On May 16, Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters’ Office of the Election Admin. granted James P. Hoffa’s slate’s protest against rival Tom Leedham’s slate for improperly accepting employer contributions. OEA, established to monitor the 2001 IBT election, found that Leedham (close ally of disgraced ex-boss Ron Carey) and other slate candidates violated IBT election rules by receiving contributions from Northwest Airlines, through the use of companion passes given to them by candidate Ashley McNeely, a NWA employee and IBT Local 2000 member. Hoffa’s slate argued that the receipt of these passes were a receipt of employer contributions, contrary to election rules, the IBT constitution, and the Landrum-Griffin Act. Hoffa’s slate also alleged that the passes were not properly reported to OEA.
An arbitrator determined that the companion passes were not McNeely’s to give to non-NWA employees for campaign purposes. Having received those passes through McNeely and having used those passes for campaign purposes, OEA held that Leedham’s slate improperly used NWA property to support their election efforts in a manner forbidden by the election rules. OEA ordered Leedham and the others to repay NWA $1,457. [OEA Protest Decision No. 2001EAD370, 5/16/01]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
“[Am. Fed’n of State, County, & Mun. Employees’] District Council 37’s troubles began with an invitation to corruption. The [bosses] who controlled the city’s largest municipal union realized that, with a little bit of help, they could convert DC37’s assets into their own personal ATM. The supposedly secure haven in which the union’s 125,000 members had deposited their hard-earned dues became a cookie jar.”
-Mark Rosenthal, president of AFSCME Local 983 in N.Y.C. and founder of Committee for Real Change in DC37, in an May 22 Newsday oped.