ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 16, 1996 TAG: 9607160041
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Teamsters Union convention got under way Monday, and forces backing Teamsters President Ron Carey and his would-be successor, Jimmy Hoffa's son, squared off over a series of proposed changes to the union constitution.
The 2,000 Teamsters delegates, looking for a president to take the nation's largest labor union into the next century, were expected to nominate both Carey and James P. Hoffa, whose father once dominated the union even while serving a prison term.
Both say they can reform the nation's largest labor union, once synonymous with corruption and organized crime.
While the membership vote between the two is months away, Hoffa supporters will try to wield their power at the convention by amending the Teamsters' constitution, putting their stamp on the union and the presidency even if Carey - the leader in recent polls - is re-elected.
``That should be very interesting,'' said Dan Kruger, a professor of labor education at Michigan State University.
Candidates for each national office - president, vice presidents and trustees - will be nominated at the convention and placed on the ballot. The ballots will be mailed to the 1.4million union members in the United States and Canada for tallying in December, at which time the results will be announced.
Hoffa and Carey represent factions with vastly different views on how the union should be led.
Carey, elected in 1991 against the wishes of the Teamsters' established hierarchy, has vanquished the old guard since his election and placed 63 locals in temporary trusteeship. He has suspended local officers, sold off corporate jets - actor John Travolta bought one - and sought to eliminate multiple salaries paid to some officials.
Abandon his slate, Carey warns, and the union will return to the day when it was controlled by corrupt members of the old regime.
Hoffa's convention platform would restore power to the joint councils and ban international union interference in their decisions.
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