Teamsters

Even the Teamsters -- especially the Teamsters! -- have finally been overwhelmed and embraced by the worldwide democracy movement. The union's first clean, free election in its 88 years of entrenched corruption has resulted in a marvelous victory for a reform slate of candidates. Risking violent retribution, they dared to defy the mobsters and embezzlers who held control for so long.Our congratulations to Ron Carey, the Long Island truck driver who is now president-elect of the largest, richest, most tainted union in the country.

On July 10, three Chicago-area Alderwoods funeral homes were viciously vandalized. All were Dignity Memorial network facilities that had also been targeted for a strike by local Teamsters. Teamsters Local 727, which represents 16 Alderwoods embalmers, drivers and funeral directors, had been negotiating with the company that owns the homes after their labor contract expired June 30. The union complained that the other side had bargained in bad faith and had "…proposed a three-year wage freeze and a company health care package that is more expensive and less comprehensive than the union's health and welfare benefits," reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

WASHINGTON -- Tom Leedham, head of a Teamsters local in Oregon, is taking on the biggest name in labor: Hoffa. Leedham is seeking to unseat James P. Hoffa, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the son of the nation's most famous - some would say infamous - union leader, James R. Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975. Even though Leedham faces an uphill battle, on Friday night he was able to claim a victory in one round at least - Hoffa dodged the one debate that was scheduled between the two sides.

Joseph A. Ritz Sr., a retired Teamsters official and World War II veteran, died Tuesday of complications from a stroke at Franklin Square Hospital Center. He was 86. Mr. Ritz was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where he graduated from Hanover High School in 1940. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served as a ground crew chief with the 412th Thunderbolt Fighter Squadron, 375th Fighter Group of the 9th Air Force in England and later in Europe. Mr. Ritz was a lifetime member of the Owings Mills Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and helped organize and attend reunions of the 412th Fighter Squadron.

Charging that the local leaders had misused members' dues, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters attempted yesterday to take over a 1,200-member local made up of state employees.But the top two officials of Baltimore-based Teamsters Local 103 turned away the temporary trustee sent by the international headquarters yesterday afternoon, insisting that they had done nothing wrong.Standing defiantly in the local's rundown Brooklyn office, which had holes in the carpet and a broken copy machine, local President Larry Thomas said he would not turn over the local until the trustee returned with a court order.

What: Eight-bout card tonight at Teamsters Hall, 6000 Erdman Ave.When: First bout starts at 8 p.m.Main event: Wade Duncan (10-2-2) vs. Curtis Peoples (12-4), welterweightsAlso: International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion Vincent Pettway will appear in a four-round exhibitionTickets: $30 and $20. For reservations, call (410) 485-3320.

The beleaguered Fraternal Order of Police is fighting back against efforts by the Teamsters to represent Anne Arundel County police officers.A member of the union representing more than 400 county police officers has asked for a criminal investigation of three members who support the Teamsters, and the local FOP leadership has begun proceedings to oust those officers and two others from the union. In a countermove, the five officers have threatened to sue the FOP for libel, charging that the union's accusations have scarred their reputations with fellow officers.

In the year and a half since he was elected to the presidency of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Ron Carey has been on a crusade to clean up and revitalize one of the nation's biggest and most corrupt unions.And now that crusade is coming to Maryland. The union's new Ethical Practices Committee is investigating a Maryland local on suspicion of fraud. And Mr. Carey will restart negotiations today for a national contract with the United Parcel Service in an effort to prevent a nationwide strike that would involve 3,000 Maryland drivers.

Lawyers for the Teamsters and the Fraternal Order of Police are to meet today with the state labor commissioner to choose a date for an election in which police officers will choose a union to represent them.Commissioner John P. O'Connor agreed last week to hold the election after Teamsters lawyer John Singleton sued in Anne Arundel Circuit Court to force the election.Arguments were to be heard yesterday, but Singleton asked that the hearing be postponed.He and lawyers for the county and Fraternal Order of Police are to meet with O'Connor at 1 p.m. to iron out the details for voting.

Robert M. Cremen, a retired Teamsters official and truck driver who was active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, died of congestive heart failure Monday at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. He was 78. Before retiring to Ocean City 14 years ago, he resided in Broening Manor in Southeast Baltimore. A longtime truck driver who moved rigging and heavy equipment for Brooklyn Corp. on Pennington Avenue, he retired in 1988 and was a member of the Teamsters for 48 years. He rose from organizer-agent in 1961 to the rank of secretary-treasurer, principal officer of Teamsters Local 311 on Eastern Avenue in Essex.

