mm: You can't really speak of TDU and Carey in the same breath here. As you note later in your post, it was Carey's AFL-CIO and Democratic Party coterie that undertook this "major boo-boo" not Ken Paff and the comrades at TDU. Despite the role of the TDU in mobilizing support for Carey, Paff was never taken into the inner circle. Moreover, when the "major boo-boo" came to light, TDU wasted not an ounce of breath trying to extenuate, "explain", justify, or defend it. The TDU's position, from the first - it happened, it's horrible for our side, now we have to pick up and rebuild - was to my mind a model of principle.
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mbs: this is well-taken. I should distinguish between TDU & Carey re: the financial shenanigans.
I do think there are elements of heightened political militancy in the Hoffa regime compared to some other Internationals, since
mm: Of course, in the end, Junior did roll over, so there's not that much political militancy to be found. In terms of rank and file, militancy, compare the Overnite fiasco to the UPS strike.
mbs: I did say, 'compared to', and there wasn't much else he could have done from a pragmatic standpoint. In light of the dependence of the Dems on the AFL, the lack of ability (will?) to exercise leverage by the latter over the former is striking.