BY BRIAN TAYLOR
The U.S. government is threatening to prevent Ronald Carey, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, from running for that post in a federally mandated reelection.

Just days after 185,000 Teamsters were victorious in their national strike against the United Parcel Service (UPS), Barbara Zack Quindel, a Clinton administration official appointed to oversee the Teamsters union, nullified the results of the December election of the union president. On grounds of alleged improper fund-raising, Quindel ordered a new election and launched an investigation against Carey.

In voiding the election, Quindel claimed that more than $200,000 of funds were illegally collected by the Carey campaign. On September 15 James Hoffa Jr., who was narrowly defeated by Carey, called on Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint an independent counsel to investigate allegations that Carey received illegal funds from Democratic Party officials.

The same day Carey appealed for the government to disqualify Hoffa from running on similar charges of illegal receipt of funds.

Quindel has tried to implicate other unions, as well as the AFL-CIO union federation, as part the government investigation, potentially widening the scope of any criminal charges.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home