(The Associated Press distributed the following article on August 19.)
WASHINGTON — Teamsters officials say their union could be free from government control by the end of the year, with federal authorities for the first time offering a proposal to end 14 years of oversight.
“Although we’ve had significant discussions back and forth, this is first time we’ve received on paper a proposal,” spokesman Bret Caldwell said Tuesday.
Federal authorities have run much of the Teamsters’ operations since 1989, when the union settled a civil racketeering suit filed by Rudolph Giuliani, U.S. attorney in New York at the time. The suit alleged the union was controlled by organized crime.
The settlement required direct election of the union’s top officers. Previously, delegates selected leaders at conventions every five years. An independent panel was formed to oversee the elections and monitor union activities.
The government offered its proposal to end oversight a couple of weeks ago, Caldwell said.
“This is a major watershed,” Teamsters President James P. Hoffa told The Detroit News for Tuesday’s editions, saying he hoped negotiations would be concluded by December “or earlier.”
The union, which claims 1.4 million members, has been negotiating with the U.S. Attorney’s office for southern New York. A spokesman, Michael Kulstad, said officials there had no comment.
Neither side would reveal details of the government’s proposal, which sets out what authorities want done before they end their oversight.
For example, an ethics office or an investigative unit probably will be established to keep the union free of organized crime, Caldwell said.
“But the makeup and structure of that, and the timing, all remains to be determined,” Caldwell said.
Any agreement to end the oversight must be approved by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, who has jurisdiction over the case.
The government in January 2002 relaxed its oversight of the union’s finances. It had required an independent auditor to scrutinize the union’s books since 1997, when an investigation found that former President Ron Carey’s 1996 re-election campaign embezzled union funds to boost his candidacy.
Hoffa, the son of the late, legendary Teamster Jimmy Hoffa, has made ending government oversight a priority since winning the presidency in 1998 after Carey’s election was overturned. Hoffa was elected to a full five-year term in 2001. Those elections and others were supervised by the government.
The union will celebrate its 100th anniversary with events in Washington Sept. 5-6, including a speech by former President Clinton and a documentary about the union’s history.