December 5, 2005: Tom Leedham will soon be the only officially accredited opposition candidate for Teamster General President—thanks to a member-to-member effort by Teamster members who collected more than 55,000 signatures in just four weeks.

“The response was incredible,” said John Youngermann, a Local 688 UPS Teamster who collected signatures in the St. Louis area. “Members were lining up to have the chance to vote against Hoffa and for International leaders who will fight for us. Even former Hoffa die-hards wanted to sign.”

Members collected 20,000 more signatures than were required by the Election Rules to accredit the Tom Leedham Strong Contracts, Good Pensions Slate. As a result, Teamster members will get to hear from the Leedham Slate in the campaign battle pages in the February issue of Teamster Magazine.

The fact that it took less than four weeks to collect the signatures shows two things. First, Teamster members are hungry for change. And second, the Leedham Campaign is building the grassroots network of Teamster volunteers that will be needed to win the 2006 Teamster election.

Now volunteers are turning their attention to the next steps in the campaign, including Convention Delegate races, fundraising and spreading the word about the Tom Leedham Strong Contracts, Good Pensions Slate.

Time to Step Up

“Hoffa’s team is splitting apart, just as the Tom Leedham Campaign’s grassroots network is coming together,” said Chris Roos, candidate for Eastern Vice President. “This election is ours to win. It’s time to step up. Every Teamster that wants positive change needs to know this is your chance to get involved and make it happen.”

Convention Delegate Elections: The elections for Teamster Convention Delegate are the next critical challenge. Delegates will officially nominate candidates at the IBT Convention in late June. The Leedham Campaign needs supporters to run in these races to put the Strong Contracts Good Pension Slate on the ballot and to support positive changes at the Teamster Convention.

Most locals will be holding their nomination meetings in January (some in February) so the time to act is now. Call TDU or the Leedham Campaign for information and assistance.

Spread the Word: Informing members about the election will be up to Teamsters like us. You can help by passing out flyers and information. Make sure you get on the Leedham Campaign mailing list and email list to receive regular updates and campaign materials.

Build Campaign Events: Slate members will be hitting the road to talk about their plans for the future of the Teamsters Union, in a series of upcoming campaign events. Get involved by attending or hosting a campaign meeting in your area. Contact the campaign for details.

Build the Campaign Warchest: The Leedham Campaign will also be launching a drive to raise $100,000 by the end of January as the start of a larger warchest. Funds are needed to finance travel for candidates and to reach the 1.4 million Teamsters. Donate online at www.leedham2006.org or send a check to Leedham Campaign, 1863 Pioneer Parkway East #217, Springfield OR 97477.


Click here: Tom Leedham Campaign for Teamster Presidency Moves Ahead!
Click here: Hoffa 'Dis-Unity' Slate Splits
Click here: After the Hoffa Split: Forging Alliances Based on Plans, Not Personalities
Click here: Teamster Candidates Will Debate

December 5, 2005: James Hoffa’s so-called “Unity” Slate split into competing factions as Tyson Johnson announced his candidacy for Teamster General President. Johnson is the Director of the Freight Division and an IBT Vice President from the Southern Region. Other Hoffa-slate Vice Presidents are reportedly joining the breakaway effort.

Johnson announced his candidacy in a letter to Hoffa on December 12. He and Central Region Vice President Phil Young have been working to recruit other International Vice Presidents and Teamster officials to their slate. Among the IBT Vice Presidents who have joined the Johnson effort is Tom O’Donnell, who previously announced he would challenge Hoffa for the presidency himself.

Hoffa is apparently trying to patch up the rift. His PR man, Richard Leebove, dismissed the whole thing to reporters on December 15, three days after Johnson faxed Hoffa of his candidacy, as “only a rumor.”

The breakup of the Hoffa “Unity” Slate is a damaging blow to Hoffa who has depended on the united support of most Teamster officials to deliver the vote. Now that unity is fracturing at the highest levels of our union-and among local officers as well.

The president of New Jersey Joint Council 73, Don DiLeo, has joined the Johnson effort shortly after declaring his candidacy for Eastern Region Vice President.

