IBT Vote Scandal Worrying AFL-CIO (fwd)

[Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> Philadelphia Inquirer  --  December 27, 1997
>
> TEAMSTERS VOTE SCANDAL WORRYING LABOR LEADERS
>
> They're not sure how far the investigation  --  and charges  --  will
> spread. Trumka's role concerns them.
>
> By Kevin Galvin
> ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> WASHINGTON  --  The labor movement was stunned when Teamsters president Ron
> Carey was accused by a federally appointed board of complicity in a scheme
> that illegally financed his successful re-election campaign, then was
> barred from participating in a restaging of the election.
>
> But the fallout from the Teamsters election scandal has barely begun.
>
> A federal grand jury probe into the affair is continuing, and charges are
> expected to spread beyond the Teamsters into the AFL-CIO and political
> organizations allied with labor.
>
> Members of the AFL-CIO executive council are increasingly concerned about
> secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka's alleged role in a scheme to launder
> money for Carey's re-election.
>
> Labor leaders fear that the charges aimed at Trumka  --  who has invoked
> his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination  --  are overshadowing
> efforts to revitalize labor and clean up its image.
>
> A handful of influential union presidents voiced their concerns directly to
> AFL-CIO president John Sweeney in recent weeks, urging him to take steps to
> remove the federation from the controversy, even if that meant Trumka
> taking a leave of absence.
>
> One labor official said they just want to move on.
>
> The most serious question: Who will federal prosecutors in New York seek to
> indict?
>
> Carey's campaign manager and two consultants already have pleaded guilty to
> charges that they schemed to exchange Teamsters contributions to third
> parties for donations to the Carey campaign. About $885,000 in union
> treasury money was used to facilitate the schemes. Carey, who was known as
> a champion of union reform, denied wrongdoing. But a court-appointed
> election overseer doubted his testimony and barred him from a rerun. Carey
> took a leave of absence, and a federal panel with the task of fighting
> corruption at the Teamsters filed charges that could lead to his expulsion
> from the union.
>
> The next round of criminal charges is expected in January.
>
> Documents filed in federal court repeatedly have asserted that the union's
> former political director, William Hamilton, was a key player in the
> scheme. Hamilton has denied wrongdoing.
>
> Citizen Action, a liberal consumer group that was used as a conduit for the
> fund-raising scheme, was forced to shutter its national office.
>
> A West Coast fund-raiser tied to Citizen Action and the organization's top
> officers also have been implicated. Citizen Action's attorney said the
> organization was cooperating and that none of its officials knowingly did
> anything wrong.
>
> The slowly unfolding Teamsters scandal could have broad political consequences.
>
> Instead of gearing up early for the 1998 congressional elections, the
> AFL-CIO and its Teamsters affiliate may well be distracted by federal court
> action.
>
> Moreover, the scandal touched Democratic officials, including fund-raisers
> for the Democratic National Committee and President Clinton's re-election
> campaign, which sought a $100,000 donor for Carey. Ultimately, the campaign
> never produced a donation.
>
> AFL-CIO spokeswoman Denise Mitchell said the controversy would only cause
> labor leaders to focus more energy on organizing new members and fighting
> for workers. The usually voluble Trumka has been virtually silent on
> charges that he helped pass $150,000 in Teamsters treasury money through
> the AFL-CIO to Citizen Action, where it allegedly was used to help Carey. A
> memo Trumka wrote to the Teamsters requesting the payment stated that it
> would be earmarked for labor's aggressive grassroots voter mobilization
> effort during the 1996 elections.
>
> But Martin Davis, a political consultant who pleaded guilty in connection
> with the fund-raising scheme, said Trumka agreed to help pass through the
> money "to help Ron, meaning Ron Carey."
>
> AFL-CIO officials said an internal review turned up no wrongdoing at the
> federation, and Trumka's attorney asserted that he would be exonerated.
>
> But court documents filed by federal prosecutors single out Trumka as a
> participant in the tainted election.
>
> The pressure on Trumka grew when the New York Times published an editorial
> calling on him to step aside. Adding to labor leaders' concerns is the
> confession by Gerald McEntee, president of another large union, the
> American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. McEntee
> confessed to having a printer with whom his union does business give
> $20,000 to Carey's campaign.
>