.”

Calvin Brown, another city driver inMemphis, said he looks forward to get-ting the protections that come with aTeamster contract.

“Right now we don’t have a leg tostand on,” said Brown, who has worked atDugan for nearly three years. “We will bemore secure with a contract.”

The company’s discipline process—known as the Point System—is unfair,arbitrary, and does not include a fairappeal process, Brown said. “Many work-ers recently got written up for not report-ing to work prior to their shift startingtime,” he said.

Brown said he wants a fairer system fortaking time off. He also wants an end tomanagement playing favorites, which ishurting morale.

Michael Glaze, a line-haul driver inMobile, echoed others in assessing theoverall goal of the campaign—getting therespect workers deserve. “It’s all aboutrespect,” he said.

“The company doesn’t recognizeseniority. The guys here the longest shouldhave the first choice in jobs. The companywanted to lay off a person with the longestexperience, and that’s how the whole cam-paign got started,” said Glaze, who hasworked at Dugan for nearly five years.


> > > > > > > > > > > >Agreement Gives Former USFRed Star Workers PreferentialHiring By Seniority

The Teamsters recently reached anagreement with USF Holland con-cerning the company’s entry into

the Northeast LTL market, a sector for-merly occupied by USF Red Star. Theagreement follows USF Red Star’s sud-den and abrupt closure in mid-May. USFRed Star workers will receive preferentialhiring by seniority at USF Holland’s eightnew terminals in the Northeast and allthat follow.

The opening of these terminals isexpected to create more than 500 Team-ster jobs for former USF Red Star workersin the coming months. In addition, USFHolland expects to add 500 to 700 newTeamster jobs at current locations in theMidwest throughout 2004. Former USFRed Star workers will also receive prefer-ential hiring by seniority for those jobs.Also, the agreement establishes an elec-tion protocol for USF Holland office work-ers seeking Teamster representation.

“We have negotiated an agreementthat gives Red Star workers preferentialconsideration for these jobs and thatthey are hired back in seniority,” saidTyson Johnson, Teamsters NationalFreight Director. “Further, this agreementincreases the starting wages these mem-bers would normally achieve under theNational Master Freight Agreement.”

According to the agreement, formerUSF Red Star workers will be paid a sig-nificantly higher rate than what is normal-ly provided to new hires as called for inthe NMFA and a shorter wage progres-sion. Further, the workers will participatein the same health and welfare and pen-sion funds as they were in as USF RedStar employees—an agreement that bene-fits the workers and funds that have beenadversely affected by the termination ofUSF Red Star workers.

S

ATale ofTwoAmericas

Working Families Struggle While The Rich Get Richer

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF JOB LOSSand recession, economists are starting totrumpet America’s economic revival. Busi-ness section headlines declare the recessionover. Companies are hiring again. And Pres-ident Bush goes around patting himself onthe back for engineering the turnaround.

Have you noticed a difference? Is it get-ting easier to pay your bills? Are employersrolling out the red carpet for you whencontract negotiations come around?

The U.S. economy is getting stronger,but for whom? Real wages are falling,unemployment is still high and poverty ison the rise. The most recent data for profits, assets, income and wages indicatethat the gains of the recovery are going to the wealthy.

Economic inequality in America hasnever been so extreme. The driving forcebehind every Bush administration policyis to give free reign to the wealthiestAmericans and their big corporations andto limit workers’ ability to get their fairshare. Bush has cut tax rates for the richand eliminated many regulations designedto prevent corporate abuses—and Bush’santi-union policies make it more difficultfor workers to fight back.

Working families are finding it harderand harder to make ends meet. Their wagesare stagnating, if not dropping, and goodjobs are disappearing. At the same time,their tax burden has gone up, health carecosts are skyrocketing, pension funds areshrinking, college tuition costs are risingand gas prices are getting out of control.

With the Bush administration and its

supporters turning up the hypeabout America’s supposed eco-nomic recovery, this article willspend some time looking at the realeconomic picture—and it isn’tpretty.

Living High on the HogFor the richest Americans, theseare indeed happy days. They havean administration in charge thatis letting them run roughshodover anything and anyone that stands between themand their profits.

In Bush’s America, corporationsactually get tax breaks for moving

jobs overseas where they can exploit work-ers and the environment. He has reducedthe top tax rate, as well as taxes on estates,capital gains and dividends. Bush hasremoved ergonomic rules. His administra-tion has gutted environmental protectionsso that his corporate friends would nothave to invest in job-creating environmen-tally friendly new technology. Bush andCheney’s energy industry cronies have“helped” the administration re-write policyin order to maximize their profits. He sup-ports health savings accounts, which willprovide incentives for businesses to scaleback health benefits and shift even morecosts onto employees.

And the policies are working — for therich at least. Never before has there beensuch a concentration of wealth amongsuch a small number of people.

Over the past 30 years, the share ofincome controlled by the top 5 percentof households has increased from 16percent to 22 percent. The top 1 percentof all U.S. families controls about one-third of the nation’s wealth and the top5 percent controls 60 percent of thewealth, while the bottom 50 percent offamilies owns 5 percent. The wealthiest1 percent of the nation controls about53 percent of the stock market, or $2.3trillion in stock, according to a FederalReserve Board study. The net worth ofthe 2003 Forbes 400 — the wealthiest400 Americans — rose 10 percent from2002, to $955 billion.

CEO cash compensation, basesalary plus annual bonus, rose 7.2 per-

cent in 2003, according to Mercer Con-sulting, while 80 percent of all private sec-tor workers saw their real hourly earningsfall. Median total direct compensation forU.S. CEOs—salary, bonus and long-termincentives such as stock options—was$6.2 million in 2003, or about $120,000 aweek, according to Mercer. This is 232times the average weekly earnings for a


Attacking Labor

The Bush administration hasset its sights on the labormovement. One of Bush’s

first acts as president was to barproject labor agreements from fed-eral construction projects. Sincethen, Bush has imposed cumber-some and costly reporting require-ments on unions — that are unnec-essary. (If only Bush would placethose same requirements on corpo-rations, scandals like Enron andWorldCom could have been avoid-ed.) Bush is changing overtime reg-ulations so millions of Americanswill be excluded. His National LaborRelations Board is trying to elimi-nate card-check elections. If givenfour more years, his attacks on thelabor movement will continue.

ILLU

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ATIO

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U.S. production worker.To show their thanks for all his hard

work, corporate America is bankrollingBush’s re-election campaign and usingtheir media ownership to support hiscampaign. U.S. corporate executives arethe primary force behind the funding ofPresident Bush’s more than $220 millionre-election campaign war chest. He nowhas the largest campaign fund of any can-didate in U.S. history—almost double the

amount he raised for the 2000 elec-tion.

Paycheck to PaycheckFor the rest of America, it’s a

very different story. Morethan half of all employeesnow live from paycheckto paycheck, according toa survey by MetLife. TheCongressional BudgetOffice has found that the

income gap is the widest in75 years.

The typical family hasseen their income decline by

$1,462 under Bush. At the sametime, college tuition has gone up 35

percent, the highest rate on record andpricing an estimated 220,000 students outof four-year public universities; familyhealth premiums have gone up 49 percent,the highest rate in over three decades; andgas prices are up 24 percent since Presi-dent Bush took office.

The economy has lost 2.2 million pri-

vate-sector jobs under President Bush—the worst jobs record of any presidentsince Herbert Hoover during the GreatDepression. An average of 80,000 jobshave been lost each month Bush has beenin office. Yet Bush’s 2005 budget actuallyreduces funding for training and employ-ment programs across the board.

Americans who lose their jobs have ittougher than ever. The average durationof unemployment is now at its highestlevel in decades. There are 8.2 millionAmericans unemployed; 22.1 percent ofthem have been looking for work formore than six months—the highest pro-portion in over two decades.

Extended unemployment benefits areneeded to cover these workers, but Bushprovided no funding for extended benefitsin his 2005 budget. Federal education pro-grams are needed to reshape the pool ofavailable workers, but Bush has cut theeducation budget as a portion of GDP toits lowest level in years.

The reality is that the Bush administra-tion’s policies are part of the problem ofpersistent long-term unemployment formillions of Americans, not part of thesolution. With wages stagnating and jobsdisappearing, many Americans are facedwith hard choices. Rent or medicine. Debtor bankruptcy.