WASHINGTON -- Tom Leedham, head of a Teamsters local in Oregon, is taking on the biggest name in labor: Hoffa. Leedham is seeking to unseat James P. Hoffa, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the son of the nation's most famous - some would say infamous - union leader, James R. Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975. Even though Leedham faces an uphill battle, on Friday night he was able to claim a victory in one round at least - Hoffa dodged the one debate that was scheduled between the two sides.

Drivers and attendants at First Student Inc., the Baltimore school system's largest bus contractor, voted yesterday to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is trying to organize First Student employees nationwide. The employees, who had complained of poor maintenance and lack of training, voted at two company bus yards, a union official said. The union has been working with drivers and attendants in recent months to spotlight safety issues at First Student. They have complained of buses with defective front wheels, leaky roofs and broken speedometers.

Mayor Martin O'Malley met yesterday with school bus drivers who have complained about poor vehicle maintenance and safety standards at First Student Inc., a national bus company that the Teamsters union is trying to organize. O'Malley told bus drivers that he supported their efforts to organize and improve bus service to some of the city's most vulnerable children, but he did not directly blame First Student. The majority of children who ride school buses in Baltimore are disabled. "You should never take a bus out if kids are going to be in danger," said O'Malley, who is campaigning to be the Democratic nominee in this year's gubernatorial race.

Drivers and attendants employed by the city school system's largest bus contractor, First Student Inc., met with Teamsters officials at a rally yesterday and then marched onto their employer's bus lot to demand improved bus maintenance and health benefits. "Time after time we have asked First Student to respect us," said Sheila Wactor, a First Student bus driver who supports joining the union. "The way to make a change is to vote `yes' [for the union]." Leading the event at the lot in White Marsh was Jim Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the son of Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters' leader who mysteriously vanished 31 years ago and is presumed dead.

Arthur Woodford Sr., a retired Teamsters official and active church member, died of cancer Friday at Sinai Hospital. The Ashburton resident was 76. Mr. Woodford was born in Baltimore and raised on Brunt Street. He was a 1948 graduate of Douglass High School. During the 1950s, he worked as a freight handler for Mason-Dixon Trucking Co. at its Baltimore terminal, where he was also a steward for Teamsters Union Local 557. In 1965, Mr. Woodford left the trucking company and went to work for his union local full time as its business agent.

Two of the nation's largest unions broke away from the AFL-CIO yesterday, creating the biggest rift organized labor has seen in decades. It is a move that some say will bring chaos to the troubled labor movement; others say it might be unions' last hope to survive the changing economy. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, which was the AFL-CIO's largest and fastest-growing union, have formed a competing alliance at a time when jobs are moving overseas, financially strapped employers are using union concessions to cut costs, and union membership is rapidly declining.

AFL-CIO union workers at Adell Plastics Inc. in Anne Arundel County voted 41-0 yesterday to throw out the Seafarers International Union as their labor representative, and chose Teamsters Local 557 instead.In the balloting, which ended yesterday, 28 other workers voted to have no union at all at the plastics recycling company.The Adell employees have been working without a contract since August and are trying to negotiate a contract that would allow them to work five days a week instead of the current four 15-hour days each week.

Local fight promoter Stuart Satosky will put on an ESPN boxing show at Teamsters Hall on July 21, featuring unbeaten heavyweight David Tua of New Zealand and No. 1 lightweight contender Ivan Robinson of Philadelphia in a pair of 10-round bouts.Tua, an Olympic bronze medalist in 1992, has won 19 of his 23 professional fights by knockouts. Most recently, the 220-pound native of Samoa stopped John Ruiz in the first round March 15.Trained by Lou Duva, Tua owns the WBC Intercontinental title. He is expected to fight Jimmy Haynes (11-2-1)

In a mark of organized labor's badly broken solidarity, four major unions said yesterday they would boycott the AFL-CIO's Chicago convention, and three appear poised to bolt the federation that has loosely bound the nation's unions together. Officials from the 1.3-million member Teamsters and the 1.8-million member Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO's largest union and the spark behind the rebellion, said they would meet today and announce their plans. Joe Hansen, president of the 1.3-million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union, one of six dissident unions that have formed their own coalition, said he was inclined to pull his union out of the AFL-CIO, but he needed time to talk with UFCW leaders.

LAS VEGAS - At a gathering of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters where he received the union's endorsement, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry promised yesterday that his administration would strictly enforce trade pacts in order to prevent the loss of more U.S. jobs. The Massachusetts senator said he would appoint a commission to report on U.S. trading partners' compliance with international trade deals. "I'll tell you, we'll never get ahead if other countries don't live up to their end of the bargain," Kerry said.