BREWER (AP) – Union officials said federal labor regulators this week will order a Pennsylvania company to hire back 11 former drivers who lost their jobs after voting to join a labor union.

The National Labor Relations Board is expected to issue a complaint against Rydbom Express this week, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. If a complaint is issued, it will require Rydbom to hire back some former drivers who lost their jobs after joining a union.

About 50 drivers for Black Bear Courier in Brewer and Presque Isle lost their jobs when the Orono-based company lost its contract with DHL, an international delivery company, after they voted in January to join Teamsters Local 340 in a bid to gain health insurance and higher wages.

After the union vote, DHL contracted with Rydbom to take over its Brewer operations, according to a complaint filed last week with the NLRB Boston office. The complaint says Rydbom “interrogated prospective employees regarding their union activity, threatened prospective employees, made statements that unionization is futile (and) created an impression of surveillance.”

Of the 25 drivers in Presque Isle and 23 in Brewer who lost their jobs, one in Presque Isle and 11 in Brewer did not get rehired or find work elsewhere, union officials said. In March, Teamsters officials filed a charge against Rydbom with NLRB, claiming the company’s behavior violated federal labor laws.

“It’s been a long time since labor had a big victory like this,” said James Carson, president of Teamsters Local 340 in South Portland. “It’s a big, big, big story coming out of a small state.”

Gov. John Baldacci and Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap were among the 40 or so people who were on hand when the announcement was made Friday in front of the local DHL office in Brewer.

Bret Caldwell, director of communications for the Teamsters national office, said the apparent victory in Brewer is the first anywhere in the country involving independent contractors hired to deliver packages for the global shipping giant.

DHL spokesman Richard Gibbs said Friday that the dispute is strictly between Rydbom, the Teamsters and NLRB.

“DHL does not tell the independent contractor who it can or cannot hire,” Gibbs said. “We don’t hire people who don’t abide by the letter of the law.”

The owner of Rydbom Express and NLRB officials could not be reached for comment Friday.