As pressures on income accumulate,working families have increased their bor-rowing. Most have increased their creditcard spending or taken advantage ofexceptionally low interest rates to pullcash out of their homes. With record lev-els of personal debt, many workers facefinancial meltdown as interest rates rise.

According to the Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics, 45 percent of employees had med-ical coverage through their employer in2003, down from 63 percent in 1993. ManyAmericans are now gambling with theirlives, choosing not to have health insur-ance because their employers don’t provideit and they can’t afford it on their own.

The Wal-Mart FactorAs you’ve heard over and over, manufac-turing jobs in this country are disappear-ing. These were the jobs that helped fami-


Getting Hosed at the TanksGas prices have gone up $0.56 per gallon, or 41 percent, under Bush.

Jan 2001: $1.41 per gallon May 2004: $1.99 per gallonSource: AAA Fuel Gauge Report 5/18/04

Increased Annual Annual GasCost of Gas Spending

Average household $593 $2,102

Average household w/ children $699 $2,476

Average household w/ teenagers $834 $2,955Source: Dept. of Energy

Impact on TruckersThere has been a $0.21 per gallon

increase in diesel costs since 2001. That translates to a

$6.3 billionincrease for the trucking industry.

The industry consumes

30 billion gallons a year. So a one-penny increase in

fuel costs leads to

$300 million in total costs.Source: American Trucking Association


The Job PictureEmployment Change 2003 Average

Low-Wage Job Increases Since March 2001 Hourly Wage

Employment Change 2003 AverageHigh-Wage Job Losses Since March 2001 Hourly Wage

lies climb into the middle class. They hadgood wages, health care and pensions.And many of them were union.

As these good jobs are outsourced toother countries, the jobs replacing themcome with lower pay and usually no ben-efits. This change is eroding the middleclass. Call it the Wal-Mart factor.

The largest employer in the country isnow Wal-Mart, with 1.4 million workers.Wal-Mart’s workers earn an average of$18,000 a year. Until Wal-Mart emerged asthe largest U.S. company three years ago,General Motors held that spot. A GeneralMotors assembler earns three times morethan a Wal-Mart worker and is covered bya union contract with benefits.

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart is not alone.Five of the 10 largest U.S. companies arelow-wage retailers. McDonald’s, thenation’s second largest employer, has

almost half a millionworkers.

These new jobs payan average of 21 per-cent less, or $9,000 ayear, than the onesthey are replacing.

While Bush andhis robber baron sup-porters trumpet theeconomic revival, it isour obligation as Team-sters to make sure the realstory gets told. Bush and hissupporters may have themoney, but working peoplehave the numbers. It is timeto start creating good jobshere in America. That all starts withadding Bush to the ranks of the unem-ployed.

Social assistance, including daycare 10.8 percent $10.97

Building material & garden supply stores 9.3 percent $12.90

Information services 8.1 percent $15.10

Membership associations & organizations 7.9 percent $14.68

Real estate 6.5 percent $13.97

Nursing and residential care facilities 6.2 percent $11.96

Food service and drinking establishments 5.9 percent $7.82

Printing & related support activities –15.9 percent $15.56

Air transportation –18.9 percent $16.16

Machinery manufacturing –19.0 percent $16.62

Computer & electronics manufacturing –27.2 percent $16.85

Primary metals manufacturing –22.2 percent $18.39

ISPs, search portals and data processing –21.3 percent $20.28

Telecommunications –21.3 percent $20.92

Source: Economy.com, BLS, USA Today

Wal-Mart is Driving Wages Down

Typical starting hourly salary for a Wal-Mart worker:

$6.50Average annual salary for

a Wal-Mart worker:

$18,000Wal-Mart’s Annual Sales in 2002:

$220 billion

ORGANIZINGORGANIZING

Sixty-five drivers at MCSI inRomulus, Michigan havejoined Local 299 through a

card-check agreement, contin-uing a winning freight orga-nizing trend for the Detroitlocal.

More than 90 percent of thedrivers signed authorizationcards, and the card-checkagreement was recognized inlate June.

The MCSI victory comeson the heels of a win at ProLo-gistics, a sister freight compa-

ny. ProLogistics hauls freightfor the Ford Motor Company,and MCSI hauls automotivesupplies from plant to plant.

Priority Number OneBoth freight victories haveoccurred since January, whenKevin Moore took over asPresident of Local 299.

“Since January, we’ve signedup about 150 new freight mem-bers,” Moore said.“GeneralPresident Hoffa has made orga-nizing the number one priority,

and we’re working hard toachieve that goal.”

International OrganizerMike McElmury and JointCouncil 43 Organizer Jim Par-rinello worked together on theMCSI campaign, along withbrothers Lou and Russ Dubke,who helped get their cowork-ers to sign cards.

Broken Promises“The company kept makingpromises, but they neveracted,” said Lou Dubke, whohas worked at the companysince June 2003. “Managementpromised raises, better work-ing conditions and betterequipment. It didn’t happen.Our top issue is better benefits.Our benefits now really stink.

We have no retirement planwhatsoever.”

Russ Dubke has worked forvarious Teamster companiessince 1982.

“I’m glad to be back withthe Teamsters. It’s nice toknow we have people fightingfor us,” Dubke said.

Moore said he will fight toget the workers a solid contract.

“The drivers at MCSI areseeking higher wages, betterhealth insurance, and a griev-ance procedure to bring themup to Michigan freight stan-dards. This will be accom-plished through a collectivebargaining agreement similar to the one negotiatedfor the ProLogistics drivers,”Moore said.

Driving to VictoryLocal 299 Wins Another Freight Campaign

L O C A L 7 0 7 , 5 3 1

Citywide Mobile Response

Agroup of 128 workers at a New York City ambu-lance company voted by

a 5-1 margin to join theTeamsters.

The workers at CitywideMobile Response in the Bronxdrive ambulances and vansthat take patients to medicalappointments.

Local 707 in Hempstead,New York assisted Local 531 ofYonkers, New York in the cam-paign. Local 707 also repre-sents workers in the freightindustry, at Roadway, YellowTransportation, New Penn andABF Freight System.

“Our freight workers havethe best contracts in the indus-try,” said Kevin McCaffrey,Local 707 President. “Ourmessage to the workers wasthis: ‘The Teamsters did it forthem, we’ll do it for you.’”

L O C A L 7 6 9

Amerijet International

With an 83 percent vote infavor of the union, 59pilots and flight engi-

neers at Amerijet Internationalare now members of Local 769in Miami. Amerijet Interna-tional is a Florida-based char-ter cargo operation.

“I’m very, very happy withthe vote,” said Jim Rawlins, aflight engineer who led theeffort to join the Teamsters.“This positive move benefitsall sides. We really appreciatewhat the Teamsters have donefor us.”

“This is the kind of messagethat loudly and clearly tells thecompany, ‘Enough is enough,’”said Steve Greenwell, Record-ing Secretary at Local 769, whoworked with the group ontheir organizing effort.

L O C A L 5 5 4

K & Z Distributing

In a recent victory for Local554 in Omaha, Nebraska,employees at K & Z Distrib-

uting, a beer distributor, votedto join the Teamsters by a 2-1margin. The 23 employeeswork as drivers, warehouse-men, over-the-road drivers,telephone salespeople, drafttechnicians and pre-sales stafffor the Lincoln, Nebraska beerdistributor.

“This is a great win for theTeamsters. Not only are werepresenting more Miller beerdistribution center workers,but we are also branching outbeyond the city of Omaha,”said Jim Sheard, Local 554 Sec-retary-Treasurer.

Once the workers at theLincoln plant saw how theircounterparts at the company’sOmaha location—who werealready Teamsters—had betterjob protection, earned higherwages, and enjoyed betterhealth care, they contactedLocal 554 for representation.

L O C A L 7 2 8

BP Amoco

Recently, 40 tank truck dri-vers at BP Amoco votedoverwhelmingly to join

Local 728 in Atlanta. Theworkers voted in favor ofTeamster representation bynearly a 4-1 margin.

“The workers were con-cerned that the company wasoutsourcing work and theywanted job protections,” saidEarl Parker, a business agentwith Local 728. “Some of themhave been with the companyfor more than 30 years. Theyshouldn’t have to worry abouttheir hours being cut andwork being outsourced. Now,these workers will be able to

have the respect on the jobthat they deserve.”

Local 728 worked in con-junction with the Internation-al’s Organizing Department toorganize the newest Teamsters.International OrganizersChuck Stiles, Rick Hernandezand Liz Williamson stepped inand worked on the campaignwith the local.