“The Teamsters do not need and should not be influenced by non-Teamsters, outside consultants, etc.”—a reference to Greg Tarpinian, the consultant who has become Hoffa’s leading strategist and a lightning rod for Teamster officers who resent the IBT’s arrogant, top-down approach to locals. Seventy percent of Joint Council 73 members' votes went to Hoffa in 2001.

Another former Hoffa supporter, Eastern Region Freight Director Danny Virtue, the president of Harrisburg Local 776, is also involved. More officers are expected to follow, draining votes out of the Hoffa camp.

One International Vice President who is sticking with Hoffa said that “Leedham and TDU must be ecstatic today.”

“It’s increasingly clear to Teamster members and officers alike that our union needs a different direction to stop the decline of Teamster power under Hoffa,” said Tom Leedham, candidate for General President on the Strong Contracts, Good Pensions Slate.

“We’ll be looking for common ground with all anti-Hoffa forces. And we'll continue to build our campaign to rebuild Teamster power, win strong contracts and good pensions, and organize the nonunion competition,” Leedham said.

Click here: Tom Leedham Campaign for Teamster Presidency Moves Ahead!
Click here: Members Back Tom Leedham Candidacy
Click here: After the Hoffa Split: Forging Alliances Based on Plans, Not Personalities
Click here: Teamster Candidates Will Debate

December 5, 2005: Teamsters will be able to judge the candidates for Teamster General President in a debate to be held in late August 2006, thanks to a proposal by Teamsters for a Democratic Union that is going to be made a part of the IBT Election Rules.

The debate will be overseen by the independent Election Supervisor, and will be recorded and distributed (presumably on DVDs) to Teamster members. We are hopeful that it will be mailed to all members, by far the most effective way to reach members and encourage more Teamsters to vote.

TDU attorney Barbara Harvey put forward the proposal to amend the rules, and argued for it at a hearing before Judge Loretta Preska, who then directed the U.S. Attorney and the IBT to negotiate the terms of a debate.

There is one weak point in the proposed final debate rule which TDU is working to change: a candidate for General President can send his Secretary Treasurer running mate as a stand-in. TDU made a submission to Judge Preska asking that this single part be changed, so that members can see the actual candidates, and not a stand-in. A final decision is expected soon.

Hoffa’s attorneys pushed for the stand-in clause. In 2001, Hoffa waited until the last minute to chicken out of his scheduled debate with Tom Leedham. This time, he’s got attorneys working on an escape route a year in advance!

Teamster members deserve to have a real debate between the candidates, to help make an informed decision on the future of our union. Fortunately, we have TDU to make it happen.


Click here: Tom Leedham Campaign for Teamster Presidency Moves Ahead!
Click here: Members Back Tom Leedham Candidacy
Click here: Hoffa 'Dis-Unity' Slate Splits
Click here: After the Hoffa Split: Forging Alliances Based on Plans, Not Personalities

December 1, 2005: On the same day that Tom Leedham delivered more than 55,000 petition signatures to become an officially accredited candidate for General President, James Hoffa's so-called 'Unity' Slate split into competing factions.

Hoffa's Freight Director and Southern Region Vice President Tyson Johnson has announced his candidacy for General President. Other IBT Vice Presidents and Hoffa supporters are reportedly abandoning the Hoffa ship.
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The breakup of the Hoffa Unity Slate is an embarrassing and damaging blow to Hoffa, whose record of pension cuts and declining Teamster power has cost him support from members and officers alike.

In 2001, the Hoffa Campaign depended on the united support of most Teamster officials to deliver the vote. Now that unity is fracturing.

As the Hoffa camp splits, growing numbers of Teamster members and officers are getting behind the Tom Leedham Strong Contracts, Good Pension Slate.Click here to visit the Tom Leedham Strong Contracts, Good Pensions Slate Website

Click here: Hoffa 'Dis-Unity' Slate Splits
Click here: Members Back Tom Leedham Candidacy
Click here: After the Hoffa Split: Forging Alliances Based on Plans, Not Personalities
Click here: Teamster Candidates Will Debate

October 30, 2005: At $345,408 total compensation, John Coli is the top Teamster fat cat in this year’s $100,000 Club. He is also the newest member of the Hoffa Slate. Coli has announced that news to various Teamster officials.

