CLEVELAND, December 3 — International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa recently wrote to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on the behalf of the 1.4 million members of the Teamsters to convey his opposition to the United Transportation Union’s request to reaffiliate with the AFL-CIO.
In the letter dated November 30, President Hoffa stated that the UTU’s behavior prior to its disaffiliation several years ago makes it hard to believe that the organization will comply with the AFL-CIO Constitution upon reaffiliation. Hoffa believes that “Based on its history of continued pursuit of raiding activities in the face of Executive Council’s orders, there is no reason to think so.”
The UTU has a long history of attempting to raid the membership of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which is contrary to the “basic trade union principles set forth in the AFL-CIO Constitution,” according to President Hoffa. The UTU was twice found guilty of non-compliance with Article XX of the AFL-CIO Constitution and pulled out of the federation rather than comply with the AFL-CIO’s rulings.
Hoffa goes on to reiterate that the UTU’s continued actions against the BLET as a reason to disallow its reaffiliation. He also cites the AFL-CIO Constitution’s provisions against putting out information which brings another affiliate into “public disrepute.” Hoffa then quotes several stories that appear on the UTU’s website which “unequivocally constitute a violation of the AFL-CIO Constitution.”
A copy of President Hoffa’s letter is available at:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/hoffaltr_UTUreaffiliation.pdf