A court order has finally ended a year-long corruption cover-up by Hoffa-Hall. It’s time for the Election Supervisor to order a rerun election and give Teamster members the fair and informed vote they were denied last November.

On January 10, the Hoffa-Hall administration turned over 33,000 emails and documents they suppressed from corruption investigators since March 10, 2016.

It took a court order from Judge Loretta Preska and obstruction charges against Ken Hall to end the Hoffa-Hall corruption cover-up.

Hoffa-Hall used millions of dollars in union resources to conceal information about corruption from the members.

The cover-up—paid for with your dues—tainted the closest election in Teamster history by denying members a fair and informed vote.

The Election Supervisor can, and must, correct this wrongdoing by ordering a rerun election.

What Hoffa-Hall Covered Up

If Hoffa-Hall had complied with the law and the consent order they signed, members would have known the outcome of key corruption charges before they voted.

This includes the charges against Hoffa-Hall running mate Rome Aloise and Hoffa’s Executive Assistant Willie Smith.

Rome Aloise was charged on February 10. Under the consent order, a verdict on the corruption charges against Hoffa-Hall running mate Rome Aloise was due by May 10—six months before the election and six weeks before IBT candidates were even nominated.

Hoffa’s Executive Assistant Willie Smith was caught taking gifts from a Teamster employer. But thanks to obstruction, the corruption charges against Smith didn’t issue until November 17, after members had already voted.

If Hoffa-Hall had complied with the Consent Order, corruption investigators would have accessed 33,000 emails and documents last March.

Every Teamster voter would know a lot more about the illegal bid-rigging of a Teamster benefit fund contract to benefit a friend of Aloise who took Willie Smith, James Hoffa and others on golf trips to Scotland and Ireland.

Protests & Precedents

Under the Election Rules and federal law, Teamsters are entitled to a fair and informed vote, and union resources cannot be used to benefit the incumbent’s campaign.

The case for a rerun is laid out in protest P-419 by Julian Gonzalez, counsel for the Fred Zuckerman Teamsters United Slate, which details Hoffa-Hall’s use of union resources to benefit their campaign—and numerous other offenses.

In protest P-420, TDU counsel Barbara Harvey outlines Hoffa-Hall’s violations of members’ legal right to a fair and informed vote. Harvey is one of the leading union-democracy attorneys in the U.S.

In overturning the 1996 IBT election and ordering a rerun, the Election Officer ruled, “The IRB charges cited by the protestors would only justify delay or withholding of certification . . . if the conduct involved, evaluated under the [Election Rules], was a violation that may have affected the outcome of the election in the sense that it abridged the IBT rank-and-file membership's right to a free, fair and honest election.”

In the 2016 election, a swing of just 1.5% of votes cast—or 3,000 members— would have made Fred Zuckerman the Teamster president.

Richard Mark, the Election Supervisor, has the power to order a rerun. He should do so to protect Teamster democracy and restore members’ confidence in the election process. 

Note: If a rerun is ordered, the six International Union Vice President positions won by Teamsters United will not be rerun because they were not affected by the Hoffa-Hall slate’s violations. The Teamsters Canada positions are not contested by the protests and would also not be rerun.