Demokratische Gewerkschaft- täte wirklich not...

Wie kurz nach der Ernenung zu Kandidaten der Oppositionsliste mehrere ihrer Mitglieder angegriffen und teilweise auch körperlich angegriffen wurden berichtet Tim Pagel in dem (englischen) Beitrag "Hoffa's Campaign Supporter Violently Assaults Dissident Candidate At IBT" vom 7. Juli 2006, publiziert auf der Mailingliste "Labor-L".

Hoffa's Campaign Supporter Violently Assaults Dissident Candidate At IBT - Convention Democracy At Work?

von Tim Pagel

The court-appointed Election Supervisor has ruled that a candidate on the Tom Leedham Slate, Richard Berg, was violently assaulted by a prominent Hoffa supporter at the Teamster Convention in Las Vegas. The assault occurred just one hour after Berg was nominated to run for Teamster Vice President against the Hoffa Slate.

A second assault by a Hoffa supporter is also under investigation by the Election Supervisor. In that incident, a Leedham supporter, truck driver and elected convention delegate was knocked unconscious by a union representative who is employed by a Vice President on the Hoffa Slate.

"Hoffa has projected a glossy PR image of this Convention to the world, while working Teamsters have taken a beating away from the cameras," said Tom Leedham, who was officially nominated for Teamster General President."That sums up the two faces of the Teamsters under Hoffa. One glossy PR image is projected to the public, while working Teamsters are being hammered with benefit cuts and declining union power."

"My campaign is about fighting for working Teamsters whose wages, benefits and rights are taking a beating," Leedham said.

According to the Election Supervisor's ruling, Richard Lopez fled the Convention after the assault and went into hiding under an assumed name to avoid the Election Supervisor's investigation. General President Hoffa and the Teamster leadership were immediately notified of the need to locate Mr. Lopez but the investigation of the assault was impeded so that the news of this assault would not be released until after the conclusion of the Convention.

When Lopez finally appeared, he was represented by attorney David Hoffa, the son of General President James P. Hoffa. The Election Supervisor ruled that Mr. Lopez's testimony was "not at all credible."

In a separate ruling, the Election Supervisor found that another prominent Hoffa supporter, present at the Convention as a guest of the Hoffa Campaign, improperly collected ballots in an attempt to steal an election from Leedham's top running mate, Sandy Pope. The Hoffa Campaign financed and staffed the election where the ballot collecting occurred. Pope is running against the Hoffa Slate for General Secretary-Treasurer, the union's second top office.

Because of the severity of the misconduct, the incident has been referred to the Independent Review Board for appropriate action. The IRB is an independent anti-corruption body established pursuant to the settlement of a racketeering lawsuit filed against the Teamsters by the U.S. Department of Justice.