Cockburn on Teamsters

It is clear that Alexander Cockburn did not speak to any rank-and-file Teamsters before he wrote his glib smear on Jimmy Hoffa Jr. and tried to portray incumbent Teamster President Ron Carey as a David figure trying to sling the mob Goliath (Column Left, Nov. 3). Indeed, the facts on Carey’s stewardship over the last four years are not pretty.

I know the Carey record firsthand, because I ran on his slate in 1991 and was one of his biggest supporters until the reality of his dictatorial and deceitful personality became obvious. I was also a leading member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, but am now barred, along with another IBT vice president, Sam Theodous, from their meetings because we have been critical of Carey’s mismanagement of the union and his cozy relationship with old-guard elements in our union. These are the facts that Cockburn left out:

* Carey has nearly bankrupted the strongest union in the U.S. and left members without strike benefits for the first time in history.

* He has negotiated the most concessionary contracts in Teamster history, most notably the trucking agreement in which he gave away the members’ right to strike.

* He has turned the IBT into a paper tiger in the face of employer assaults on members’ rights and conditions through his efforts to divide the union leadership and members in order to maintain power.

* Carey has helped to further ruin the image of the Teamsters. It is now common knowledge as a result of Time and Business Week investigations that Carey has been tied to the mob for 30 years, and owns millions in luxury property and stock in United Parcel Service, a Teamster employer. The most damning evidence about mob ties is that FBI super-witness Alphonse D’Arco has testified that Carey was controlled by the Luchese family. It makes a lot of sense, then, that Carey has dragged his feet in cleaning up mob-controlled local unions, not moving until the government forces him to, and then placing incompetent trustees in to “clean out the mob.”

If Cockburn is so concerned that the election of Hoffa would raise concerns about continued mob involvement in our union, why does he ignore powerful evidence that Carey has ties to the mob?

GENE GIACUMBO, Vice President International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Washington