Hoffa: Federal oversight of union must end

David Strow

Monday, July 2, 2001 | 11:15 a.m.

James P. Hoffa vowed Friday to end federal oversight of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as he formally kicked off his campaign for re-election as president of the 1.4 million-member union.

Meanwhile the secretary-treasurer of the union, Tom Keegel, ripped Hoffa's opposition -- the Teamsters for a Democratic Union -- for playing up allegations of corruption and influence-peddling involving Hoffa aides and Las Vegas-based Teamsters Local 631. He ripped the TDU as a force that reveled in trying to tear apart Teamster unity, one that would drive the powerful union into bankruptcy.

"There is nothing 'democratic' about the outright lies that have been spread by our opponents for the last week," Keegel said during a fiery speech. "These are the very same people who left this union in shambles (in the mid-1990s). There is nothing democratic about their attempts to divide this union."

Keegel then said the Hoffa administration had helped pull the union back from the financial brink, turning a $23 million annual deficit into a $9 million surplus since its takeover.

"Some of the greatest battles we fight are with spreadsheets and financial models, not with our fists," Keegel said.

But the TDU's candidate, Tom Leedham, refused to back off, saying a Hoffa lieutenant's family had "conspired to ... line (their) pockets with a sweetheart contract that would destroy the wages and benefits of 1,400 Teamsters in this very city." Local 631 officers that resisted this effort were simply removed, Leedham said.

"When it comes to taking action against corruption, the Hoffa administration has consistently turned a blind eye at best," Leedham said. "That is another Hoffa promise made, promise broken."

The TDU's candidate for secretary-treasurer, Tom Gilmartin, earlier this week called for a criminal investigation of donations made by Las Vegas-based United Services Co. to the James R. Hoffa Scholarship Fund. United Services officials had been working with several Hoffa lieutenants to try to secure janitorial contracts at wages well below those called for under 631's collective bargaining agreements with several local convention service companies; Gilmartin suggested the donations were connected to those efforts.

Hoffa placed Local 631 under trusteeship last year, saying the local's officers weren't acting in the best interests of its members. The Independent Review Board, a federal body established to act as a watchdog against corruption within the Teamsters, issued a report in May alleging Hoffa was influenced in this decision by Dane Passo, whom the IRB accused of conspiring with United Services.

The IRB isn't popular with the Teamsters leadership. They argue it consumes needed Teamster funds, and that the union is capable of policing its own affairs. The union estimates it has spent in excess of $100 million funding the IRB since its establishment.

"(Providing funding for the IRB) is nothing more than a tax selectively enforced on certain Americans because they choose to organize under the flag of the Teamsters," Keegel said. "This tax violates every principle of our democracy, that our brothers have fought and died for ... it's wrong!"

Hoffa then vowed, if re-elected, he would do something about it -- triggering roars of approval from thousands of delegates crowding the Paris Las Vegas ballroom.

"We can never be the true protectors of worker justice while the federal government has oversight of the Teamsters Union," Hoffa said. "I'll make this promise ... if I'm elected, I will end federal control of this union. This is our house, and we will set the rules, not some federal bureaucrat in Washington."

Calling organized labor "the only safeguard against the greed of multinational corporations," Hoffa said the union wouldn't back down from battling either corporations or politicians, and would aggressively seek to expand its ranks by organizing new workers. He also pledged the union would win its battle against Overnite Transportation Co. during his next term; Teamsters have been on strike from the Memphis, Tenn. freight company since 1999.

"We never run from a fight. Fighting is what Teamsters like to do," Hoffa said. "The American worker has come to depend on the Teamsters to back this fight, and we must not let them down.

"No matter how many scabs, crooked cops and (hostile) judges they throw at you, you can overcome them all."

Hoffa did not mention Leedham or the TDU in his speech. But he sought to connect both to the administration of Ron Carey, whom Hoffa replaced as Teamster president in 1998. Carey was ousted after allegations were raised he had siphoned the dues of Teamster members to fund his campaign; Carey will stand trial later this year. He appealed to the delegates to encourage voting within their locals in the fall, noting that turnout was just 25 percent in the last election.

"There was a time when the so-called reformers tried to divide and bankrupt this union, but thanks to all of you here today, that time has passed," Hoffa said. "They want to return us to the days of divisiveness that they love."

Hoffa's speech was often interrupted by raucous cheering and chanting from a hall filled mostly with his supporters. By contrast, few delegates heard Leedham's message.

When the time came for Leedham and Gilmartin to speak, Hoffa's supporters stood up and began leaving the hall en masse. A chant of "TDU sucks" started, but was quickly quelled by pro-Hoffa officials.

The ballroom was nearly empty when Leedham took the podium, as only a few hundred TDU supporters remained. Still, those that remained were vocal in their support for the opposition candidate.

Leedham argued that the sitting Teamster president had been weak in delivering on past campaign promises. In particular, Leedham said Hoffa had failed to deliver on a 1996 campaign promise to establish a $250-per-week strike fund for members. If next year's UPS negotiations result in a strike, funds won't be available to help UPS workers, Leedham said.

"I don't know any employer who will give you a good contract because you talk tough," Leedham said. "To win strong contracts ... we must show that we are prepared to back up our talk with action. Promises are not enough. Instead of increased strike benefits, we are leaving this convention with a committee that won't even issue a report until next year."

Meanwhile, Leedham said Hoffa has been encouraging the squandering of Teamster funds by allowing Teamster officials to collect more than one paycheck. He said the practice of multiple paychecks was costing the union $3.9 million a year.

"While corporate America is becoming leaner and meaner, the Hoffa administration has been putting on the fat," Leedham said.

Leedham said Hoffa had done little to encourage organizing by the Teamsters, saying the union has lost 11,000 members over the last two years, and its membership now stands below 1.4 million "for the first time of decades." He promised to step up the union's organizing efforts if elected.

"Teamsters work for giant corporations ... that operate multinationally," Leedham said. "Our members bargain contracts local by local. Employers couldn't design a more effective system to maximize their leverage and isolate our members. We will promote coordinated bargaining and work to establish master agreements that maximize Teamster bargaining leverage."

Teamster members across the country will cast ballots in the election this fall; the winner will serve a five-year term.