The Teamsters union has its financial act together and is considering democratic reforms intended to broaden its appeal to would-be members, said union General President James Hoffa.

In “State of the Union” remarks at the National Press Club yesterday, Hoffa painted a picture of a union on the move: unified, out of the red and pursuing a reform agenda.
At its convention next month, the union will consider amending its constitution to permit direct elections of Teamsters leadership and convention delegates.
“Our democratic reforms will provide even more evidence that the Teamsters can run our own house – with competence, integrity and respect for diverse opinions,” Hoffa said.
Hoffa said that in the 21 months between April 1999 and December 2000, the union has gone from more than $23 million in the red to $9.5 million in the black.
He highlighted the union’s plans for organizing two sectors of the trucking industry – bulk haulers and port drivers, and spoke with some bitterness about the union’s ongoing fight to organize Overnite Transportation.
“All of America knows about Overnite’s serious and pervasive labor violations,” he said. “Overnite mocks the law. It must not stand.”
Hoffa noted that the union and United Parcel Service will soon begin negotiating the 2002 contract – “the number one bargaining priority of the union.”
Those negotiations will be followed by a discussions with the Motor Freight Carriers Assn. on the National Master Freight Agreement covering the major unionized less-than-truckload carriers. That agreement is up for renewal in 2003.
Hoffa said he supports President George Bush’s campaign to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. He explained that the initiative would create more than 25,000 Teamster jobs – and help keep energy affordable.
He repeated the union’s opposition to opening the U.S. border to Mexican trucks, saying, “We cannot allow there to be two standards, none for Mexican trucks, and comprehensive standards for American drivers.”
In fact, the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed entry rules that would require Mexican truckers to meet standards set for U.S. truckers.
Asked about reform of truck driver hours of service rules, Hoffa said the current rules are fine just the way they are – “We don’t need more hours.”
He then pointed to owner-operators and independent drivers as the source of the trucking industry’s safety problem. “They stretch the rules to stay in business,” he said. “The system places them under a lot of pressure.”