Despite the funding questions, candidates for Teamsters president, James Hoffa, Tom Leedham and John Metz continue to campaign. Infighting between former Carey supporters, Leedham and Metz, has surfaced. Acting President Tom Sever, who is running on the Metz slate, raised tensions by downsizing the Field Services department. 12 organizers under Field Services head David Eckstein have been laid off, and another 12 were reassigned. Eckstein was stripped of his power. His aides and a research department colleague had their computers impounded by Sever. “The bottom line is it’s all retaliation against me for running for union office,” said Eckstein. Sever’s action came less than a week after Eckstein, announced he was joining Leedham’s slate as a candidate for union trustee. Eckstein has filed 2 protests with the election officer. [AP 06/27/98]
Tainted Family Returns to Power
On Jun. 30, Bobby Hogan was elected secretary-treasurer of the 12,000-member Teamsters Local 714 in Chicago. Bobby’s victory comes 2 years after his father, William Hogan, was stripped of his duties when a trusteeship was imposed on the Local. In 1996, the now-disgraced Ron Carey accused William and several of his family members, including Bobby, of conflicts of interest, nepotism, abandonment of democratic principles, financial mismanagement and running the local as “a family business” pointing to a web of Hogan family companies that did business with the local. John Metz has been trustee for Local 714 since 1996 and said that despite Bobby’s victory his ability to serve is in question. Metz said a round of internal charges against him could bar him from office and even expel him. [BNA Daily Labor Report 07/06/98]