Although it’s business as usual for just about every union election ever conducted, we’re happy to see a court-appointed election supervisor at least dare to find fault with Teamster President James Hoffa’s (latest) attempts to bribe his way to reelection. The election supervisor found that Hoffa himself had offered jobs and pensions to three high ranking union officials not to run against him. One of those bribed, Trustee Frank Gallegos testified he didn’t take the job offer because he didn’t trust Hoffa to follow through with his promises – exactly the double-edged character endorsement we look for in a president of anything. According to Labor Notes, the supervisor’s report offered “a window on officials more concerned with preserving their own jobs than with the working conditions, pension crises, and layoffs facing Teamster members around the country.” The report says, “The conduct revealed in this investigation reflects a culture or mind-set where elected union officials do not clearly distinguish between their fiduciary responsibilities to the union and their separate political objectives of achieving election.” You don’t say! As punishment for election tampering Hoffa must pay for a mailing to all locals admitting to the attempted bribery. (We aren’t making that up.) The supervisor found that since the bribes weren’t accepted there were no grounds for further action.
