Last 15 Posts to the Teamster Talk http://www.teamster.net/index.php Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:58:10 +0000 30 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54158-is-ken-hall-drunk/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:58:10 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54158-is-ken-hall-drunk/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54155-ibt-fucks-up-again/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Subject: See Daily Labor Report Article - IBT Secretary-Treasurer Keegel to Retire

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 · Number 143



Teamsters

IBT Secretary-Treasurer Keegel to Retire;
Hoffa Picks Hall as New Running Mate



International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James Hoffa has named Ken Hall to be his running mate as general secretary-treasurer for the IBT election in 2011, replacing Thomas Keegel, who recently announced he will retire at the end of his term, the union announced July 23. Hall currently serves as international vice president at-large, the director of the package division, representing more than 250,000 workers at United Parcel Service, and principal officer of IBT Local 175 in Charleston, W.Va., the union said. Hall served as the lead negotiator on the last three national UPS contracts in 1997, 2002, and 2007. “Ken and I have worked closely together for the past decade to grow and strengthen our great union,” Hoffa said in the statement. “I look forward to building our partnership and continuing our efforts to ensure Teamster[s] members continue to have the best wages, benefits and working conditions throughout North America. Ken is acutely aware of the challenges working people face and will join me as an advocate not only at the bargaining table, but in the halls of Congress and as we take the fight for economic justice directly to Wall Street.” The union said in a statement that Hall's accomplishments include his role as “architect of the 1997 UPS strike,” which resulted in UPS creating thousands of full-time jobs; his success in securing an early contract with UPS in 2007 protecting members from the impact of the economic collapse of 2008; and his ability to “force UPS to accept card check for employees of UPS Freight,” formerly Overnite Transportation, resulting in 12,000 new members. “I am honored to join Jim Hoffa in tackling the challenges that our union and workers across our great nation face,” Hall said in a July 23 statement. “Workers need strong Teamsters representation now more than ever. Together with the exceptional group of candidates under the Hoffa-Hall slate we will continue to build on the strong foundation that has been laid over the past decade by Jim Hoffa and Tom Keegel.”



Keegel to Retire at End of Term

Keegel July 15 announced he plans to retire at the end of his term, and will not run for re-election, according to letters Keegel sent to the IBT general executive board and IBT union locals, which were posted on the website of dissident group Teamsters for a Democratic Union. “With Keegel bowing out of the race, Hoffa has chosen International Vice President Ken Hall to run for the union's number two position on his slate,” TDU said in a statement. “Hall has been behind key decisions that have created rifts in the Hoffa camp and alienated many Teamsters local officers and members.” According to Keegel's letter to union members, he decided to retire after “long and careful consideration of what is in the best interest of our members, our union, my family, and me personally. The programs and policies that we have put in place at the IBT over the past years will serve our members for decades to come.” Keegel was first elected secretary-treasurer in 1999.



Keegel's Criticism

In Keegel's letter to the executive board, he said IBT, its joint councils and locals are responsible for preserving and protecting the jobs, incomes, benefits, and pensions of the union's members and to meet that responsibility, IBT should be run “by the elected Teamster leaders in whom the members have placed their trust, and not outsiders or any one else.”

“Likewise, our 2011 election campaign should be directed by elected Teamster leaders and not individuals over whom we have no control,” Keegel wrote. “The repeated election rule violations must stop. We can no longer allow our names to be used in this manner. We are responsible for what is done in the name of Teamsters, and we must take charge of that responsibility.”

Keegel declined to comment July 27.



TDU said in a July 22 statement, “Keegel says the IBT should be run by elected leaders, and not appointed outsiders. The criticism of Hoffa—that he surrounds himself with appointees and has not been accountable to local leaders—has been raised by other top officers for some time.” Fred Gegare, the only other declared candidate for general president, told BNA July 27 that Hoffa does not understand what the local leaders and general executive board go through because “he never came up through the ranks.” “He is surrounding himself with non-elected leaders,” said Gegare, who is the union chairman of the Central States Pension Fund, an international vice president, the head of IBT's dairy division, the head of the food processing division, and the president of Wisconsin Joint Council 39. “Hoffa doesn't listen to his executive board. He's trying to run the [international] union from the top, down.”

Gegare said one example occurred in March 2009, when “Hoffa went behind Keegel's back” to cash in three non-ERISA Teamsters portfolios, because he was told he would get 4 percent on a money market mutual fund. The funds lost some $14 million, Gegare said.

Nominations for general president, general secretary-treasurer, and all vice president positions will take place at the IBT convention in June 2011 and a mail ballot election will be held in November 2011. The new slate will take office in March 2012, IBT spokeswoman Leigh Strope told BNA July 26.