L O C A L 7 6 9

Palm Gardens

Sixty-nine Certified NursingAssistants (CNAs) joinedLocal 769 in Miami after

securing a card-check agree-ment with Palm Gardens, anursing home in Aventura,Florida.

The CNAs at Palm Gardenswere concerned about manyissues, including seniority,pension and job security, andsought out the TeamstersUnion for representation.

“We received contact fromthe employees two months agoand were able to convince theemployer to reach a neutrality/card-check agreement,” saidMike Scott, Local 769 President.“We will negotiate with thecompany to seek a strong con-tract for our newest members.”

L O C A L 7 0 5

Domestic Linen & Uniform

Forty-five laundry workers atDomestic Linen & Uniformin Kankakee, Illinois voted

to join Local 705 in Chicago bynearly a 2-1 margin.

“Management has beenunfair in the way it disciplinesworkers, and the workers don’thave a grievance system—theywant a fair system,” said JustinConway, an organizer withLocal 705 in Chicago.

“The workers are also con-cerned about serious pay dis-

crepancies between themselvesand their union counterpartswho work at the company’sother facilities,” Conway said.“The union workers are paidconsiderably more per hour.”

L O C A L 7 0

Portal Publications

By nearly a 3-1 margin,workers at Portal Publica-tions in Hayward, Califor-

nia overwhelmingly voted tojoin Local 70 in Oakland. The107 workers in the bargainingunit produce picture frames,posters and postcards for thecompany.

“These workers are seekingimproved health, welfare andretirement benefits,” said FelixMartinez, an InternationalProject Organizer.

“The workers also want areasonable probation period.Right now, employees canwork five to seven years astemporary employees withoutreceiving holidays, vacationtime or health and welfarebenefits,” Martinez said.

L O C A L 7 2 7

LifeSource

Sixty drivers at LifeSource, ablood testing and transfu-sion company, voted 39-17

to join Local 727 in Chicago.The victory was the result of ajoint organizing campaignbetween Local 727 and JointCouncil 25 in Chicago.

“The joint effort with Local727 makes sense because theywill be representing these newmembers,” said Rich Gierut, aJoint Council 25 organizerwho teamed with Local 727Business Agent Joe Belli toorganize the group. “Ourcooperative approach to orga-nizing has worked really wellfor everybody.”



I N T E R N A T I O N A L B R O T H E R H O O D O F T E A M S T E R S F I N A N C I A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 3

International Union’sFinancial ConditionContinues to Improve

T he fiscal year of 2003 was a year ofgrowth and progress for the Inter-national Union. The dues and per

capita tax restructuring adopted at the2002 Special Convention, along withmore efficient management, continued tobolster the financial health of our union.

I am pleased to confirm that you willsee a significant improvement over the2002 report. The improvement to thefinancial condition of the InternationalUnion can be attributed to the changesmade at the 2002 Special Conventionthat continue to have a positive affect onour current operations and the fact thatwe have adopted strict financial controlsunder our administration.

An example of the positive effectsfrom the Special Convention was thecreation of the Strike and DefenseFund. Through the end of 2003, $25.5million of the per capita tax had beenallocated to the fund, and $13 millionhad been disbursed—that includes $5million disbursed in connection withthe International Union’s support of theSouthern California grocery strikeinvolving the UFCW. As the Strike andDefense Fund grows, so does our collec-tive bargaining strength.

As previously stated, we expected thata stock market turnaround would have apositive effect on the year-end requiredadjustments to record the pension andbenefit obligations that had such a nega-tive effect on 2002’s reported net assets.Combine the stock market turnaroundwith other factors and 2003’s operatingincome of approximately $16 million andthe union recorded an increase in networth of more than $51 million.

The International Union continues torecord increased cash receipts. By the endof July 2002, the union recorded GeneralFund liquid assets of $40.8 million. The

total current General Fund liquid assetsare in excess of $95 million.

The International is constantlyexploring ways to increase our member-ship base through organizing activitiesand through mergers with other unions.An example is the recent merger with theBrotherhood of Locomotive Engineersand the proposed merger with the Broth-erhood of Maintenance of Way Employ-ees. These types of mergers not onlyincrease our membership base but, just asimportantly, increase our collective bar-gaining strength within the transporta-tion industry. It is expected that the pro-

posed merger with the Graphic Commu-nications International Union will bringthe same results within the communica-tions and graphic arts trade industries.

In closing, this great Union continuesto look toward the future and our finan-cial situation speaks to our commitmentto you, the member.

C. Thomas KeegelGeneral Secretary-Treasurer

International Brotherhood of Teamsters Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

DECEMBER 31, 2003TEAMSTER

STRIKE AND HOFFA DISASTER SUPPLEMENTALGENERAL DEFENSE SCHOLARSHIP RELIEF BENEFITS BENEFIT

FUND FUND FUND FUND TRUST TRUST ELIMINATIONS TOTALASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents $ 24,904,439 $ 24,113,152 $ 1,496,248 $ 83,920 $ 1,500,438 $ — $ — $ 52,098,197Cash collateral held for securities on loan 4,231,881 — — — — — — 4,231,881Receivables, net

Trade 12,662,335 — — 145 688,923 — — 13,351,403Grants and contributions 349,262 — — — — — — 349,262Accrued investment income 313,347 — — — — — — 313,347Due from/(to) related entities 9,246,711 (9,122,887) (75,461) 85 (87,654) — (9,806) (49,012)

Inventories 640,653 — 3,509 — — — — 644,162Prepaid expenses 561,422 — — — — — — 561,422Investments

First trust notes - affiliates 3,410,239 — — — — — — 3,410,239Other 35,823,011 — 1,368,347 — — — — 37,191,358

Property and equipment, net 11,257,485 — — — — — — 11,257,485Security deposits and other 84,555 — 27,084 — 110,000 — — 221,639

Total assets $ 103,485,340 $ 14,990,265 $ 2,819,727 $ 84,150 $ 2,211,707 $ — $ (9,806) $ 123,581,383

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETSLiabilities

Accounts payable and accrued expensesTrade $ 20,627,284 $ 59,367 $ 447,591 $ 75 $ 16,345 $ — $ (9,806) $ 21,140,856Securities purchases pending settlement 2,402,863 — — — — — — 2,402,863

Liability to return collateral for securities on loan 4,231,881 — — — — — — 4,231,881Accrued pension costs

Retirement and Family Protection Plan 26,358,038 — — — — — — 26,358,038Teamster Affiliates Pension Plan 23,915,933 — — — — — — 23,915,933

Accrued postretirement health care benefits cost 48,521,457 — — — — — — 48,521,457

Total liabilities 126,057,456 59,367 447,591 75 16,345 — (9,806) 126,571,028

Net AssetsUnrestricted (22,916,351) 14,930,898 2,372,136 83,537 2,195,362 — — (3,334,418)Temporarily restricted 344,235 — — 538 — — — 344,773

Total net assets (22,572,116) 14,930,898 2,372,136 84,075 2,195,362 — — (2,989,645)

Total liabilities and net assets $ 103,485,340 $ 14,990,265 $ 2,819,727 $ 84,150 $ 2,211,707 $ — $ (9,806) $ 123,581,383

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.