Coli is best known for his prominent role in the scandal that led Hoffa’s anti-corruption czar Ed Stier to resign last year, along with the entire staff of Project RISE, Hoffa’s anti-corruption program. Coli was accused of using his influence in the General President’s office to shut down Stier’s investigations into organized crime influence and corruption in Chicago. Hoffa pulled the plug on Stier’s investigations—and Stier resigned in protest—before these allegations against Coli could be proven. But here is what is definitely known about Hoffa’s newest running mate.

Coli is the head of the powerful Chicago Joint Council and of Local 727. He inherited the leadership of Local 727 in 1992 after his father retired and his brother was removed from the Teamsters by the Independent Review Board (IRB). Coli’s father was a member of the Chicago mafia, according to the Stier Report of 2004, but he himself has never been identified as a mob associate.

Coli’s local is being investigated by the FBI, and a Grand Jury has issued subpoenas regarding alleged kickbacks and fraud involving the members’ dental plan. A report by Stier details a scheme where money from the plan travels to an “insurer” owned by a Florida dentist, then to an account in Illinois, before a lesser amount is deposited in the dental service providers’ authorized account.

What It Means
Why would James Hoffa name this man to his slate, hoping to make him a top leader of the Teamsters Union? This is a man who inherited his power, is under FBI investigation, helped kill-off the Teamster anti-corruption program, and whose first love is the members’ money.

He is doing it because Coli is a Teamster power broker: he has personal influence in high places inside our union.

This is the same reason Hoffa put another Chicago power broker, Billy Hogan, on his slate ten years ago, until investigations of his operations got too hot. Eventually Hogan was removed from the union for trying to implement a sweetheart contract with a company that his family had an interest in.

This is the opposite of the way power should flow in our union. It should flow upward, from the members, stewards and local organizers. Leadership should be earned, not inherited or extorted. Leaders should be selected for their integrity and their ability to win strong contracts.

In 2006 Teamster members will have a choice between those two kinds of leadership.

September 25, 2005: The Election Rules, which govern our election for International officers and delegate elections in every local, have been improved, thanks to a strong set of proposals from Teamsters for a Democratic Union.

On August 31 U.S. Attorney David Kelley submitted revised Rules to federal judge Loretta Preska for approval, with four changes from the Proposed Rules issued in May. All four were proposed by TDU and submitted to the U.S.
Attorney by TDU counsel Barbara Harvey.

These improvements are:

• Candidates will now have the right to distribute campaign materials by email, under guidelines to be established by the Election Supervisor. This means that Accredited Candidates can send materials to Teamsters using email addresses held by the union.

• Campaign literature from candidates that appears in the Teamster magazine, in the “battle pages” that TDU originally proposed and won in 1991, will now also appear on the Teamster website.

• Members will not have to sign their full social security or social insurance number on petitions and other forms, but only the last four digits, to protect members’ privacy. This victory was announced earlier.

• Election protests can be filed by email, as well as by fax or regular mail.

TDU’s submission, made on June 2, 2005, contained other proposals as well. Most notably TDU called for a debate between the candidates for General President, to be recorded on a DVD and mailed to all Teamsters. Hoffa successfully defeated this positive proposal, which would certainly increase the percentage of members who vote.

On September 1, TDU counsel Barbara Harvey requested Judge Preska to allow time for TDU to consider whether to submit comments to the court about additional changes to the Rules that would help level the playing field and involve more members in the democratic process.

TDU is proud that we have won improvements which make our union more democratic for all members, especially the right of candidates to provide campaign information to members via email addresses held by the union. We have fought long and hard to win improvements in the Rules, and have successfully done so in each Teamster election.

We urge all Teamsters to get informed, get involved, and participate in the upcoming democratic process that will shape the future of our union.

September 5, 2005: The famous Hoffa “Unity” is straining under the pressure of pension cuts and declining Teamster power. The first open split in the Hoffa slate came on August 28, when Tom O’Donnell, International Vice President at Large from New York, officially announced he would run against Hoffa for General President in 2006.

The divisions in the Hoffa camp don’t end there. O’Donnell circulated a letter charging that Hoffa “never knew the real purpose of the International. But then how could he. He was never a Teamster.” This from the IBT vice president who has raised hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars for Hoffa.

