The court-appointed Indep. Rev. Bd. of Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters accused William T. Hogan, a top IBT boss in the Midwest, May 23 of colluding with a Las Vegas janitorial service company to have the firm’s nonunion employees perform work at Las Vegas trades shows and conventions. IRB’s report alleged that Hogan, president of Chi. Teamsters Jt. Council 25, and IBT int’l rep. Dane Passo with scheming to have employees of the Chi.-based United Servs. Companies perform trade show work at rates below those paid members of IBT Local 631. The two union officials allegedly schemed to try and force the trustees of Local 631 to enter into a substandard contract with United, according to the 177-page report. Hogan had no official responsibility for the operation of Local 631. But Hogan’s brother, Michael is vice-president of United.
In the report, forwarded to the Teamsters General Executive Board, IRB recommends internal union charges be brought against Hogan and Passo for violating their fiduciary obligations to the union and its members.
Hogan was formerly the secretary-treasurer of Chicago IBT Local 714. In 1996, following an IRB investigation, the local was put in trusteeship. Among other things, IRB found that the local was being run for the benefit of the Hogan family and not its members. The report contained a number of allegations of nepotism and conflict of interest by Hogan and other officers who were Hogan family members. At the time the trusteeship was imposed, Hogan was a candidate for IBT int’l secretary-treasurer, running with James P. Hoffa who was challenging disgraced ex-boss Ron Carey. Hogan subsequently dropped out of the race. In addition to Council 25, Hogan currently serves as the organizing and political director for Local 714, an int’l rep., and vice-president of Local 179 in Joliet. His various union salaries add up to $210,000 a year.
Passo ran Hoffa’s campaign effort in Chicago. Passo was a special representative appointed by Hoffa to monitor the Local 631 trusteeship. He lost that title last October but has continued with the same duties, according to IRB. [BNA, Chi. Trib. 5/25/01]
Federal Probe of Boston Boss Expands
Federal investigators probing alleged racketeering by Int’l Bhd. of Teamster Local 25 boss George W. Cashman have reportedly subpoenaed his expense records from Boston’s Massport, where he sits on the board of directors, and are eyeing connections the agency has with two of his associates. Investigators are allegedly looking into public relations contracts Massport has had with the Rendon Group, which is run by Cashman ally Rick Rendon, as well as records regarding Mark E. Robinson, the chairman of the board of directors. Robinson’s Boston law firm, Bingham, Dana, represents the real estate division of the New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund and has received more than $2.5 million in fees since 1997.
Reportedly, investigators will also seek records regarding the hiring of temporary workers on dockside jobs governed by the Teamsters at the Black Falcon Terminal in South Boston. Allegedly, Local 25 officials allegedly offered part-time Massport jobs to members of several area police departments as a quid pro quo for the rank and file to agree to Teamster representation.
Rendon helped push through an ill-fated plan for a $13 million Teamster-run soundstage on the campus of Bunker Hill Community College with the support of ex-Gov. Paul Cellucci (R). Rendon and Cashman also formed Mass. Organizations Vying for the Industry of Entertainment (MOVIE) to lobby for filmmaking in Mass. Rendon has received several no-bid contracts from Massport since Cashman, whose term expires in 2007, was appointed to the board by ex-Gov. William Weld (R). Among Rendon’s contracts were a $119,000 award to film a promotional video on the Head of the Charles Regatta and a $25,000 grant for the Rendon-organized Boston Sports Award Dinner. [Boston Her. 5/22/01]