International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 727

International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 727

Teamsters Local 727 represents workers primarily in parking, funeral, and trade-show industries across the Chicago area, with its headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois. The union's leadership has been dominated by the Coli family for decades. John Coli Sr., a former Secretary-Treasurer, was convicted of extortion in 2003 for squeezing a trade-show contractor. His son, John Coli Jr., subsequently assumed the role of principal officer, maintaining family control over the local's operations and its associated benefit funds. The union's affiliated funds — including the Health and Welfare Fund, Legal and Educational Assistance Fund, and Strike Fund — collectively manage a pool of assets that includes directly owned commercial real estate. Known properties include the union's headquarters at 1300 W Higgins Road in Park Ridge and a commercial building at 1550 Mount Prospect Road in Des Plaines. The investment approach is diversified, with the real estate holdings serving dual purposes as operational bases and long-term assets of the pension and welfare funds. The union's exclusive legal provider, CTM Legal Group, is owned by Joseph Coli, son of the convicted former Secretary-Treasurer. Local 727 operates under the umbrella of Teamsters Joint Council 25, the regional body covering Chicago and northwest Indiana. The union's primary collective bargaining relationships include the Apartment Building Owners and Managers Association for residential garage employees. The Teamsters Local 727 Charitable Fund provides a philanthropic vehicle, though its separation from the union's benefit and pension assets is not publicly detailed. In 2019, the union secured a new contract with ABOMA covering approximately 1,200 residential building workers (per union announcement, 2019). The structural differentiator of Teamsters Local 727 is its multigenerational family governance layered over a union benefit apparatus. The concentration of legal, real estate, and investment oversight among related Coli family members — spanning the local's principal officer role, the exclusive legal provider, and historical management of benefit funds — creates an unusually interlocked architecture distinct from most union pension boards. This governance model has attracted scrutiny from federal monitors and the Department of Labor in past decades, shaping its operational posture.