By Alicia Biggs]]> Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:58:08 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54155-ibt-fucks-up-again/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54151-teamster-affiliates-pension-fund-and-family-plan/ What is the Teamster Affiliates Pension Fund and Family Plan?. How are they funded?. Is the members entitled to them? Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:47:58 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54151-teamster-affiliates-pension-fund-and-family-plan/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54139-gegare-the-drunks-dues-bamboozle/
MONDAY: TRAVEL DAY, RECEPTION
TUESDAY: 10 - 12, AFTERNOON TOUR OF MANSIONS
WEDNESDAY: FREE DAY
THURSDAY: 10 - 12, EVENING BOAT RIDE
FRIDAY: 10 - 12, TRAVEL HOME

How much is this PARTY going to cost the MEMBERS?

Every year is a new SWANKY location and no work.

I can't wait to see WHAT THE GIFTS WILL BE!!! I'll let YOU KNOW RIGHT HERE ON TEAMSTER.NET.]]> Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:14:04 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54139-gegare-the-drunks-dues-bamboozle/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54134-the-dancenew-partners-new-moves/ Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:26:03 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54134-the-dancenew-partners-new-moves/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54116-local-952/ Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:41:43 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54116-local-952/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54110-teamster-canada/ HELLO / Bonjour,]]> Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:03:33 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54110-teamster-canada/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54109-ken-hall-for-general-presdent-1998/
The Largest Newspaper In West Virginia.


Hall Begins Teamsters campaign

By Robert Woodrum

April 6, 1998


By Paul J. Nyden
STAFF WRITER


More than 550 enthusiastic Teamsters and other union members packed the Kanawha City Teamsters' Hall Sunday afternoon to hear Ken Hall announce he is running for general president of his union.


Many wore shirts with logos from Yellow Freight, Coca-Cola or United Parcel Service. Many traveled to Charleston from other states, including Illinois, Virginia, Ohio and Washington.


The 41-year-old Hall, who started his career as a Pennzoil worker from Yawkey, Lincoln County, might end up heading North America's largest union. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has more than 1.4 million members.


"On this historic day," said John McCormick, "the 18,000 members of my local union are going to be very happy to discover Ken Hall is running for general president."


McCormick traveled to Charleston from Chicago, where he heads Local 705, the Teamsters' third-largest local union. In 1993, Hall helped McCormick negotiate a local contract with United Parcel Service.


Before reformers took over the Teamsters in 1991, 12 silver Continentals routinely sat in parking spaces in front of the Local 705's impressive marble building near downtown Chicago. McCormick helped sell off the expensive cars once given to union business agents.


Last summer, Hall was the union's top negotiator 200,000 workers in their successful strike against the United Parcel Service.


"The victory against UPS reversed labor's losses under Ronald Reagan," McCormick said. "All other unions supported us, donating money and food. Everyone in the labor movement was rejuvenated."


That new UPS contract Hall negotiated raised pensions by 50 percent, created 10,000 new full-time jobs, stopped subcontracting giving jobs to nonunion workers, improved health and safety and won the biggest pay hikes ever.


Hall talked about his likely opponent James P. Hoffa Jr., son of the union's most famous leader. James Hoffa Sr. spent time in prison for misappropriating union funds and was widely reputed to have Mafia ties. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was presumed to have been killed.


Hoffa Jr., a lawyer, never made a living as a Teamster worker, never negotiated a union contract and never won election to any local or national union office.


Hoffa Jr. lost the 1996 election to incumbent reformer Ron Carey. Hall declared his candidacy on Sunday, after a federally appointed oversight board overturned that election and barred Carey, first elected in 1991, from running again.


In throwing Carey's election out, the federal board charged that $885,000 in Teamsters union funds was given to third party groups, who then contributed similar amounts to Carey's campaign. Campaign finance irregularities, however, might also result in Hoffa's disqualification.


Hall's campaign will accept contributions only from working members of the Teamsters union.


Hall said, "We in the Teamsters are facing an historic challenge. The road of Hoffa leads backward towards division and weakness. Last summer, we showed the nation what a united Teamsters union could do."


Hall said both Carey and Hoffa backers urged him to run for the union's top position in recent weeks.


During his speech on Sunday, Hall stressed his own career as a oil-field roustabout, local union steward and local union president, before he negotiated the national UPS contract.


"To negotiate good contracts, you have to have someone who has negotiated one before," Hall said. "I have negotiated large and small contracts. I have negotiated contracts for workers in the freight, construction, dairy, bakery, laundry, petroleum, brewery and soft-drink industries."


Hall criticized the alleged mob ties of the Hoffa family. "We need someone who has fought the mob in our union and will keep them out of our union. And perhaps more important, we need someone who will keep their hands out of our members' pension funds."


