> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
>> The main
>> objective of the story is not to help the candidate named, but,
>> to make the
>> union movement look bad!
>
> Which isn't hard sometimes, Tom, you've got to admit. What the hell
> were Carey & Trumka doing with that money? What the hell is Arthur
> Coia all about? Gus Bevona? I'll defend organized labor when they do
> something good, but you can't ignore that they do plenty of awful
> stuff.
> Doug
Separate the Carey-Trumka case from the Coia and Bevona problems. The latter are just pure union corruption issues where leaders steal from the rank-and-file to pad their own personal pockets-- it's straight up theft and graft problems.
The Carey-Trumka issue is a campaign finance violation, in the context of union elections. Not to defend this operation on the morals of it, you did have Carey being outspent two-to-one by Hoffa who was receiving kick-back support from "old guard" local union officials (with reputed help from even less savory elements). The Teamster election was already being poisoned by anti-democratic money that threatened to restore the worst elements of the old Teamsters to power. The Sweeney-Trumka leadership obviously feared that result as well, since it could restore the balance of power of the AFL-CIO to more conservative elements (remember, the Teamsters were the swing vote that elected Sweeney). So the whole financial donation shell game was hatched to defend Carey-- not to make him personally rich but to keep a reformer in power.
It was generally good intentions using a bad means and they paid for it. But be clear, there has been (despite a lot of accusations) no evidence of Carey or Trumka padding their own pockets in this operation. In fact, one of the first acts Carey took was to cut his own pay (not that he didn't have a decent one left after the cut).
The actions can be condemned but to play this rightwing game of making Hoffa an aggrieved party and the GOP investigation some kind of reform effort just ignores the massive campaign violations and general obscenity of regular campaign finance laws. Carey's violations would be nothing in a regular political elections-- he'd pay a small fine and that would be it. No way would he be kicked out of office and no one would be facing jail threats. Every politician uses public power to steer benefits to allies who in turn support his or her election. It happens that this is illegal for a union official (and that is a good thing) but hearing politicians tut-tut Carey from their position of total corruption is ridiculous.
And to belabor the point and act like Carey or Trumka are some kind of bad guys is rightwing. Our folks make stupid mistakes sometimes, but that does not make them evil.
Carey is still a hero in the history of the labor movement, a flawed one who had a sad ending, but he did more (in alliance with the TDU reformers) to revive the union movement than almost any individual you can name. It was his vote that put Sweeney in office and the strike he led at UPS that caught the imagination of much of America. He's been punished heavily for his mistake, so I will honor him for his accomplishments.
-- Nathan Newman