November 12, 2010: “Why is Hoffa so afraid of the members? And why am I not afraid of our members?” asked Sandy Pope in a recent speech. “Well, first off, I’m a Teamster.”

Her message is that Hoffa has given up on Teamsters. On building strong national contracts, on our pensions, and on taking on corporate power.

Her campaign stickers and T-Shirts carry the message: “A tough leader for tough times.”

Pope supporters are petitioning at this time to make her an official candidate. We asked some of them about support for the petition drive, and here’s what they had to say.

New York Local 804

“When she announced her campaign, I personally promised Sandy 1,000 signatures from Long Island—and I’ve turned them in already. We’ve turned in 2,000 signatures from Local 804 altogether—and there’s more to go.”

Dave Oringer, Local 804, Long Island, N.Y.

Wisconsin Local 200

“We’ve been out petitioning for a week or so in the Milwaukee area. I’ve been getting the petition circulated at Holland and out to other drivers on the road. We know we need to get to Roundy’s—the big grocery warehouse and UPS Freight, YRC and a couple big waste sites. We’re shooting for 2,000 signatures.”

Dave Kumm, Holland, Local 200, Milwaukee

Baltimore Local 355

“I brought four clipboards and a folding table to work and stood in front of the gate before my shift and after my shift to get signatures. Only three people passed me by—everyone else I saw signed the petition.”

Kenny Walker, UPS, Local 355, Baltimore, Md.

Iowa Local 90

“We collected 140 plus on pre-load and package. There’s more to get there and then we have to get to twilight and midnight too. I gave some sheets to feeder drivers to talk to our guys and get them out to other UPS sites. We have 40 out of the Ames center with more to go. I’ve started making calls around the state to other UPS activists to get them petitioning at their centers. We’re shooting for at least 600.”

Todd Hartsell, UPS, Local 90, Des Moines

Lexington, Ky. Local 651

“I went out from 1:30 AM till 4:30 AM at my building, and I caught signatures from feeder drivers, hub workers, and some of the pre-load. Then I went out the next day from 1:30 PM to 9:30 PM to catch noon-day coming out, twilight, and a lot of the package car drivers.

“A lot of Teamsters here want an election. Many of them were just hearing about Sandy for the first time, but they were impressed—the thing that really caught there eye was that she teaches labor studies at Cornell University.

“We got 400 signatures out of my building.”

Doug Roberts, UPS, Local 651, Lexington, Ky.

North Carolina Local 391

“I took two days of my vacation to petition in Greensboro and Raleigh.

“Basically everyone has the same story: They are not satisfied with our union, and they want a choice in this upcoming election. We got over 300 signatures.”

Nichele Fulmore, UPS, Local 391, Lumberton, North Carolina

New York Local 814

“When we were negotiating our Moving and Storage contract, Sandy was there for us, and gave us a lot of help.

“Now Local 814 members are going to be there for her. We’re getting signatures all over our local to get a choice in the next election.”

Chris Lang, Certified Moving and Storage, Local 814, New York

Minnesota Local 320

“We came back from the TDU convention fired up and ready to roll. We hit UPS first thing Monday morning and got close to 200 signatures for Sandy Pope.

“We visited Honeywell in the afternoon on their shift break and got 40. We know there are more to get there. We’ve got a plan to get out to the Super Valu warehouse and other locations like YRC, Sysco, Coke and Pepsi. We ended the day back at UPS for a total of 320 signatures which we promptly mailed to the campaign.

“People are ready to see Hoffa go and they’re ready to sign to get Sandy access.

“By the way, the gel pen is the way to keep them signing in the cold.”

David Kremer, Univ. of Minnesota, Local 320, Minneapolis

New York Local 237

“My local is the largest local in the Teamsters—but it doesn’t feel that way. Members feel like forgotten Teamsters—nobody cares about us.

“But we’re not going to let them forget us. We’ve been talking to Teamsters all over the five boroughs to get signatures for Sandy and have a choice in this election.”

