A
report from the Wall
Street Journal claims thatSen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year
after privately telling the union he supported ending
the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to
officials from the union and the Obama campaign. The Teamsters
vigorously denied this as noted by the New
York Times.
Hillary Clinton told a meeting of Teamsters officials last
year that she was "open" to "looking at" reviewing the
strict federal oversight of the union, but stopped short of saying it should be
removed. This, again, is from the Wall
Street Journal.
For
those trying to understand the reasoning of the Teamsters (and other unions) in supporting Barack
Obama's candidacy, the video below detailing Hillary Clinton's years on the
board of Walmart may enlighten.
Saying
his position on trade makes a difference, and that it's time for the Democratic
presidential nomination race to end, the Change
to Win federation has also endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. Workday
Minnesota has the story.
Senator
Barack Obama has won the endorsement of the Teamsters Union for his presidential
bid. "There was very, very strong support for him" among the
union's members, James P. Hoffa, president of the 1.4-million member union, said
in an interview with The
Associated Press.
Senate Democrats have spared FedEx, for the time being, from language being
placed in the labor-backed
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill being debated on the
Senate floor that would make it easier for unions to organize workers at FedEx,
giving a big boost to its rival, UPS. The
Hill has the story.
The New York Teamsters Conference Pension & Retirement Fund has
mailed a notice
to participants
informing them that the Fund is expected to be 76% funded in 2008 which places
it in the newly government-created category of "endangered". The
result of this is that the Fund is now required to adopt a "Funding
Improvement Plan".
Teamsters
Central States Pension Fund is in “critical
status” with a funding level in the so-called "red zone,” less than
four months after receiving a $6.1 billion payment from UPS, that raised assets
to $26.8 billion. Pension
and Investments Online has more.
The
Teamsters Central States Pension Fund has hired Mellon to manage a
$5.4 billion S&P 500 index fund as part of the plan’s allocation of the
$6.1 billion payment made by Atlanta-based United Parcel Service to withdraw
from the pension fund. The UPS payment raises the Central States fund to $26.8
billion in assets. Pension
and Investments Online has the details.
UPS
saw its first-quarter revenue and profit rise, but
it noted a sharp decline in the U.S. economy and has cut its guidance for the
second quarter. The company had net income of $906 million and
earnings of 87 cents a share on $12.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter.
This compares with net income of $843 million and earnings of 78 cents a share
on $11.9 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2007. Total daily
volume remained flat but domestic ground increased .3%. Business
Wire has the announcement and financials.
General President Hoffa has announced that Philadelphia
Local 107 President William Hamilton has been appointed to the General Executive
Board as an International Vice President for the Eastern Region replacing the
ousted Frank Gillen.
PR Newswire has this story.
The
2007 LM-2 reports for the International and member locals have been posted on
the Department
of Labor web
site. We now have PDF versions of these reports for Local
294, JC-18,
and the IBT.
We have also updated the "At a glance" windows for the Local
and the International.
All financial documents on this site can be found on the Finances
page.
UPS
has cut its first-quarter earnings forecast because of higher fuel costs, a
weakening U.S.
economy and reduced domestic package volume. The company lowered
its first-quarter earnings expectations to 86 or 87 cents per share, compared
with a previously anticipated range of 94 to 98 cents a share. Analysts
polled by Thomson Financial, on average, were expecting earnings of 93 cents per
share. An article from the
Associated Press explains.