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Overnite Transportation Co. accused Teamsters President James P. Hoffa and other union officers of engaging in a pattern of illegal activities, including attempted murder and extortion, to secure a labor contract.

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The racketeering allegations were made in a civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., on Jan. 24. The move represents a dramatic escalation in the fight between one of the nation’s largest nonunion general freight carriers and the Teamsters, the nation’s second-largest trade union.

Hoffa promptly denounced the charges as “baseless and unfounded,” and said the Richmond, Va., trucking company is trying to deflect attention from its poor financial results.

The Teamsters launched an organizing drive in the fall of 1994 and won the right to represent employees at 22 of Overnite’s 166 service centers. The union claims to represent 37 terminals, but the company disagrees with that number because of pending litigation over bargaining orders issued by the National Labor Relations Board.

For the full story, see the Jan. 31 print edition of Transport Topics. .