Noreen Hollingsworth, Taxi and Limousine Commission, New York, Local 237

Have you been collecting signatures for the Sandy Pope campaign? Click here to send us your report.

Sandy Pope t-shirts and stickers are now available.

Sandy Pope is running against Hoffa for Teamster General President.

Click here to order gear and show your support for the Sandy Pope campaign.

October 15, 2010: Sandy Pope, a national Teamster leader and long-time reformer, has entered the race for Teamster President. In just days, her campaign has started to generate excitement and campaign action.

Pope declared her candidacy at a gathering of supporters in New York on October 10: “Except for his last name, I don’t think anyone would confuse James Hoffa with his father,” said Pope.

Vincent Lattimore, a member of New York Local 237 said that “The meeting was a great kick-off to Sandy Pope’s campaign. I was inspired by her energy and sincerity—she will be a President who works to train our members to organize and negotiate good contracts.

“The team in our local set a goal of getting 2,500 petition signatures for Sandy. We’ve already got a few hundred in just the first couple days.”

Pope has already gotten some national media coverage, been out campaigning in New York and will be in Chicago this weekend. Hundreds of emails, calls and donations have come in to the campaign office.

The campaign is spreading to areas where Hoffa had little competition in the 2006 election. In Phoenix Local 104, John Davidson reports that “We’re getting a very positive response, we’ll be able to get 500 petition signatures. A lot of members tell us we need new blood, and definitely need a choice in the election.”

The campaign website is www.SandyPope2011.org

The campaign’s first challenge is a petition drive to become an officially Accredited Candidate for General President. Teamsters in various areas are setting local goals and making plans to deliver a huge petition output. Read more about the petition drive.

“Tough economic times require tough leadership,” said Pope. “Wall Street drove our economy over the cliff, but working people are the ones paying the price—and, too often, unions are the ones getting the blame. We need to stand up to that, not cave in.

“I’ve mobilized members to protect their health benefits and pensions while Hoffa has been giving away the store,” Pope said.

She has not chosen a slate, but is targeting the powerful position of General President. She is holding open various options, because slates and candidates will not be nominated until late June, 2011.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) has endorsed Sandy Pope and will support her candidacy. TDU’s Steering Committee voted unanimously to back the campaign, after consulting TDU chapters, and activists and members, along with other Teamster leaders.

Pope ran for General Secretary Treasurer with Tom Leedham in 2006, and topped the poll for the challengers. Leedham is supporting Pope’s campaign. He told a group of campaigners and Teamster leaders that: “We have the candidate who can win.”

Sandy Pope, president of a Teamsters local in New York City and one of the most prominent women in the union, announced on Monday that she would challenge James P. Hoffa for the presidency.

Mr. Hoffa, who has the most famous name in organized labor, has headed the International Brotherhood of Teamsters since 1999. The election will be in October 2011.

Click here to read more at The New York Times.

October 13, 2010: Sandy Pope, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 805 president in Long Island, N.Y., announced Oct. 10 to union members that she plans to challenge James P. Hoffa, the incumbent general president, during the union's 2011 national election.

In an Oct. 11 statement, Pope said, “We need a Teamsters General President who will put the power of our union to work for the members. The Teamsters Union is the most powerful union in the world and we should start acting like it, instead of abandoning members and local unions to deal with these problems by themselves.” Pope said that she is the first woman to run for the top seat of the 1.4 million member union.

“Tough economic times require tough leadership,” Pope said, adding that Wall Street drove “our economy over the cliff, but working people are the ones paying the price and, too often, unions are the ones getting the blame. We need to stand up to that, not cave in. I've mobilized members to protect their health benefits and pensions while Hoffa has been giving away the store.”

Pope first joined the Teamsters union in 1978, working as a warehouse selector and steelhauler, according to a statement. She later worked in the freight industry as a driver and dockworker. In 1985, she became a Teamsters' organizer and then the executive director of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, training and involving new leaders in the labor movement. In the 1990s, she worked as international representative for IBT in the warehouse division. Since 2004, she has served as Local 805 president.

