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WASHINGTON — Teamsters leadership candidates who squared off in the only debate before the fall union election blended their focus on key issues such as retiree pensions with exchanges about their past deeds and frequent name-calling.

The Teamsters have announced a tentative agreement that covers unionized car-haul carriers.

Legislative and regulatory efforts to address financial troubles with union pension funds are continuing in the aftermath of the Central States Pension Fund’s unsuccessful effort to rescue its plan by slashing most retirees’ benefits by 50% or more.

A group of retired Teamsters demonstrated in front of the Leo W. O'Brien federal building in Albany, New York, on June 6 to protest pending threats to their pensions and to highlight the need for Congress to take action.

Intermodal Bridge Transport, a nationwide port trucking company, is facing a formal National Labor Relations Board action that could become a precedent-setting case involving claims the company misclassified its Southern California drivers as independent contractors.

WASHINGTON — Thousands of Teamsters retirees, angered by looming pension cuts of 50% or more, descended on Washington April 14 to protest the reductions ahead of a May 7 deadline for a Treasury Department decision on the proposed cutbacks.

By May 7, federal mediator Kenneth Feinberg must decide whether to accept a plan to cut thousands of Teamsters payouts to prevent the Central States Pension Fund from going broke. The decision could set a national precedent for other multiemployer funds.

The Central States Pension Fund, jointly overseen by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and employers, is warning of insolvency by 2026 unless benefits are cut now. It has proposed to reduce pensions for about 115,500 retirees, slightly more than half of current retirees.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered FedEx Freight to recognize and bargain with Teamster locals at two terminals, siding with a National Labor Relations Board ruling to that effect.