Plenty of news being generated by the Teamsters officials right now, not least of which are comments by bigwig James Hoffa. He led a Change To Win delegation to China, where the younger federation is showing up its AFL-CIO rivals on willingness to talk with that country’s (communist-government-controlled) unions.

But Mr. Hoffa has some funny thoughts on what makes for good policy. The Beeb quoted him as saying: “Obviously there are great benefits for American and European companies moving to China … But if we could do something about the [Chinese] people living a better life, it might make it not so appetising to move that way.” And according to the AP, “Hoffa said unionizing companies in China would raise the cost of doing business here, which would help American workers stay competitive.”

Sooooo … for the same quality of work, we’re supposed to make other countries’ labor more expensive so that American labor doesn’t seem so expensive?

Meanwhile The Washington Post‘s editorial page ripped the Teamsters for their protectionism, this time regarding the drive to keep Mexican trucks off U.S. roads. The paper’s article carried the none-too-subtle subtitle “The Teamsters vs. the public: Guess who wins in the House.”

In less interesting news, Teamsters bosses are pumped about winning a shareholder resolution to change the way directors are chosen at Allied — which is a company where the union leadership’s involvement has drawn a lawsuit over potential insider dealing.