Marathon Pundit: Teamsters use skulduggery against company--and one of its locals

Union membership is at a seventy-year low. Underhanded tactics such as the one described in a Detroit News article about Teamsters skulduggery against a sanitation firm--and one of its locals--are just one of the reasons people are turning away from Big Labor.

Republic Services of Southeast Michigan said Tuesday it has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for meddling in negotiations with its Local 247.

Republic Services said in the complaint filed on Dec. 21 that the Teamsters engaged in bad faith bargaining by forcing Detroit-based Local 247 to withdraw a tentative agreement it made with Republic Services about getting rid of a union proposal to let employees refuse to cross picket lines in return for the company withdrawing its proposal to eliminate a maintenance of benefits.

The company said the National Labor Relations Act prohibits "regressive bargaining," which is when a party makes a proposal and later makes another offer that is interpreted to be less than what was offered before.

"The IBT's action in forcing Detroit-based Local 247 to withdraw a provision already agreed upon with Republic Services stands in stark contrast to the operating procedures the International Brotherhood of Teamsters promotes on its very own website," Republic Services said in a statement.