Rivals to International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa are charging that the union leader has resorted to dirty tricks and is obscuring evidence of internal corruption in an effort to maintain his control over the 1.4 million-member labor organization.
A lawyer for Tim Sylvester, a candidate for secretary-treasurer in the union’s October leadership election, made the accusations in a Sept. 13 letter to the Teamsters’ election supervisor.
“The incumbent officers have acted to prevent information concerning the possible existence and extent of their involvement in corruption — potential grounds for being disqualified from running for or holding office — from being made available to [rank and file union] members,” said Cathy Highet, the lawyer representing Sylvester.
The Sept. 13 letter calls upon the election supervisor to investigate the allegations, to make available “all sworn examinations to date concerning the conduct of any candidate” and to “provide all candidates space” on the official Teamsters election website “to state their analysis of the materials.”
Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a dissident group in the union opposed to Hoffa’s leadership, provided the letter to the Washington Examiner.
In a response to Highet dated Tuesday, Teamsters elections officer Richard Mark denied the request, stating his office did not have that authority and her requests should be directed instead to the “Independent Disciplinary Officers” charged with enforcing a 1989 court consent decree to rid the Teamsters of corruption.
“Regarding the pending charges and investigations you have cited, absent evidence relevant to a categorical determination of eligibility, there is no action for [this office] to take,” Mark said.
Highet disputed Mark’s interpretation of the union’s election rules. “Mr. Sylvester believes both offices have the authority and the duty to ensure that access to this important information is not limited to one slate [of candidates],” she told the Examiner in an email. “Democracy cannot cure corruption if the evidence of corruption is withheld from voters until after the elections.”
Sylvester is an ally of Fred Zuckerman, who is challenging Hoffa for the presidency of the Teamsters. Hoffa is backing incumbent Ken Hall for secretary-treasurer. The election is being done by mail-in ballot, with the letters being sent out Oct. 6 and due back by the end of the month.
“[Highet’s] letter comes from a lawyer for a candidate for international office who is running against a slate headed by Jim Hoffa. As part of their campaign, they have cobbled together a loose and discredited list of accusations based on an anonymous report nobody has seen. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and there is a process in place to ensure all parties are afforded the right to a fair hearing,” said Teamsters spokesman Brett Caldwell.
Hoffa, 75, has run the Teamsters, one of the nation’s largest unions, since 1998. He is the son and namesake of the man who ran the union from 1958 through 1971 and whose 1975 disappearance remains unsolved.
Highet’s letter charges that Hoffa deliberately delayed acting on allegations made in February against Teamsters International Vice President at Large Rome Aloise, a Hoffa ally, by the Independent Review Board, the entity originally charged with monitoring the 1989 court consent decree. The board was dissolved earlier this year and its remaining duties turned over to the independent disciplinary officers.
The board’s probe found that Aloise engaged in “sham” collective bargaining agreements with employers, accepted illegal gifts and used his influence to try to manipulate union local elections to ensure his allies remained in charge.
Hoffa was supposed to officially respond to the board by May but instead sought delays. That was intentional on Hoffa’s part, Highet’s letter says, to keep union members in the dark. “The hearing on the matter will not begin until Oct. 11, after the ballots for the election are already mailed,” it notes.
Information on the Independent Review Board investigation wasn’t published in the Teamsters’ official magazine either, as the consent decree requires, the letter says. The Teamsters leadership said that happened because of an “inadvertent printing error.”
Highet’s letter also connects Hoffa to other potential wrong-doing by Teamsters officials, including alleged embezzlement of funds by a IBT leadership staffer.
