March 19, 2010: A nepotism scandal has exposed an IBT Vice President. But movie work is still being doled out to Local 107 officials and their relatives including on the TV pilot “Justice.”
Local 107 members went to the union hall today to meet with the man Hoffa put in charge of restoring seniority rights and fairness in hiring for movie work in Philadelphia.
The members wanted to meet with Ron Schwab, Hoffa’s newly appointed overseer of Local 107 movie work, to find out why union officials and their relatives are being given lucrative work while Teamsters with years of experience in the industry are home and out of work.
But Hoffa’s anti-corruption point man wasn’t at the hall or even in Philadelphia. Local 107 President Bill Hamilton showed up at the hall. But his only words for the members was to call them “scumbags” for daring to stand up to his nepotism scheme.
The Hoffa-Schwab clean-up job is a long-distance operation—and if any clean-up is underway it isn’t detectable. Three new movie and television projects are gearing up in Philadelphia and hiring-by-nepotism remains the order of the day.
The brother of Local 107 Secretary-Treasurer Shawn Dougherty is working on the TV pilot “Justice.” So is Mike Nugent, a trustee for the local, as are other relatives and friends of Local 107 officials. They don’t have the industry experience or seniority that out-of-work members do. But they’ve got the connections.
The Independent Review Board just released a 125-page report detailing how “favoritism and nepotism” rule movie work in Local 107. The IRB recommended that the local be put in trusteeship. Instead Hoffa moved to protect Hamilton, an International Union VP. And the scandal continues.
For now, the only “Justice” in Philadelphia is the work that officials and their cronies are stealing from deserving working Teamsters. But members are taking action. They will continue to keep the pressure on Local 107 and the Hoffa administration to establish fair and transparent hiring in the movie industry.
Click here to read Teamster VP at Center of Nepotism Scandal
The IRB report is available here. (Warning: This is a large file).
Click here to get in touch with Local 107 members who are meeting to work for change in their union.