International Brotherhood of Teamsters Consolidated Statement of Activities

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003

STRIKE AND HOFFA SUPPLEMENTALDEFENSE SCHOLARSHIP DISASTER RELIEF BENEFITS BENEFIT

GENERAL FUND FUND FUND FUND TRUST TRUSTTEMPORARILY

UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED UNRESTRICTED UNRESTRICTED UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED UNRESTRICTED UNRESTRICTED ELIMINATIONS TOTALREVENUE AND OTHER SUPPORT

Per capita and initiation fees $ 118,607,359 $ — $ 18,093,137 $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ 136,700,496Grants and contributions 2,050,084 74,748 — — 57,850 538 — — — 2,183,220Special fund raising events — — — 1,674,168 — — — — — 1,674,168Affinity program 126,492 — — — — — 1,600,700 — — 1,727,192Investment income, net 6,200,661 — — 53,726 — — 5,953 — — 6,260,340Sales of supplies, net 691,295 — — 34,293 1,489 — — — — 727,077Gain on disposal of property

and equipment 4,353 — — — — — — — — 4,353Other 142,881 — — 15,000 — — — — — 157,881Net assets released from

restrictions 1,260,470 (1,260,470) — — — — — — — —Total revenue 129,083,595 (1,185,722) 18,093,137 1,777,187 59,339 538 1,606,653 — — 149,434,727

EXPENSESProgram services

Member servicesCommunications, magazine

and public relations 12,186,095 — — — — — — — — 12,186,095Financial assistance

to affiliates 251,328 — — — — — — — — 251,328Industry trade division

and relations 19,370,065 — — — — — — — — 19,370,065Out-of-work benefits 2,470,431 — 9,611,469 — — — — — — 12,081,900Research, education

and training 10,138,454 — — — — — — — — 10,138,454Retiree relations,

scholarships and other 220,526 — — 296,195 — — — — — 516,721Organizing 16,925,479 — — — — — — — — 16,925,479Other 10,307,983 — — — 118,520 — — — — 10,426,503

Affiliation fees 13,294,593 — — — — — — — — 13,294,593Government affairs 9,167,808 — — — — — — — — 9,167,808Legal and litigation 7,988,087 — — — — — — — — 7,988,087Civil RICO 6,848,610 — — — — — — — — 6,848,610Convention 3,200,005 — — — — — — — — 3,200,005

Total program services expenses 112,369,464 — 9,611,469 296,195 118,520 — — — — 122,395,648

Supporting servicesAdministration and governance 7,676,103 — 257,689 38,680 6,315 — 109,915 — — 8,088,702Fund raising — — — 630,503 — — — — — 630,503

Total expenses 120,045,567 — 9,869,158 965,378 124,835 — 109,915 — — 131,114,853

CHANGE IN NET ASSETS 9,038,028 (1,185,722) 8,223,979 811,809 (65,496) 538 1,496,738 — — 18,319,874Intrafund and interfund transfers (1,280,985) — 1,280,985 — — — 698,624 (1,616,470) — (917,846)Net assets

Beginning of year (65,790,959) 1,529,957 5,425,934 1,560,327 149,033 — — 1,616,470 — (55,509,238)Teamster Affiliates

Pension Plan 35,117,565 — — — — — — — — 35,117,565End of year $ (22,916,351) $ 344,235 $ 14,930,898 $ 2,372,136 $ 83,537 $ 538 $ 2,195,362 $ — $ — $ (2,989,645)




International Brotherhood of Teamsters Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003TEAMSTER

SRIKE AND HOFFA DISASTER SUPPLEMENTALGENERAL DEFENSE SCHOLARSHIP RELIEF BENEFITS BENEFITS

FUND FUND FUND FUND TRUST TRUST TOTAL

CASH FLOWS PROVIDED BY (USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIESCash received from

Affiliated conferences, joint councils, and local unions $ 119,688,811 $ 18,093,137 $ — $ — $ — $ — $ 137,781,948Investment income 2,144,203 — 64,532 — 5,953 — 2,214,688Other revenue and reimbursements (6,088,440) 10,403,872 1,783,133 59,647 1,588,055 561,551 8,307,818

Net cash received 115,744,574 28,497,009 1,847,665 59,647 1,594,008 561,551 148,304,454

Cash disbursed toService providers, suppliers, vendors and others (87,311,296) — (852,390) (124,049) (93,570) (1,774,207) (90,155,512)AFL-CIO and other labor organizations (8,502,659) — — — — — (8,502,659)Affiliated conferences, joint councils and local unions (5,004,661) — — — — — (5,004,661)Members for benefits under Strike Benefit

Assistance Program (22,900) (9,809,791) — — — — (9,832,691)Net cash used (100,841,516) (9,809,791) (852,390) (124,049) (93,570) (1,774,207) (113,495,523)

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 14,903,058 18,687,218 995,275 (64,402) 1,500,438 (1,212,656) 34,808,931

CASH FLOWS PROVIDED BY (USED IN) INVESTING ACTIVITIESProceeds from sale or redemption of investments 130,762,406 — 1,123,447 — — — 131,885,853Purchase of investments (135,457,490) — (1,404,281) — — — (136,861,771)Purchase of fixed assets (3,299,408) — — — — — (3,299,408)Proceeds from sale of fixed assets 4,353 — — — — — 4,353Principal payments of loans (565,000) — — — — — (565,000)Payment of loans by affiliates 187,080 — — — — — 187,080Loans to affiliates (405,512) — — — — — (405,512)

Net cash used in investing activities (8,773,571) — (280,834) — — — (9,054,405)Net increase (decrease) in cash 6,129,487 18,687,218 714,441 (64,402) 1,500,438 (1,212,656) 25,754,526

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTSBeginning of year 18,774,952 5,425,934 781,807 148,322 — 1,212,656 26,343,671

End of year $ 24,904,439 $ 24,113,152 $ 1,496,248 $ 83,920 $ 1,500,438 $ — $ 52,098,197

RECONCILIATION OF CHANGE IN NET ASSETS TO NET CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Change in net assets $ 42,969,871 $ 8,223,979 $ 811,809 $ (64,958) 1,496,738 $ — $ 53,437,439Net (appreciation)/depreciation of investments (4,215,222) — 10,806 — — — (4,204,416)Gain on disposal of fixed assets (4,353) — — — — — (4,353)Depreciation expense 1,360,898 — — — — — 1,360,898Intrafund and interfund transfers (1,280,985) 1,280,985 — — 698,624 (1,616,470) (917,846)(Increase) decrease in assets

Receivables 995,726 — 1,356 (230) (688,923) 554,620 862,549Inventories (244,241) — 2,502 711 — — (241,028)Prepaid expenses 129,564 — — — (110,000) — 19,564Security deposits and other 29,096 — (2,145) — — 6,931 33,882Due from related party (9,204,462) 9,122,887 75,461 — 87,654 — 81,540

Increase (decrease) in liabilitiesAccounts payable and accrued expenses 9,507,764 59,367 95,486 75 16,345 (157,737) 9,521,300Accrued pension costs (31,079,957) — — — — — (31,079,957)Accrued postretirement health care benefits cost 5,939,359 — — — — — 5,939,359

NET CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES $ 14,903,058 $ 18,687,218 $ 995,275 $ (64,402) $ 1,500,438 $ (1,212,656) $ 34,808,931




NOTE 1. NATURE OF OPERATIONSThe International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the International Union) is one of the largestlabor unions in North America with a membership representing a variety of industriesand trades. The primary source of revenue is per capita taxes paid by local unions.

NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIESMETHOD OF ACCOUNTING - The financial statements have been prepared using theaccrual basis of accounting in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accountingprinciples.

CONSOLIDATION AND FUND ACCOUNTING - The consolidated financial statements includethe accounts and activities of the International Union and related entities under theInternational Union’s control. For purposes of presentation in the consolidated financialstatements and in accordance with requirements set forth in its Constitution, the Interna-tional Union reports its accounts and activities in the following funds:

GENERAL FUND - Provides for the ongoing activities of the International Union not specifi-cally carried out by any other fund. The General Fund also includes the consolidatedaccounts of the Teamsters National Headquarters Building Corporation, a for-profit cor-poration formed to be a title holding corporation for the International Union’s headquar-ters building. All significant intercompany account balances have been eliminated inconsolidation. Included in the General Fund is the Public Services Assistance Fund.This fund provides assistance to public employees whose contracts do not entitle themto strike benefits. Also included in the General Fund are funds designated for organizingactivities. Ten percent of per capita tax received by the International Union, excludingthe amount received for members in Teamsters Canada, is designated for organizingactivities.

STRIKE AND DEFENSE FUND - The Strike and Defense Fund was created in 2002 to supportmembers engaged in collective action to obtain recognition, obtain and/or protectwages and benefits through the negotiation of collective agreements, enforce collectivebargaining agreements, and/or members who have been locked out by their employers.The Strike and Defense Fund replaced the Defense Fund, which was terminated during2002. The assets and liabilities of the Defense Fund were assumed by the General Fund.

Fifteen percent of per capita tax received by the International Union, excluding theamount received for members in Teamsters Canada and members employed in the pub-lic sector who do not have the legal right to strike, shall be transferred to the Strike andDefense Fund.

HOFFA SCHOLARSHIP FUND - The Hoffa Scholarship Fund represents the accounts andactivities of the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc., a related organizationunder the International Union’s control. The Fund was incorporated in November 1999and began operations in January 2000 for the purpose of awarding scholarships todependents of union members in order to enable the recipients to attend accreditedpost-secondary educational institutions. The funding for scholarships is provided by vol-untary contributions to the Fund and the net proceeds of annual fund raising events. Thenumber of recipients and the amount of the scholarship award or awards are deter-mined by the directors. As a form of financial assistance to the Hoffa Scholarship Fundthe International Union provides facilities and administrative, accounting and clericalassistance.

