Those 22.3 positions went through arbitration after Carey was ousted, the Company claimed that they lost volume and therefore would not be able to fulfill their contract obligations. Carey started the case and Hoffa settled it, the Company had to pay
back pay and pension and health and welfare contributions.
One of the reasons that they fought the creation of these new full time positions was to create more stress on the suffering teamsters’s run pension and health and welfare plans. Their ultimate goal was to get out of the Central States plan and it’s increasing liabilities, they successfully got their wish in 2008 but had to agree to pay any penalties associated with the Central’s default or underfunding.
That initial 6 billion dollar pension liability payment did not help the Central much after the market crash. Hoffa’s first contract in 2002 was a given because of the work stoppage in 1997, after that the Company got what it wanted, the icing on the cake was the recent pension bailout because it relieved their responsibilities to cover any of the costs associated with the Central’s collapse.
That 2013 contract was about getting out of maintaining the expected cost increases associated with our health and welfare plans. Previously in the past contracts they wanted control of our Healthcare particularly the part timers.
The 2018 contract was an attempt to eliminate overtime costs, all that went out the window when the Pandemic hit. Those negotiated GWI increases before the Pandemic have been eaten up already by inflation, thank God for COLA otherwise we would have lost more ground this contract.