“In a tough economy, Sandy has negotiated contracts that have protected members' health benefits and pensions,” according to a statement issued by her campaign. “She's mobilized members and joined forces with other Teamster locals and community groups to take on nonunion competition who are threatening good union jobs.”

Second IBT Officer to Challenge Hoffa

Ken Paff, national organizer for Teamsters for a Democratic Union—a group that has endorsed Pope's candidacy—said Oct. 12 that he expects most of Pope's support to come from IBT members who would have voted for Hoffa.

Paff added that the votes of other members who would have voted for Hoffa will go to Fred Gegare, the only other declared candidate for general president. Gegare is the union chairman of the Central States Pension Fund, an international vice president, the head of IBT's dairy division, the head of the food processing division, and the president of Joint Council 39.

In July, Hoffa named Ken Hall to be his running mate as general secretary-treasurer for the IBT election, replacing Thomas Keegel, who announced he will retire at the end of his term (143 DLR A-8, 7/27/10).

According to Pope's campaign, the first step in the election process is to become an accredited candidate, which requires gaining the signatures of about 40,000 union members on petitions by Dec. 3. Becoming accredited allows candidates to get access to union membership lists and campaign space in IBT's magazine.

The office of election supervisor Richard W. Mark—an attorney with Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe in New York—oversees all nominating, balloting, and campaigning, which was established under the 1989 consent decree between the federal government and the Teamsters to resolve racketeering charges against the union.

Nominations for general president, general secretary-treasurer, and all vice president positions will take place at the IBT convention in June 2011 and a mail ballot election will be held in November 2011, the union announced previously. The new slate will take office in March 2012.

The Hoffa-Hall campaign did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Oct. 12.

By Alicia Biggs for The BNA Daily Labor Report.

Pope declared her candidacy at a gathering of supporters in New York on October 10: “Except for his last name, I don’t think anyone would confuse James Hoffa with his father,” said Pope. “We need a Teamster General President who will put the power of our union to work for the members.

“The Teamsters Union is the most powerful union in the world and we should start acting like it, instead of abandoning members and local unions to deal with the economic crisis on their own.”

Her campaign website is www.SandyPope2011.org

Her campaign raised $15,000 from concerned Teamsters on day one. A fund drive is underway to build the war chest needed to win.

The campaign’s first challenge is a petition drive to make Sandy an officially Accredited Candidate for General President. Teamsters are setting local goals and making plans to deliver a huge petition output. Read more about the petition drive here.

“Tough economic times require tough leadership,” said Pope. “Wall Street drove our economy over the cliff, but working people are the ones paying the price—and, too often, unions are the ones getting the blame. We need to stand up to that, not cave in.

“I’ve mobilized members to protect their health benefits and pensions while Hoffa has been giving away the store,” Pope said.

Pope has not chosen a slate, but is targeting the powerful position of General President. Slates and candidates will not be nominated until late June, 2011.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) has endorsed Sandy Pope and will support her candidacy. TDU’s Steering Committee voted unanimously to back the campaign, after consulting TDU chapters, and activists and members, along with other Teamster leaders.

Sandy will be speaking at the TDU Convention, November 5-7, in Chicago.

Pope ran for General Secretary Treasurer with Tom Leedham in 2006, and led the poll among potential challengers. Leedham is supporting Sandy’s campaign. He told a group of campaigners and Teamster leaders that: “We have the candidate who can win.”

Your Local Union will hold an election for delegates in just a short time––and you can be a part of the process.

Every Teamster local–including yours–will hold an election for delegates and alternate delegates to attend the Teamster Convention, which will be held in Las Vegas on June 27 - July 1, 2011. Nominations are coming up soon, so the time to think about it and get help is now.

Want to know more? Check out the Delegate Fact Sheet.

August 11, 2010: Dumped by his top running mate. His administration divided. Hoffa’s days may be numbered.

