Overnite Transportation reported last week that Local 107 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Philadelphia and a picket line captain were found in contempt of court and fined a total of $30,000 in connection with an assault on an Overnite driver in April.
In a press release, the less-than-truckload carrier said a judge in Bucks Caunty, Pa. ruled that both the local and Teamster member Jim Milligan violated an injunction that prohibited certain picketing conduct and acts of violence against Overnite and its employees. The union has been on strike against Overnite for six months.
Milligan was sentenced to 120 days in jail but would be released if he paid a $10,000 fine and agreed to not participate in the strike, Overnite said. Local 107 was fined $20,000 by the court.
Overnite said one of its drivers was attacked while on his way to work on April 13. The driver identified Milligan as one of the assailants.
Teamsters spokesman David Cameron said the union will appeal the fines in the case, in which he said the Overnite driver provoked the attack by holding up a sign that said, "I got my paycheck today, where's yours?" and pulled out a box cutter in front of a group of picketers. "Jimmy Milligan is 59 years old. He has a heart condition. He told (the Overnite driver) that (his sign) was uncalled for and he decked him," Cameron said. "The incident was incited by the Overnite driver."
Cameron added that both sides are bound by restraining orders that are intended to prevent violence in the ongoing labor dispute.