TEAMSTER DISASTER RELIEF FUND - The Teamster Disaster Relief Fund represents theaccounts and activities of the Teamster Disaster Relief Fund, a related organizationunder the International Union’s control. The Fund was incorporated in September 1992and began operations in 1992 for the purpose of providing monetary and non-monetaryrelief directly or indirectly to members or their beneficiaries who are victims of hurri-cane, flood, earthquake, fire, accident or other disaster. Funding is provided by voluntarycontributions and the net proceeds of fund raising activities. The directors determine thenumber of recipients and the amount of aid. As a form of financial assistance to the Dis-aster Relief Fund, the International Union provides facilities and administrative, account-ing and clerical assistance.

SUPPLEMENTAL BENEFITS TRUST - The Supplemental Benefits Trust (the Trust) representsthe accounts and activities of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters SupplementalBenefits Trust, a financially inter-related organization under the International Union’scontrol. The Trust was established on January 1, 2003 to serve as a vehicle for the coor-dination of several credit card, insurance and other programs offered to members of theInternational Union and their families by third party vendors. The Trust is funded primari-ly through royalty payments and support service fees payable in accordance with theprovisions of various agreements between the International Union and third party ven-dors which have been assigned by the International Union to the Trust.

BENEFIT TRUST - The Benefit Trust represents the accounts and activities of the Interna-tional Brotherhood of Teamsters Benefit Trust, a financially inter-related organization

under the International Union’s control. The Trust was established in 2001 to serve as avehicle for the coordination and funding of numerous health and welfare programs forthe benefit of members and their families. The Trust is funded through insurance incomederived from various agreements with outside vendors.

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS - Cash and cash equivalents consist of amounts held indemand deposit and money market accounts.

INVENTORY - The International Union maintains an inventory of supplies for resale tolocal unions and individual members. Inventory is stated at cost which approximates theselling price of items held.

INVESTMENTS - Investments are reported at their aggregate fair value. The fair value ofinvestments in common and preferred stocks, corporate bonds, mutual funds, U.S. Gov-ernment and Government Agency securities are determined by quoted market prices.Investments in certificates of deposit are valued at cost plus accrued interest, whichapproximates fair value.

PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT - Property and Equipment are carried at cost. Major addi-tions are capitalized while replacements and repairs that do not improve or extend thelives of the respective assets are expensed. Depreciation and amortization expense iscomputed using the straight line method over the following estimated useful lives of theassets:

Building and improvements..............................................................................................39 yearsData processing equipment ...............................................................................................5 yearsOffice equipment and capitalized software..............................................................3-10 yearsFurniture and fixtures .........................................................................................................10 yearsAutomobiles ............................................................................................................................5 years

CANADIAN CURRENCY - The International Union maintains checking and savingsaccounts in Canada as well as the United States. For financial statement purposes, allassets are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.

Canadian currencies included in the consolidated statement of financial position aretranslated at the exchange rates in effect on the last day of the year. Unrealized increas-es and decreases due to fluctuations in exchange rates are included in the consolidatedstatement of activities.

Funds received and disbursed in Canada are stated in U.S. dollars based on averageexchange rate in effect during the year when reported in the revenue and expensesincluded in the consolidated statement of activities.

USE OF ESTIMATES IN THE PREPARATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - The preparation offinancial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principlesrequires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reportedamounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at thedate of the financial statements and reported amounts of revenues and expenses duringthe reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

FINANCIAL PRESENTATION - The International Union’s financial statements present its netassets, revenues, expenses, gains and losses, classified between unrestricted, tem-porarily restricted, and permanently restricted based on the existence or absence ofdonor-imposed restrictions.

NOTE 3. TAX STATUSThe International Union is exempt from federal income taxes under Section 501(c)(5) ofthe Internal Revenue Code, except on any income derived from activities unrelated to itsexempt purpose.

Income taxes on net earnings are payable by the Teamsters National HeadquartersBuilding Corporation pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. All operating costs of theCorporation are fully reimbursed by the International Union resulting in no net income orloss. Accordingly, no provision has been made for federal income taxes.

NOTE 4. TRADE RECEIVABLESTrade receivables consist of the following at December 31, 2003:

Per capita and initiation fees $ 11,215,572Unsecured notes receivable 1,020,544Unsecured loans receivable 750,000Affinity program 688,923Other 434,670

14,109,709Less allowance for doubtful accounts ( 758,306)

$ 13,351,403



International Brotherhood of Teamsters Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

DECEMBER 31, 2003

NOTE 5. UNINSURED CASH BALANCES AND INVESTMENTCONCENTRATIONS

The International Union maintains cash equivalents with various financial institutions atDecember 31, 2003 totaling $47,811,520 which are not insured by the Federal DepositInsurance Corporation.

The International Union also maintains cash at a Canadian financial institution,which is insured up to $60,000. As of December 31, 2003, the International Union’s cashin the Canadian financial institution in excess of insurance coverage totaled approxi-mately $2,570,000 in Canadian dollars ($1,974,000 U.S. Dollars).

The Supplemental Benefits Trust maintains its cash account primarily with onefinancial institution. The total cash balance is insured by the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation up to $100,000. The Supplemental Benefits Trust has a cash balance ondeposit at December 31, 2003 that exceeds the balance of FDIC insurance coverage byapproximately $1,400,000.

Cash and investments held by the Hoffa Scholarship Fund include cash, cash equiv-alents and certificates of deposit with the same financial institution that exceed FDICinsurance coverage by approximately $1,744,000.

NOTE 6. GRANTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVABLEAmounts due under grant agreements with the U.S. Government totaled $349,262 andare due to be received within one year.

NOTE 7. INVESTMENTS The fair value and cost of investments held by the International Union at December 31,2003 is summarized below:

NET FAIRFAIR VALUE VALUE OF

OF SECURITIES SECURITIESFAIR VALUE COST ON LOAN ON HAND

Common stock $ 17,344,335 $ 16,195,951 $ ( 572,079) $ 16,772,256Preferred stock 246,560 235,134 — 246,560Corporate bonds 11,093,430 10,789,058 (1,902,335) 9,191,095Government agency

securities 4,360,072 4,314,338 ( 201,349) 4,158,723U.S. Treasury securities 2,778,614 2,781,077 (1,809,914) 968,700

$ 35,823,011 $ 34,315,558 $ (4,485,677) $ 31,337,334

Investment income for the year ended December 31, 2003 consisted of the following:HOFFA SUPPLEMENTAL

GENERAL SCHOLARSHIP BENEFITSFUND FUND TRUST TOTAL

Interest and dividends $ 1,783,804 $ 75,274 $ 5,953 $ 1,865,031Net realized and

unrealized gain (loss)on investments 4,662,773 ( 21,548) — 4,641,225

Investment expenses ( 245,916) — — ( 245,916)$ 6,200,661 $ 53,726 $ 5,953 $ 6,260,340

NOTE 8. INVESTMENTS IN FIRST TRUST NOTESThe International Union provided loans to affiliates for purchase or development of realestate. These loans are secured by the real estate and are carried at their unpaid princi-pal balance of $3,410,239. No allowance for uncollectible accounts was deemed neces-sary as of December 31, 2003.

NOTE 9. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENTProperty and equipment held by the International Union consists of the following as ofDecember 31, 2003:

Data processing equipment $ 2,459,214Headquarters building 13,687,326Equipment 3,804,031Furniture and fixtures 1,481,736Land - headquarters 794,117Leasehold improvements 30,954Automobiles 139,434Computer software 2,467,596Working in process 2,451,734

27,316,142Less accumulated depreciation (16,058,657)

Net property and equipment $ 11,257,485

Depreciation expense for the year ended December 31, 2003 was $1,360,898.

NOTE 10. THE TEAMSTER AFFILIATES PENSION PLANThe Teamster Affiliates Pension Plan (the “Plan”) provides defined benefits to eligibleofficers and employees of the International Union’s affiliates. The International Brother-hood of Teamsters reports in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Stan-dards No. 87, (SFAS No. 87) “Employer’s Accounting for Pensions.” Contributions to thePlan are made by the International Union based on the advice of consulting actuaries.

