Teamsters President Expelled

Teamsters President Ron Carey was expelled from the union Monday by a federally appointed board because of an illegal fund-raising scheme that boosted his re-election over James P. Hoffa in 1996.

The Independent Review Board found that Carey was responsible for the scheme that directed $885,000 in union funds to third-party political groups to benefit his campaign.

Carey's former campaign manager and two consultants have pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the scheme, and the union's political director, William Hamilton, was indicted by a grand jury.

Both Carey and Hamilton, who also was expelled by the board Monday, have maintained they were unaware of the plot. Carey said he did not recall approving the payments linked to the scheme.

"The serious breaches of trust by Hamilton and Carey require severe sanctions," the board wrote in its 35-page report.

Last November, the IRB recommended that Carey, once a symbol of Teamsters reform, be charged with bringing reproach upon the union. At the time, the board, comprised of two former federal judges and a labor lawyer, called Carey's defense that he did not recall approving a series of improper payments a "fabrication."

Under a 1989 consent decree between the union and the Justice Department, the three-member board recommends charges to the union's executive board.

A federal grand jury continues to investigate the matter.

The IRB held three days of hearings earlier this year to weigh evidence about the scheme, which involved Teamsters contributions to political groups, including Citizen Action and Project Vote, to support Democrats in the 1996 elections in exchange for donations to Carey.

In maintaining his innocence, Carey challenged the integrity of a key witness against him, former campaign manager Jere Nash. On the same day the board brought charges against him, Carey took a leave of absence from the union he has been an officer of for more than 30 years.

"It is a sad day when the word of a convicted criminal prevails over the word of a man who has stood for integrity all his life," Carey said then. "In spite of this injustice, I believe it in the best interest of the membership and the reform movement that I remove myself from IBT decision-making while I fight my appeal."

Carey has remained popular with the union's reform wing despite the findings against him because he was successful in opening up a notoriously corrupt union to its members.

Three Teamsters presidents, including Hoffa's father Jimmy, have gone to jail, and a fourth died under indictment. The federal government stepped in 1989 because, it alleged, organized crime had become a pervasive influence in the union.

Written By Kevin Galvin