TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Review Board Hears Case Against Detroit Bosses
Two federal investigators testified Feb. 5 that the leadership of Int'l
Bhd. of Teamsters Local 337 in Detroit misused
members' dues to fund their own reelection campaigns. At a hearing of the
Independent Review Board, retired Dep't of Labor investigator Craig Woodhouse
said officers in the local nion voted to give themselves a $100-a-week
pay raise in 1996 without approval of the rank and file, and that some
of that money went into the local officers' reelection campaign.
On June 2, IRB recommended that six Local 337 board members, including president Lawrence P. Brennan, be disciplined over allegedly funneling at least $14,000 in union dues into their reelection coffers, without members' permission. An IBT panel dismissed the charges and referred its decision to the board, which now will decide whether to take action. Brennan, who is also president of Joint Council 43 and a close ally of IBT boss James P. Hoffa, denied the allegations.
Woodhouse and FBI Special Agent Paul Russo interviewed local vice-president Colonel Myers on June 6, 1997. The interview came following a tip from IBT lawyer Brian Kelly that Myers might discuss alleged corruption at the local. After refusing to answer specific questions about checks for the campaign, "a visibly shaken" Myers went to the bathroom, Russo said. "After a long time, he came back out and said, 'I don't know whether I should do this. And I hope I don't live to regret this,'" Woodhouse testified. Brennan's attorney dismissed the testimony as Myers' "bathroom exorcism" and reiterated that the officers did nothing wrong, because the membership did approve the raise and that it wasn't unreasonable.
However, IRB investigators note that the union officers in Apr. 1996 received a bonus in lieu of a raise of at least $2,000, with a second payment to be made later that year. The leaders asked for the early half of the bonus because they were afraid that then-Teamsters President Ron Carey would put the local into trusteeship. The $100-a-week raise was to be a payback for depositing the $2,000 bonus check into the union campaign account, the board's 42-page June report said. But the union ended the raise after 13 weeks, because it was running a deficit.
In a setback for the review board, Russo testified he didn't know who orchestrated the plan, despite repeated questions by the board members. Woodhouse testified Myers named Brennan as the mastermind. Woodhouse also said that Myers told them that some of the union funds were transferred to Hoffa's campaign account, but he declined to elaborate. Much of Myers' statement remains under court seal.
A federal grand jury has had Local 337 under investigation for years. The U.S. Attorney's Office has declined to comment on whether the union leaders face indictment. [Det. News 02/06/01]
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