But only if Teamster members organize to make it happen.

Poor Jim Hoffa. Twelve years after riding his famous last name into office, it’s clear to even his closest allies that James P. Hoffa is not his father.

Hoffa’s top running mate, Tom Keegel, has announced his retirement and publicly stated that the union is on the wrong road. (See story, page 3).

The campaign for next year’s election for International Union officers is barely underway and already a half dozen top members of the Hoffa administration have defected, including five General Executive Board members.

The upheaval at the top of our union creates an opportunity for working Teamsters who have paid the price for Hoffa’s weak leadership. The race for IBT General President in 2011 is wide open.

No reform candidate for General President has announced yet. Nominations will be held at the IBT Convention in June 2011, and 1.3 million Teamsters will vote by mail ballot in November 2011.

But the time to organize for change is now. It will take 175,000 votes to elect the next General President. TDU is dedicated to building the grassroots army that can turn out these votes to win.

Contact TDU about how we can work together to dump Hoffa and elect leadership that will fight for the members.

The defection of Tom Keegel, Hoffa’s running mate, from the Hoffa re-election campaign has sent shock waves through the Teamster political scene.

In a July 15 letter to the General Executive Board, Keegel distanced himself from Hoffa, and criticized Hoffa’s direction and isolation from local officers and members. He plans to serve out his term and then retire in early 2012.

The letter states that “continuing down the same road as the IBT has traveled for the last few years will not lead us out of our present difficulties or help us avoid the problems yet to come.”

While respectful in tone, Keegel indicates that he will have more to say on the union’s problems, and “that time will come soon enough.”

The letter goes on to criticize Hoffa for listening to his appointees rather than local officers, and for having those same appointees run his reelection campaign.

Hoffa-Keegel Petitions in the Dumpster

As a result of Keegel’s bombshell, the Hoffa campaign had to ask the Election Supervisor to let them withdraw thousands of petitions circulated by local officials to accredit the Hoffa-Keegel slate. Stickers, buttons and other campaign paraphernalia also made the trip to the dumpster.

Hoffa then tapped International Vice President Ken Hall to replace Keegel as his running mate.

Hall, as the Parcel (UPS) Division Director, has been behind key decisions that have created rifts in the Hoffa camp and alienated many Teamster local officers and members.

In late 2007 Hoffa and Hall signed a contract allowing UPS to pull all its participants from the Central States Pension Fund, leaving that fund greatly weakened, and putting UPS Teamsters into a company fund with benefits far below most Teamster plans.

The contract also completely eliminated the clause forcing the company to create 10,000 additional full-time jobs.

The contract concessions were regarded as part of a deal with UPS to gain union recognition for UPS Freight employees. However, those employees were not put under the National Master Freight contract or into Teamster benefit funds.

Since that time, contract enforcement has gone downhill. UPS has eliminated thousands of full-time jobs which are guaranteed under the contract, but Hoffa and Hall have refused to hear any grievances about it at the national panel.

The Hoffa campaign has refused to comment on Keegel’s critical letter or his defection from the camp.

They pulled down the campaign website for two weeks until it reappeared with Ken Hall on it, without any comment on the switch.

All Teamsters to Vote

Nominations for General President, General Secretary-Treasurer and all Vice President positions will be held at the IBT Convention in late June 2011, and the mail ballot election of all 1.3 million Teamsters will be in November 2011.

Fred Gegare is at present the only other declared candidate for General President. He is also circulating accreditation petitions, along with three running mates for vice president positions.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the reform movement which previously backed the campaigns of Tom Leedham and Ron Carey, has not yet put forward or endorsed a candidate.

See www.TDU.org for updated information on the IBT election as well as to read Keegel’s letter and other materials.

August 11, 2010: Do you want them negotiating another UPS contract?

Can we afford more of the same?

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UPS's Record Profits and Our 35¢ Raise

The UPS Pension Divide

No Protection from New Technology and Production Harassment

Passing the Buck on 9.5 Violations