September 11, 2007: Local 743 President Richard Lopez has broken the record for the shortest tenure by any Teamster official.

Richard Lopez was appointed Local 743 President on September 1. Nine days later, he was not nominated for any office. In fact, he slinked out of the nominations meeting early.

Members, hungry for change in a local notorious for its corruption and weak representation, nominated the New Leadership Slate, a full slate of reform candidates headed by Richard Berg, Eugenia Alvarez, and Larry Davis.

Ballots go out in two weeks to the 12,000 members and will be counted on October 22.

Richard Lopez’s tenure as Local 743 President began with a press release from the Hoffa PR department, praising Lopez’s leadership skills. His presidency was effectively brought to a close five days later when he was indicted for stuffing the ballot box in the last local election.

No new press release is expected from Hoffa with this latest information—but Local 743 members are responding to the news anyway. Members across the city are mobilizing to turn out the vote for the 743 New Leadership Slate and elect the honest, hard-working union representatives that Local 743 Teamsters deserve.

Only massive voting fraud prevented the election of the New Leadership Slate in 2004. The Department of Labor will be conducting this year’s election, making ballot box stuffing almost impossible.

The members of Local 743 have their future in their own hands and they’re taking advantage of the opportunity. For more information about the election, visit www.743newleadership.org.

Click here to download the latest flyer from the 743 New Leadership Slate.

Click here to read more about the indictment of Local 743 officers.