Teamsters chief smacks down local pilots union
Teamsters President James Hoffa wants to rein in leaders of the pilots union at Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
Teamsters President James Hoffa wants to rein in leaders of the pilots union at Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
A local union charged with violating Indiana’s right-to-work law is hoping to settle with six workers who say their dues were improperly collected.
The Indianapolis operations of a Canadian paper company and a Teamsters-affiliated local union violated Indiana’s right-to-work law, according to the allegations of six men who want out of the union.
The move comes after years of unfruitful contract negotiations between the Indianapolis-based firm and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 357.
Republic Airways Holdings and the union that represents its pilots are so far apart in contract talks that the National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C., won’t schedule more meetings between the parties. Republic has agreed to higher pay, but the union wants significant changes to work rules that affect quality of life and, the union insists, passenger safety.
Experts say that former Gov. Mitch Daniels' decision to end collective bargaining for state workers in 2005 contributed to the drop.
Workers at southern Indiana's Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center are planning a protest of furloughs and pay freezes stemming from the automatic federal budget cuts.
The trailer-hitch manufacturer plans to close the 450-employee plant and move operations to Mexico. Union workers voted Friday to forego arbitration and accept a severance agreement that will pay the most senior employees $36,000.
Republicans sparked protests from teachers and union officials Tuesday by pushing legislation through a House committee that would bar Indiana schools from automatically deducting union dues from teacher paychecks, an issue that critics thought was off the table this year.
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra said Thursday that it far surpassed its $5 million goal for a fundraising campaign that helped lock in a long-term contract for the ISO's musicians. The campaign raised a total of $8.5 million.
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra musicians are hoping they'll be able to move forward with a new five-year labor contract even though the ISO is still about $900,000 short of reaching an important $5 million fundraising target only a week before the deadline.
Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s. In Indiana, where a new right-to-work law took effect last March, the state lost about 56,000 union members.
U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon in Hammond ruled that none of the union's arguments against the law could succeed in federal court, although a challenge could still be made in state courts.
As the controversial provision spreads to other states in the region, Indiana is likely to give more weight to its other selling points.
Indiana's chief justice is urging Democratic and Republican lawmakers to work out their own differences that still linger from two straight years of legislative walkouts.
The state's labor landscape changed, and the housing market improved. Indianapolis basked in the glow of a flawless Super Bowl, and big-name CEOs were shown the door. IBJ's reporters and editors recall the year's biggest stories.
Michigan lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to right-to-work legislation, dealing a devastating and once-unthinkable defeat to organized labor in a state that has been a cradle of the movement for generations.
More than 1,500 hourly workers in Indianapolis ratified new five-year contracts, the automotive supplier announced Thursday.
Union leaders say working conditions are improving at the Pilkington glass factory in Shelbyville, but an employee’s injury in October has led to another visit from state safety officials and possibly more fines.
The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing on Wednesday in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can close its operations.