Hoffa Answers Senators' Charges

October 27, 1999 9:30 AM, EDT

The chief of the Teamsters union answered congressional charges that Teamsters have used violence and intimidation in their campaign to organize Overnite Transportation Co.

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In his six-page reply to the chairman and two members of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training, President James P. Hoffa rebutted claims that his union encouraged picketers at Overnite facilities to slash tires, smash windows and engage in other acts of violence. Hoffa also leveled a few charges of his own.

“We vigorously deny there has been a pattern of violent incidents relating to Overnite Transportation,” Hoffa wrote Sens. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska Oct. 8. “The record on the company’s pervasive and unlawful course of conduct is overwhelming.”

The exchange of letters between Hoffa and the three Republican senators is part of an ongoing battle between Overnite, the trucking unit of Union Pacific Corp., and the Teamsters union, which has been engaged in an intense effort to organize the company over the past several years.

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