Kenneth E. Bates, convicted of shooting a woman in 1985, has been banned from holding office in LIUNA Local 2 in Chicago. He was nominated to run for executive board member. LIUNA’s “in-house trial judge” Peter Vaira, ruled Feb. 23 that Bates is disqualified as a candidate because of his conviction. Federal labor law bars anyone convicted of murder and certain other felonies from holding union office for 13 years after being released from prison. But the federal judge who imposed the sentence can drop the restriction, which Bates said he’ll attempt to have done. He was sentenced to prison in 1986 and released in 1997.
Jim McGough of Laborers for Justice, a dissident group, challenged Bates’ nomination. McGough has dubbed the opposition the “Organized Crime Slate.” Local 2 is part of the Chicago Laborers Dist. Council which voted in 1999 to cooperate with the DOJ and LIUNA’s controversial “reform” effort. [Chi. Sun-Times 2/27/01]
New Info on McAuliffe’s Role in Money-Laundering Scandal
Terry McAuliffe, top Clinton fundraiser and DNC Chairman, may not have been the uninvolved bystander he claims he was in the money-laundering scandal that led to the indictment of ex-Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters boss Ron Carey. McAuliffe has said he had nothing to do with the alleged scheme by which Democratic contributors gave to Carey’s 1996 campaign, in exchange, IBT gave large sums to the Democratic Party. But the Phil. Inquirer cites sworn testimony from Democratic and union sources that McAuliffe was, in fact, a “prime mover” and “main intermediary” in raising the money from Democratic donors for Carey’s campaign. [“Special Report with Brit Hume,” Fox News 2/20/01]