Hall said the union must continue to be active in political issues that affect working families, including federal legislation about retirement benefits, overtime hours and fair-trade issues.


Hoffa's name is his only chance for victory, Hall said. "If his name was Smith or Jones, and he never worked as a Teamster, and was never elected to a union office, he would be laughed out of the race."


If Hall wins later this year, it will not be the first time a rank-and-file union member from West Virginia became the top officer of a major union.


Twenty-six years ago, in May 1972, nearly 400 rank-and-file reformers in United Mine Workers met at Wheeling College. They nominated Arnold Miller, from Cabin Creek, to run for president of the UMW.


In a federally ordered and supervised election, Miller beat incumbent Tony Boyle. After his election loss, Boyle was convicted of conspiring to assassinate Joseph "Jock" Yablonski and spent the rest of his life in federal prison.


In December 1969, Boyle defeated Yablonski for international UMW president. The U.S. Department of Labor later determined Boyle stole that election and successfully fought to have it overturned, paving the way for Miller's victory in December 1972.


Hall served as an elected member of the Lincoln County School Board between 1986 and 1992. He lives in Yawkey with his wife, Shirley, and daughter Jenna.



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All original work Copyright Laborers.org 1998. All rights reserved.]]> Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:33:51 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54109-ken-hall-for-general-presdent-1998/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54106-local-601-members-stand-up/ Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:03:34 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54106-local-601-members-stand-up/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54105-time-to-stand-up/ Sat, 24 Jul 2010 11:51:37 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54105-time-to-stand-up/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54092-local-631-news/ Teamsters Local 631 Secretary Treasurer John Phillipenas is starting to realize that his term of office is half over and there is no way he is going to win another election. Of course he is blaming everyone for HIS mistakes from the prior administration to his own President. Fact is he is a clown who acts more like management than a Teamster. According to one of his executive board members and two business agents John plans on filing internal executive board charges against anyone who runs against him or is a threat to run against him. He and Kevin Hardisons plan is to have members who are THEIR supporters to file charges against these members so the charges can be heard in front of their executive board (more like a kangaroo court) and give decisions that would make candidates ineligable to run. NOW THATS UNION DEMOCRACY AT ITS BEST! Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:29:26 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54092-local-631-news/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54052-charges-against-lucio-reyes/ Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:47:50 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54052-charges-against-lucio-reyes/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54043-wheres-barking-dog/ Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:54:20 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54043-wheres-barking-dog/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54040-hoffa-campaign-violates-the-rules-again/ http://ibtvote.org/protests/2010/2010esd006.htm If anyone has witnessed illegal conduct of the Hoffa campaign you should report it to the election supervisor at www.ibtvote.com These continued violations of the Hoffa campaign must be stopped and dealt with more severly.]]> Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:47:56 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54040-hoffa-campaign-violates-the-rules-again/ http://www.teamster.net/topic/54030-tom-keegel-dumps-hoffa/
July 14, 2010: General Secretary Treasurer Tom Keegel announces he will not run for re-election next year, according to reports from members of the General Executive Board and officials close to Keegel.

Keegel, the number two officer in the IBT, had previously agreed to run with James Hoffa as the Hoffa-Keegel Slate in the 2011 election. But Keegel also has had disagreements with Hoffa, and at times seemed close to breaking away from him.

The Hoffa administration is reporting that Keegel, who is 68 years old, is retiring for family reasons. There's is valid speculation that is not the case. Whether Keegel at some point in the future speaks out regarding his tenure and the upcoming election is an open question.

It's also believed that he will not endorse Hoffa.

The Hoffa camp is circulating petitions to accredit the candidacies of both Hoffa and Keegel at this time. Nominations for General President, General Secretary-Treasurer and all Vice President positions will be held at the IBT Convention in late June 2011, and the mail ballot election of all 1.3 million Teamsters will be in November 2011. Joint Council 42s Principal Officer Randy Cammack--who is also Vice-President at Large for the IBT and Secretary-Treasurer at Local 63 has endorsed Hoffa.

Keegel was first elected in 1998, after Hoffa’s first running mate, Billy Hogan, withdrew from the slate with corruption charges swirling around him. Keegel was reelected with Hoffa in 2001 and 2006. Now he has opted to step down.

Fred Gegare is at present the only other declared candidate for General President. He is also circulating accreditation petitions, along with three running mates for vice president positions.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the reform movement which previously backed the campaigns of reformers Tom Leedham and Ron Carey, has not yet put forward or endorsed a candidate.

http://reform952.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:secretary-treasurer-tom-keegel-dumps-hoffa&catid=34:reform952articles&Itemid=57]]> Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:18:04 +0000 http://www.teamster.net/topic/54030-tom-keegel-dumps-hoffa/