Effective October 31, 1994, the General Executive Board elected to curtail the Planeffective December 31, 1994, thus freezing benefits for most participants at the thenaccumulated level. Effective January 1, 1995, the Fund was amended to allow the affili-ates to contribute on behalf of their employees. For those participants whose localunions continued to contribute, benefits were not frozen until December 31, 2001.

Effective as of January 1, 2002, no additional retirement or other benefit will beaccrued under this Plan by any participant of the Plan. Any participation agreementwhich may have been submitted by an affiliate to, and accepted by, the Trustees of thisPlan at any time on or after January 1, 1995 shall be terminated effective as of January 1,2002 and no contribution shall be accepted by the Trustees from an affiliate on behalf ofa participant employed by that affiliate with respect to any period of time beginning on orafter January 1, 2002.

No individual who is initially employed by an affiliate on or after January 1, 2002 shallbe eligible to become a participant of the Plan. No compensation that is received by aparticipant of the Plan with respect to any period of time beginning on or after January 1,2002 shall be considered to be the earnings of that participant for purposes of the Plan.Any periods of credited service and/or vesting service earned by a participant on or afterJanuary 1, 2002 shall continue to be used to determine the eligibility of that participant toreceive a retirement or other benefit under this Plan but shall not be used to determinethe amount of any retirement or other benefit which that participant may otherwise beentitled to receive under this Plan.

In computing net periodic pension costs as of January 1, 2003 to be recognized forthe year ended December 31, 2003, the consulting actuary used the following assump-tions:

Discount rate ........................................................................................................................6.75%Average rate of compensation increases ...................................................................N/AExpected return on plan assets.......................................................................................8.00

The information on benefit costs for the year 2003, as determined by the actuary, is as follows:

Benefit cost $ (228,042)Employer contributions —Plan participants’ contributions —Benefits paid 49,407,195

In computing the funded status of the Plan as of December 31, 2003, the consulting actuary used the following assumptions:

Discount rate ........................................................................................................................6.25%Expected return on plan assets.......................................................................................8.00

The funded status of the Plan as of December 31, 2003, as determined by the actuary, isas follows:

Benefit obligation $ (565,637,318)Fair value of plan assets 541,721,385

Funded status $ ( 23,915,933)

NOTE 11. RETIREMENT AND FAMILY PROTECTION PLANThe International Union is the sponsor of the Retirement and Family Protection Plan (the“Plan”), a defined benefit plan that covers the employees of the International Union andthe Teamsters National Headquarters Building Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary).Substantially all of the employees participate in the Plan. Benefits provided by this Planare determined based on years of service, level of compensation, and date of employ-ment. The International Union pays the full cost of the Plan and annually determines theamount, if any, to contribute to the Retirement and Family Protection Plan based on theadvice of consulting actuaries.

In computing net periodic pension costs as of January 1, 2003 to be recognized for theyear ended December 31, 2003, the consulting actuary used the following assumptions:

Discount rate ........................................................................................................................6.75%Expected return on plan assets.......................................................................................8.00

The information on benefit cost for the year 2003, as determined by the actuary, is as follows:

Benefit cost $ 9,019,220Employer contributions 4,981,612Plan participants’ contributions —Benefits paid 4,051,909



NOTE 11. RETIREMENT AND FAMILY PROTECTION PLAN (continued)In computing the funded status of the Plan as of December 31, 2003, the consultingactuary used the following assumptions:

Discount rate ........................................................................................................................6.25%Average rate of compensation increases....................................................................5.50Expected return on plan assets.......................................................................................8.00

The funded status of the Plan as of December 31, 2003, as determined by the actuary, isas follows:

Benefit obligation $ (80,214,231)Fair value of plan assets 41,931,491

Funded status $ (38,282,740)

NOTE 12. TEAMSTERS NATIONAL 401(K) SAVINGS PLANIn 1996, the International Union entered into a trust agreement to participate in the Team-sters National 401(k) Savings Plan. Beginning in April 1997, employees of the Internation-al Union who have completed 30 days of service may contribute to the plan through pay-roll deductions. Participants may contribute up to 25% of their pretax salaries up to themaximum prescribed by law and an additional 5% of after-tax salaries. The InternationalUnion, as a Plan sponsor, does not contribute to the plan and assumes no liability for thePlan’s administrative costs.

NOTE 13. RELATED ENTITIESThe International Union has five related entities not included in the consolidation, whichare a political and education fund (a separate, segregated fund of the InternationalUnion), two defined benefit pension plans, a voluntary employee benefits trust and the401(k) Savings Plan. These entities, as well as the Supplemental Benefits Trust, Team-ster Disaster Relief Fund and James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc., which areincluded in the consolidated financial statements, and amounts due to (from) the Interna-tional Union at December 31, 2003 are as follows:

Teamster Disaster Relief Fund $ ( 85)Committee for Democratic Republican Independent

Voter Education (DRIVE) 18,675Teamster Affiliates Pension Plan 28,212Retirement and Family Protection Plan 2,125James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc. 75,461

Total $ 124,388

The International Union absorbs the administrative costs applicable to the operations ofthese related entities. All but DRIVE, Teamster Disaster Relief Fund and James R. HoffaMemorial Scholarship Fund reimburse the International Union for those administrativecosts through cost sharing arrangements.

NOTE 14. POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITSThe International Union also provides certain health and life insurance benefits forretired employees meeting the requirements of a normal pension or becoming disabledand receiving a disability pension. Spouses and dependent children of these retirees arealso eligible to participate. In addition, certain spouses and dependent children ofdeceased active employees are eligible to participate in the plan.

In 1992, the International Union adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Stan-dards No. 106, “Employer’s Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pen-sions.” Under Statement No. 106, the cost of postretirement benefits other than pen-sions must be recognized on an accrual basis as employees perform services to earnthe benefits. The International Union previously expensed the cost of these benefits asclaims were incurred. Based on transition provisions of Statement No. 106, the accumu-lated postretirement benefit obligation at the date of adoption may be recognized as thecumulative effect of an accounting change in the period of the adoption or may bedelayed and amortized over a period of up to 20 years as a component of net periodicpostretirement benefit cost. The International Union elected to amortize the initial post-retirement benefit obligation of $32,188,200 (adjusted for plan amendments) over a periodof 20 years.

In computing the net periodic postretirement costs for the year ended December 31,2003 the consulting actuary used a discount rate of 6.75%.

The net periodic postretirement benefits cost for the plan for the year ended Decem-ber 31, 2003 as determined by the actuary, is as follows:

Service cost $ 2,531,062Interest cost 3,876,058Amortization of transition obligation 1,572,257

Postretirement healthcare benefits cost $ 7,979,377

In computing the funded status of the Plan as of December 31, 2003 the consulting actu-ary used the following assumptions:

Assumptions used to value the accumulatedpostretirement benefit obligations:

Discount rate.............................................................................................................. 6.25%Assumed health care cost trend rate for the

coming year:Medical ...............................................................................................................12.00Prescription drug..............................................................................................15.00Dental................................................................................................................... 7.00Administrative.................................................................................................... 4.00Rate that the cost trend gradually declined to ......................................... 5.00

Year that the rate reaches the rate that it isassumed to remain at:

Medical ................................................................................................................ 2011Prescription drug............................................................................................... 2014Dental.................................................................................................................... 2008Administrative..................................................................................................... 2003

The funded status of the plan as of December 31, 2003 as determined by the actuary, isas follows:

Accumulated postretirement benefit obligation $ 67,650,093Plan assets at fair value —

Funded status $ (67,650,093)

Accrued postretirement healthcare benefits costs $ (48,521,457)

Benefits paid during 2003 were $2,040,018.

NOTE 15. ACCRUED LEAVEIn compliance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 43,“Accounting for Compensated Absences,” the International Union has established a lia-bility of $2,104,662 representing accumulated future absences of its employees throughthe year ended December 31, 2003, which is included under “accounts payable andaccrued expenses.”

NOTE 16. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIESThe International Union is involved in litigation arising in the normal course of operations. Some of the litigation involves matters common to any organization ofcomparable size, including personnel, employment, contract, and trademark issues.None of this litigation involves any substantial potential liability on the part of theInternational Union.

Other litigation relates to the International Union’s status as a labor organization.Much of this latter litigation is strategic, pursued by employers intent on pressuring theInternational Union with respect to its conduct as a bargaining representative pursuingbetter wages, hours and working conditions for the members of the International Unionand its affiliates.

