USA UDA How reformers won Teamster election IN A YEAR that saw the replacement of union heads in four major rail unions and the strengthening of opposition groups in some industrial unions including auto, plus the upset victory of a new leadership in the West Coast longshore union, the announcement of the election of Ron Carey to the presidency of the 1.6 million-member International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) on December 19, 1991 marked a sea change in US unionism.
Phil Kwik, who covers the Teamsters for the Detroit-based no International officers and only half of the members were local officials. The rest were working Teamsters. Two have been without jobs since the summer. One was fired for union activity, the other was laid off when the trucking company he worked for closed.
The Carey slate includes the first woman and Latino to sit on the Teamsters' executive board — Kilmury and John Riojas — and one African American, Leroy Ellis.
Activists were especially pleased by the election of Kilmury, a feminist, long-time union reformer and co-chair of TDU. During the election, Carey supporters hit hard at the absence of women on Durham's slate and at Durham's suggestion that none of the 400,000 women Teamsters were qualified for national office.
"This has always been a male-dominated union," said Farrell. "Now we have people on the executive board who will pay attention to working women's issues."
Pat McIntosh, a University of Chicago clerical worker, agreed. "This union will now raise issues that affect working women — childcare, pay equity, health insurance - and it will address the concerns of those low paid $6 an hour Teamsters who are primarily women."
The Teamsters union was once known for its militancy. Over the last 30 years, however, it has been better known for its corruption. Recent Teamster leaders conspired to blackmail employers, bribe politicians and sell out and beat up workers. They created an "election" process that allowed them or their hand-picked successors to lead the union time after time. While the living and working conditions of the workers declined dramatically, the leaders paid themselves two or three salaries, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
### Jailed leaders
Four of the last five Teamster presidents have been jailed; the fifth died before he could be.
How then were rank-and-file Teamsters able to regain control over the union in a race where they were outspent 2-1, and where the incumbents had access to locals? The key elements in their victory were:
• Years of organizing by Teamsters for a Democratic Union. During this time, TDU developed an impressive group of leaders in locals across the country. Some won local office, some became discouraged and dropped out. But many more were recruited. All across the union, there were hundreds of seasoned activists -ready to take advantage of the big break when it came.
• Ron Carey and his slate. Carey had a sterling record of fighting for his membership in Local 804. Carey never hid his disgust with the top Teamster leadership. He monthly Labor Notes, reports. PHIL KWIK T HE stunning sweep by reformers in the first ever one-member, one-vote election in the Teamsters union happened because the rank-and-file were angry about the direction of their union.
"The members understood how corruption — even if it isn't taking place in their backyard — can have an effect on everyone in the union", , said Bill Urman of Minneapolis, a newly elected International vice-president.
"They want honest people running this union, and all the things that go with that: better representation, more responsiveness and contracts that aren't sell-outs," he said.
The rank-and-file were tired of their loss of strength at the workplace and bargaining table. As Margaret Farrell, a Northwest flight attendant from Detroit, put it: "The rank-and-file have been taking a beating for a long time. Finally, we just said 'Enough'".
Much of the credit for the Ron Carey reform slate victory goes to Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the 16-year old, rank-and-file reform caucus within the union. Though Carey is not a member, he was endorsed two years ago by TDU, and it provided the organization and activists which were the backbone of the campaign. Many of Carey's slate members belong to TDU.
The Carey slate won 48% of the vote and all the 16 seats contested. Overall, 424,000 Teamsters voted - 28% of the union.