Fitzsimmons and others even denied that they were doing work on Hoffa's orders. National trucking industry talks, interrupted when Hoffa went to jail, resumed with Fitzsimmons at the table. Although the pact expired and the union struck for three days, Fitzsimmons was able to negotiate a new agreement (with a federal mediator's help) that some believed was richer than any Hoffa could have obtained. He negotiated a second contract three years later that provided a 27-percent wage increase over three years.