Free Republic

The bolt in Chicago from the AFL-CIO by the Teamsters and Service Employees International Union reflects a long-building reaction to John Sweeney's plans a decade ago when he muscled his way into the labor federation presidency. He wanted to restore union power through politics. His project was a total failure, and the AFL-CIO is in ruins 50 years after its creation. The scenario of the breakup was accurately laid out to me by Teamsters sources nearly a year ago. Sweeney would be offered a deal he could not accept. To keep the two big unions in the federation, Sweeney would...

...Most conservatives and libertarians have been giddy about the prospect of an AFL-CIO breakup, hoping that the schism would diminish labor's power and influence. Many liberals are worried about the same thing. That might indeed happen, but a more likely outcome is that a new labor federation rivaling the AFL-CIO and led by Andy Stern will actually reinvigorate labor and move it into the 21st century. Stern is a savvy leader who has a sophisticated grasp of the new economy and understands that, in order to survive, labor must be more than just an appendage of the Democratic Party. He...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) - Salvadoran police have arrested the mother-in-law of a U.S. Teamster gunned down in El Salvador last month, along with five other suspects, describing the slaying as a contract killing that was the result of a family dispute. Jose Gilberto Soto, 49, a U.S. citizen of Salvadoran origin from Cliffside Park, N.J., was shot in the back on Nov. 5 outside his family's house in Usulutan, 70 miles southeast of San Salvador. Soto had arrived in El Salvador on Oct. 30 to meet with the country's trade union leaders and port drivers. Rosa Elba Ortiz,...

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, left, Edwin Stier, a former federal prosecutor, next to Hoffa, and others, arrive for a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington Thursday, Oct. 3, 2002 to discuss a report, "The Teamsters: Perception and Reality." The image of the Teamsters union has become a caricature of mob influence, corruption, violence and intimidation. Some of that was earned, although that perception is no longer true, says the new union-commissioned report released Thursday.The study was led by Stier and his law firm which is paid by the Teamsters for its assistance in developing, implementing and...