None of the other litigation in this category involves any substantial liability on thepart of the International Union. Accordingly, no provision for any liability that may resultupon final adjudication of any pending litigation has been made in the accompanyingfinancial statements.

NOTE 17. AFFINITY PROGRAMThe International Union has entered into a multi-year License Agreement and a ListUse Agreement with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of IndustrialOrganizations (AFL-CIO) under which the AFL-CIO has obtained rights to use certainintangible property belonging to the International Union, including the right to use thename, logo, trademarks and membership lists of the Union, in exchange for specifiedroyalty payments to be paid to the International Union by the AFL-CIO. In turn, the AFL-CIO has sub-licensed the right to use the International Union’s intangible property toHousehold Bank of Nevada, N.A. (Household) for use by the bank in connection withits marketing of credit card and certain other financial products to members of theInternational Union.

On February 22, 1999, the terms of the AFL-CIO’s License and List Use Agreementswith Household were amended to provide for adjustments to the amounts of annualminimum royalty payments payable to the AFL-CIO during program years 3 through 5,annual minimum royalty payments for each subsequent program year, and adjust-ments to the set annual royalty rates applicable to program years 3 through 12. TheAFL-CIO splits the royalty payments it receives with participating unions, including theInternational Union, based on each participating union’s average revolving balances inthe credit card program.

Under the original agreements, if cumulative royalty earnings (calculated based onthe set annual royalty rates and the average revolving balances of union membersenrolled in the program) were less than the cumulative royalty payments or advancesreceived by the AFL-CIO, then that excess amount would be due to Household at the end



of the term of the agreements. Similarly, if the advances paid to the International Unionby the AFL-CIO exceeded the cumulative earnings attributed to the International Union,then that amount would be due to the AFL-CIO at the end of the term of the agreements.

The amended agreements provide that if such a cumulative “overpayment” remainsat the end of program year 12, the AFL-CIO has an option to extend the term of the agree-ment for three additional one-year periods and receive annual minimum royalty pay-ments in each of those years. If there is still a cumulative “overpayment” at the end ofthe three-year extension, the AFL-CIO will not be obligated to repay such amount toHousehold.

The amended agreements also provide that the International Union will be obligatedto repay any cumulative overpayment to the AFL-CIO if the agreements are terminatedprior to the twelfth year of the contract or if the International Union chooses not toextend the term of the agreements for the additional three years referred to above.Accordingly, revenue is recognized when royalty payments are received.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters assigned any and all rights and interestit may have related to the License and List Use Agreements with AFL-CIO to the Trusteesof the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Supplemental Benefits Trust.

NOTE 18. LEASESThe International Union leases office equipment, office space, and residential space.Monthly lease and maintenance payments are allocated to program expenses in thestatement of activities. Lease obligations under non-cancelable operating leases are asfollows:

Year ending December 31, 2004 $ 579,8422005 528,8102006 463,4012007 417,3572008 330,698Total 2,320,108

Thereafter 88,326

$ 2,408,434

Rental payments totaled $1,084,054 for the year ended December 31, 2003.

NOTE 19. PUBLIC SERVICES ASSISTANCE FUNDThe International Union established the Public Employees Assistance Fund to be main-tained as part of the International Union’s General Fund in 1977 and the Fund wasrenamed as the Public Services Assistance Fund through action at the 2001 Internationalconvention. The International Union allocates one cent of the monthly per capita tax itreceives to the Fund. Expenditures from the Fund are made for day-to-day activities ofthe Public Services Division and for assistance to affiliates for organizing employees.

NOTE 20. SECURITIES LENDING PROGRAMThe Trustees of the International Union have entered into an agreement with the bankthat acts as custodian for the International Union’s investments which authorizes thebank to lend securities held in the International Union’s accounts to third parties.

The International Union receives 70% of the net revenue derived from the securitieslending activities, and the bank receives the remainder of the net revenue. Interestreported in the statement of activities includes $6,632 earned by the International Unionduring the year ended December 31, 2003 in connection with the securities lending pro-gram.

Under this program, the bank must obtain collateral from the borrower in the form ofcash, letters of credit issued by an entity other than the borrower, or acceptable securi-ties. Both the collateral and the securities loaned are marked-to-market on a daily basisso that all loaned securities are fully collateralized at all times. In the event that theloaned securities are not returned by the borrower, the bank will, at its own expense,either replace the loaned securities or, if unable to purchase those securities on theopen market, credit the International Union’s accounts with cash equal to the fair valueof the loaned securities.

Although the International Union’s securities lending activities are collateralized asdescribed above, and although the terms of the securities lending agreement with thecustodial bank require the bank to comply with government rules and regulations relatedto the lending of securities, the securities lending program involves both market andcredit risk. In this context, market risk refers to the possibility that the borrower of secu-rities will be unable to collateralize the loan upon a sudden material change in the fairvalue of the loaned securities or the collateral, or that the bank’s investment of cash col-lateral received from the borrowers of the International Union’s securities may be sub-ject to unfavorable market fluctuations. Credit risk refers to the possibility that counter-parties involved in the securities lending program may fail to perform in accordance withthe terms of their contracts. To date, the International Union has experienced no lossesin connection with the securities lending program. At December 31, 2003, the fair valueof securities on loan was $4,458,677.

NOTE 21. RESTRICTIONS ON NET ASSETSTemporarily restricted net assets in the General Fund as of December 31, 2003 resultfrom contributions from local union members, joint councils and other internationalunions for the renovation of the International headquarters building. The net assets arereleased when these expenses are incurred. Related net assets released from donorrestrictions during 2003 were $1,260,470. Temporarily restricted net assets for buildingrenovations were $344,235 at December 31, 2003.

NOTE 22. ORGANIZING ACTIVITIESAs a result of actions taken at the 2002 Special Convention, ten percent of the annual percapita tax received by the International Union, exclusive of per capita tax received forCanadian members, is allocated for organizing activities.

Organizing activities are as follows:Per capita tax revenue $ 12,688,522Expenses 9,868,975Increase in net assets 2,819,547Net assets at beginning of year 2,958,871

Net assets at end of year $ 5,778,418

NOTE 23. BENEFIT TRUSTOn January 1, 2003, the net assets of the Benefit Trust were transferred to the Supple-mental Benefits Trust and the Voluntary Employee Benefits Trust. The SupplementalBenefits Trust is a financially inter-related organization of the International and has beenconsolidated for financial statement purposes. The Voluntary Employee Benefits Trust isan employee benefit plan subject to the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act(ERISA) and therefore, is not consolidated for financial statement purposes.



I R B R E P O R T 7 9

REPORT 79 TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONALBROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

FROM: Independent Review BoardBenjamin R. Civiletti Joseph E. diGenovaWilliam H. Webster

DATED: July 13, 2004

I. INTRODUCTIONThis is the Independent Review Board’s (“IRB”) Seven-

ty-ninth Report to you on its activities conducted pur-suant to the Consent Order. In this Report, we will discussmatters that have currently come before us, including twonew Investigative Reports, three Agreements obtainedprior to IRB recommending charges and the current statusof pending charges about which we have previouslyinformed you.

II. NEW INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS

A. MARCO MINICHINO - Local 408, Union, New JerseyOn July 13, 2004, the IRB issued an Investigative

Report to members of the Local 408 Executive Board con-cerning member Marco Minichino. The report recom-mended that Mr. Minichino be charged with bringingreproach upon the IBT by refusing to appear for his sched-uled in-person sworn examination. The Executive Boardwas given 90 days to file the charge, hold a hearing andforward a final written report to the IRB.

B. ANTHONY RUMORE - Local 812, Scarsdale,New YorkOn May 4, 2004, the IRB issued an Investigative

Report to General President Hoffa concerning Local 812President Anthony Rumore. The Report recommendedthat Mr. Rumore be charged with bringing reproach uponthe IBT, violating his fiduciary duties to the Local and itsmembers, and embezzling and converting Local assets tohis own use and the use of others by engaging in a long-standing practice of directing Local 812 officers, businessagents and employees to perform personal services for himand his family. Secondly, the Report recommended thatMr. Rumore be charged with violating the March 14,1989 Consent Order and disrupting and interfering with

the Local’s legal obligations to comply with the ConsentOrder when he caused officers and business agents to havecontact with his father, Louis Rumore, a prohibited personas defined in Paragraph E(10) of the Consent Order.Lastly, the Report recommended that he be charged withbringing reproach upon the IBT by ordering members’arbitration hearings to be canceled because he was dissat-isfied with the contributions Local employees had collect-ed from members for the Anthony Rumore Legal ExpenseTrust. This Fund was established to pay his legal bills.

