TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Hoffa on the Hill: End DOJ Consent Decree
Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters boss James P. Hoffa
told Congress that his union is no longer under the influence of organized
crime and should be rid of government control. "Our union today is one
of the cleanest of any now on the labor scene," Hoffa told the Rep. Peter
Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and the Edu. & Workforce Com.'s Oversight &
Investigations Subcom. "Organized crime has been eliminated. There are
no people who have a connection with organized crime in the union today
and we are ever-vigilant of that and we want to make sure it stays that
way." The Dep't of Justice's supervision since 1989 has cost IBT
about $88 million.
Hoffa said IBT is ready to file a racketeering suit against those involved in the 1996 scheme to swap IBT political contributions for donations to Ron Carey's campaign. "We have drafted a RICO suit, and it's ready to go," said Hoffa. Rumors of such a suit have been circulating for months.
Prior to the hearing Hoekstra said "foot dragging" by DOJ may require him to reopen hearings into the IBT scandal. "For all intents and purposes it appears that [DOJ's] investigation is over. ...We bowed to [DOJ's] requests. We didn't pursue things in which we had a high degree of interest under the assumption [DOJ] would act vigorously. They didn't." [Det. News 3/24, 3/29/00, BNA 3/29/00]
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