In early September, Hoffa got a cool reception from many officials at the Eastern Region meeting. A large minority of the officials present broke ranks and sat silently without clapping when Hoffa and Keegel spoke. The bulk of local officials in New Jersey Joint Council 73, where Hoffa won 69% of the vote in 2001, are ready to get off the Hoffa train, along with some others around the Eastern region.

The cracks in Hoffa’s official unity are not just in the east, but also in the central and southern areas. Discontent is widespread among officials in freight locals who feel that Hoffa has given up on the freight industry. Some are campaigning for IBT Vice Presidents from freight to break with Hoffa and run their own slate.

At the recent Teamster National Black Caucus (TNBC) annual conference, there was almost no open support for Hoffa. Instead of lining up support for Hoffa, TNBC delegates were talking about increasing African-American representation at the top of the union. Hoffa’s General Executive Board has only one voting African-American member.

Two international officers were recently pressured to resign their office: Ron McClain of Iowa and Joe McLean of Ontario, Canada. Several others will not be running on the Hoffa slate, either because they have been tossed off or are leaving on their own.

In fact, when Hoffa launched a candidate accreditation petition in August by pressuring international reps and local officers to gather signatures, his “slate” consisted of just two candidates: Hoffa and Tom Keegel. Hoffa-Keegel got the signatures required to become Accredited Candidates.

Click here: Prepare Now for Winter Delegate Races
Click here: TDU Wins Changes in Election Rules
Click here: Committee for New Leadership Lays Groundwork for Campaign

September 25, 2005: Almost every Teamster local union will hold a supervised, mail-ballot election this winter to elect delegates to the IBT Convention next June. A schedule for your local union’s delegate race will be available by Sept. 30.

You need to get a copy and get involved. By running for Convention Delegate—or supporting reform candidates for delegate—you can strengthen our campaign to dump Hoffa in 2006.

Do you want to replace the Hoffa administration with strong, accountable leaders who will fight for working Teamsters? Reform delegates are needed to officially nominate opposition candidates and put a reform slate on the ballot.

Delegates will also vote on reforms to the IBT Constitution and proposals to hold pension trustees accountable to the members.

Get Your Local Union’s Plan
By September 30, your local must submit a Local Union Plan to the Election Supervisor, with the schedule for your election—including the date of nominations.

You can get a head start right now by requesting a complete copy of the Local Union Plan, which your local must provide to any member that requests it. This plan includes a full worksite list with the location of every employer in your local.

The place to be if you are running for delegate or want to be involved in the campaign is the TDU Convention in St. Louis, Nov. 4-6. Through workshops and member-to member interaction, you will learn how to run, win and participate effectively at the IBT Convention next June.

September 15, 2005: “Teamsters who want new IBT leadership can’t wait until 2006 to get started,” said Atlanta Local 728 President Randy Brown. “We have work that’s got to get done this fall. We need to petition to get a reform slate officially accredited, and we need to prepare to win the delegate elections. Those have got to be priorities for Teamsters who want change in this union.”

Brown is part of the Committee for New Leadership, a network of Teamster officers and leaders working to pull together a strong and diverse reform slate for the International Union election in 2006.

September 5, 2005: The committee is preparing to announce an initial slate of candidates and to launch an accreditation petition drive so these candidates will have the right to publish their program in the campaign “battle pages” section of the Teamster magazine.

“A number of us are prepared to run for the General Executive Board as part of a reform team,” said Dan Scott, the Secretary-Treasurer of Seattle Local 174. “We need leadership at the IBT that can bring together Teamster members and officers to rebuild this union’s power and take on the big challenges including organizing Overnite, defending members’ pensions and benefits, building strong local unions, and gearing up for successful negotiations at UPS and freight in 2008.”

“We’re prepared to work with all Teamsters who want to dump Hoffa, to make sure every Teamster that wants change feels represented in a new IBT leadership,” said T.C. Bundrant, the president of Tenn. Local 549.

Teamster members are getting involved by building local campaign committees, making fundraising plans and preparing to run in upcoming elections for IBT Convention Delegate. Special campaign preparation meetings will be held at the TDU Convention in November.

If you’re interested in building the campaign in your area, contact TDU.

Click here: Cracks in Hoffa Unity
Click here: Prepare Now for Winter Delegate Races
Click here: TDU Wins Changes in Election Rules