The IBT filed the charges and appointed a hearingpanel. The Article XIX hearing panel held a hearing onJuly 9, 2004.

III. MEMBERS ACTION PRIOR TO IRB PROPOSED CHARGES

Before formal charges could be recommended by theIRB to the IBT, Frank Lunati, Louis Lunati and SamuelPicone, members of Local 813 in Long Island City, NewYork, submitted Agreements to the IRB. The ChiefInvestigator was prepared to issue charges alleging thatFrank and Louis Lunati and Samuel Picone, among otherthings, had questionable memberships in Local 813, wereemployers, and employed bargaining unit employees whoare not Local 813 members. In the Agreements, while notadmitting or denying wrongdoing, each agreed to perma-nently resign from the IBT and Local 813. The IRB foundthe Agreements served to resolve the matter and forward-ed them to United States District Judge Preska for review.

IV. STATUS OF PREVIOUS IRB CHARGES

A. ANTHONY RUMORE - Joint Council 16, New York CityWe have previously informed you that Joint Council 16

President Anthony Rumore allegedly brought reproachupon the IBT by failing to investigate whether Barry Fein-stein, the former President of Local 237 and Joint Council16, was a prohibited person. The General ExecutiveBoard found Mr. Rumore guilty of the charge and orderedthat he serve a two-month suspension from all IBT-affiliat-ed union officer or employee positions, provide a letter toall officers of Joint Council 16 and the principal officers ofall constituent locals that corrects mistaken informationprovided in a prior legal opinion letter, and reimburseJoint Council 16 for the cost of the legal opinion obtainedin an attempt to support him personally. The IRB notifiedcounsel for Mr. Rumore that it found the decision andsanctions of the General Executive Board not to be inade-


I R B R E P O R T 7 9

quate. After counsel for Mr. Rumore advised the IRB thathe wished to obtain District Court review of the disciplineimposed, the IRB forwarded application documents to theDistrict Court. Counsel for Mr. Rumore then made anapplication to the District Court.

On March 29, 2004, Judge Preska issued an order thatthe IRB’s determination, finding that the IBT decision asmodified by the IBT on March 21, 2003, was not inade-quate, was hereby made an Order of the District Court.

B. ANTHONY FURINO - Local 807, Long IslandCity, New YorkIn the last issue of the Teamster magazine we informed

you that the IRB issued an Investigative Report to theMembers of Local 807 Executive Board concerning Mem-ber Anthony Furino. The Report recommended that Mr.Furino be charged with bringing reproach upon the IBTby refusing to answer questions during his in-personsworn examination. Charges were filed and Local 807’sTrial Board conducted a hearing on May 26, 2004. TheBoard found Mr. Furino guilty as charged. By its decisionof June 13, 2004, the Board permanently barred him fromLocal 807 and the IBT. On July 13, 2004, the IRB notifiedthe Local 807 Executive Board that the decision was notinadequate.

C. LOCAL 901 - San Juan, Puerto RicoWe have previously informed you that the IRB recom-

mended that General President Hoffa place Local 901 inTrusteeship because, over a number of years, Local 901allegedly engaged in a pattern of conduct in violation ofthe IBT Constitution and which prevented the membersfrom obtaining information and exercising their rights.The IBT requested additional time to conduct an investi-gation to which the IRB agreed. Recently, the IRB askedMr. Hoffa to inform the IRB of the results of the investi-gation, the action if any the IBT will take and when itwill take it.

D. CHUCK CRAWLEY, DENNIS BANKHEADAND MARIE ESPINOSA - Local 988, Houston, TexasWe have previously informed you that General Presi-

dent Hoffa filed charges against Local 988 President andBusiness Manager Chuck Crawley, Secretary-TreasurerDennis Bankhead and Member Marie Espinosa. Mr.Crawley allegedly engaged in a scheme for his own profitin which he caused the Local to pay $20,000 more thanwas necessary for the telephone installation at the newunion hall. Mr. Crawley also allegedly caused the Local to

issue checks to a vendor for the purchase of t-shirts andstickers when he knew the items were purchased fromother vendors for less.

Also, Mr. Crawley and Mr. Bankhead allegedlybrought reproach upon the IBT, embezzled and convertedunion property to their own use by taking Local mobilebarbecue pits. They also allegedly embezzled and convert-ed union funds to the use of another by paying approxi-mately $2,467 for Ms. Espinosa’s legal fees in connectionwith her dealings with the Local. Lastly, Mr. Crawley andMr. Bankhead allegedly assisted Ms. Espinosa in embez-zling money from Local 988.

After filing the charges, Mr. Hoffa referred the chargesback to the IRB for a hearing. The IRB held a hearing onMarch 29-31, 2004. All post-hearing documents havebeen received and are under review.

V. TOLL-FREE HOTLINE Since our last report to you, the hotline has received

approximately 80 calls reporting alleged improprieties. Asin the past, all calls which appeared to fall within IRBjurisdiction were referred for investigation. Activitieswhich should be reported for investigation include, butare not limited to, association with organized crime, cor-ruption, racketeering, embezzlement, extortion, assault, orfailure to investigate any of these.

Please continue to use the toll-free hotline to reportimproprieties which fall within IRB jurisdiction by calling1-800-CALL-IRB (1-800-225-5472). If you are callingfrom within Washington, D.C., dial 434-8085. The IRBfacsimile number is 202-434-8084.

VI. CONCLUSIONAs always, our task is to insure that the goals of the

Consent Order are fulfilled. In doing so, it is our desire tokeep the IBT membership fully informed about our activi-ties. If you have any information concerning allegations ofwrongdoing or corruption, you may call the toll-free hot-line noted above or you may write to either the IRB ChiefInvestigator or the IRB office:

Charles M. Carberry, Chief Investigator17 Battery Place, Suite 331New York, NY 10004

Independent Review Board444 North Capitol Street, NWSuite 528Washington, DC 20001


T he last place most of us want to beis standing between two men whoare intent on pummeling each

other within an inch of their lives. Not sofor Gino Rodriguez.

When he’s not busy with his duties asVice President of Chicago’s Local 714,Rodriguez is a referee for professionalboxing matches—a job he has done for 23 years.

“I was 16 years old when I won my firstGolden Gloves championship,” he said.“After that, I wanted to be involved in thesport at another level.”

Rodriguez went through several yearsof volunteering as a referee and judgebefore applying with the state for a profes-sional referee license. He judged matchesfor about a year then went into refereeing.Since then, he has refereed 63 world titlebouts around the globe.

He has refereed fights in Argentina,

Brazil, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy,Japan, Korea, Thailand and all over theUnited States. He has also presided overfights with some of the biggest names inboxing, including Oscar de la Hoya andthe Klitschko brothers.

Fight Club“I don’t box now but I still work out andtrain kids in the neighborhood,” saidRodriquez who was a business agent for15 years before serving as Vice Presidentfor the last five. “For the past 15 years, I’vebeen organizing boxing teams and theTeamsters have been sponsoring them.”

The youth boxing teams wear Teamsterlogos on their jerseys and some childrenof Local 714 members participate on theboxing teams, which have won a numberof championships.

“Boxing is a great sport for kids,”Rodriguez said. “First and foremost, it

teaches kids discipline—mental and physical. It also teaches them what to eatand how to take care of their bodies—tonot smoke or drink. It also teaches charac-ter. If a kid knows how to box, he’s notgoing to want to fight in the streets withpeople. They become sure of themselvesand positive about life.”

JABRodriguez is also enthusiastic about theJoint Association of Boxers (JAB), the box-ers’ union affiliated with the Teamsters.

“A boxing union is needed becauseboxers are underrepresented by their man-agers and handlers,” he said. “They don’thave any specific benefits—just whateverthe fight is for and that’s it. They have noinsurance, no pension, nothing. Whenthey quit fighting, they’re left with nothing.I was very excited to hear about JAB.I’m all for it”

In the Ring Gino Rodriquez is a World-Class Boxing Referee

Corporations outspend unions by a margin of 15-1 insupporting their political candidates. With DRIVE,the Teamsters political action committee, we cancounter big business.

DRIVE contributions go directly to Teamster-endorsed candidates at all levels of government.

Together, we can show our strength at City Hall,the State House and Congress.

Visit the Teamster website or contact your local unionto find out how you can join DRIVE.

Join the DRIVE to build a

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