Hoffa will seek union presidency

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 5/1/1998

James P. Hoffa, who narrowly lost his last bid for the presidency of the 1.4-million member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, will be allowed to seek the office again this summer.

Michael Cherkasky, the court-appointed election officer overseeing the new Teamsters election, ruled late last month that Hoffa, the son of the late notorious union leader James Hoffa, would be allowed to seek office despite opponents' claims that he engaged in campaign-finance irregularities in the last election. Hoffa lost that 1996 election to incumbent Ron Carey. Subsequently, then-election officer Barbara Zack Quindel overturned the election, citing campaign-finance violations by Carey's campaign. Carey has been barred from running for the presidency in the new election and has been forced to take a leave of absence from the union's leadership. He is appealing that ruling.

Hoffa's finances also came under a cloud during the investigation. In his ruling, Cherkasky found that Hoffa's campaign had engaged in some irregularities but said that the majority of contributions came from lawful sources. "The election officer did not find evidence of any large-scale cheating or other improprieties to warrant disqualification of Mr. Hoffa or any member of his slate," Cherkasky ruled. He did, however, fine Hoffa $5,286 for concealing a $1,000 contribution from former Teamsters President William McCarthy. Cherkasky also fined Hoffa's campaign an additional $20,185 for making unreported payments to Kevin Currie, whom Cherkasky termed a felon, and $16,767 for accepting in-kind services from Richard Leebove, who served as Hoffa's spokesman during the campaign. In addition, he barred the Hoffa campaign from doing further campaign-related business with Leebove. Employers such as Leebove, who operates a public relations firm, are prohibited from making contributions to the union.

In a statement made after the ruling, Hoffa said, "The investigation found that I am an honest man who ran an honest campaign."

Unless Carey's legal efforts succeed, Hoffa, 56, will square off against Ken Hall, 41, from Charleston, W. Va. Hall made his mark last summer when he led the union's negotiations with United Parcel Service. When those negotiations hit an impasse, the 180,000 members of the union who work for UPS struck the parcel-delivery giant for 15 days. Hall is considered to be a Carey ally.

The election has not yet been scheduled, but Cherkasky is expected to ask federal judge David Edelstein, who is overseeing the case, to approve a mail ballot election for August.