Teamsters face threat of internal picket

Politico reports:

The unionized workers on the Teamsters Washington-based national staff are locked in a contract dispute with their own labor organization, and Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa is warning local officials of, as he puts it, the embarrassing prospect of a strike.

And if his own workers do walk out, Hoffa wrote in a letter to Teamster "principal officers" around the country late last month obtained by POLITICO, the national union or International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) will be forced to "make contingency plans to operate."

Continuing operations while its workers are on strike would cause severe public image problems for the Teamsters and place other unions in a difficult position. By tradition, unions keep solidarity by not crossing the picket lines of other unions.

Great moments in organized labor!