New Teamster Ethics Code: The Fox and the Chicken Coop

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An elaborate approach to a draft plan in 20 pages, ostensibly for creating within a year a sound basis for assuring democracy and eliminating corruption in the Teamsters union, has just been unveiled by International President James Hoffa and distributed to union officers along with letters of transmittal and a laudatory New York Times clipping. But an effective operation already is in place, the court-ordered New York Times over the union which has succeeded in ousting scores of crooks and organized racketeers and has strengthened membership rights and has controlled ballot box stuffing in international elections. Government oversight has not injured union members; it protected their rights and helped refurbish the union's reputation. Why replace a potent, tested, comprehensible, successful operation by a complicated, uncertain, scheme for the future?

The answer is simple. Hoffa and his friends want the government out so that they can run the union with a free hand. They argue that the plans makes them so perfectly capable of keeping the union clean that it is time to return the union to.... its membership. Everyone agrees that from the long view, keeping a union decent and democratic is the job of its members and responsible leaders. That basic principle was just as valid ten years ago when the federal court had to take charge. But this plan? In its intricacy, it recalls President Clinton's health plan which only Hillary could quite grasp, except in this case confusion is perfectly appropriate to the goal. It creates a haze over two central questions: Is it advisable at this time to end government oversight and turn total control over to this officialdom? And, is this actually a plan to turn power over to the membership? The prudent answer to both questions is No.

Although it is Hoffa in whose name the program is transmitted, it is obviously the first installment from Edwin Stier, the consultant retained by Hoffa to sponsor a program that could justify ending government oversight. His credentials include an impressive success in ending racketeer control of Teamsters Local 560. But there he was armed with total power supported by Federal Judge Ackerman and backed by the full power of law enforcement agencies. And he needed ten years to do the job. And even after that accomplishment, the federal judge retains jurisdiction in case something goes wrong. Here however, with the power only to advise, Stier is supposed to complete the task in a year. There, in Local 560, he countered the power of corrupt incumbents and weakened their hold. Here, his plan would buttress the position of an incumbent administration.

The plan is dizzying in its rapid moving multifarious phases. Like a cloud of dust. Within a year, it proposes a "Code of Conduct" to cover every aspect of the protection of members' "rights and property." A study of organized crime within the IBT "without generating unfounded fear among IBT leaders and members." The employment of three obviously high-priced consulting firms to do research, design a proliferation of assorted studies and make related "assessments." Conferences and training sessions and whatnot to educate members and leaders with the goal of creating a new "culture" which frowns on corruption. There will be an "Ethics Office," which will have no role "in the enforcement of the Code" but it will "continually evaluate."

It is impractical here even to summarize the significance of the 50 or more intertwining items and subitems and their committees, conferences, surveys, systems, evaluations, consultants, homilies, boards, task forces, code drafts, investigations, reports. The piece de resistance, the crowning capping of it all comes at the end of the year with an Ethics Conference on January 15, 2001 designed to "share with the entire labor community" the accomplishments of the year, to show how "attitudes have changed." Labor leaders, academics, and government "leaders" will all be there, after which the union will conduct "briefings" [obviously a massive PR campaign] among "key executives," in Congress, labor, justice, law enforcement authorities, and "other government officials." With that, "the consultants will complete their engagement at this time."

Now we come to enforcement. What enforcement? So far, nothing, nothing at all in the plan describes enforcement. All this preparation and the related PR operation come off with only a code but without a quiver of actual enforcement of anything. "Enforcement will begin," the plan notes,"with respect to violations occurring after January 1,2001." [If you want to steal, do it before January 1.] By that time, of course, the consultants, having completed their assigned task, will have all gone home. It's enough that they've come up with a code and changed the culture; enforcement is someone else's problem.

For thousands of years, prophets, priests, and proselytizers have been preaching against the culture of corruption. God composed the code of Ten Commandments. Still, society needs strong enforcement agencies.

The Teamster plan [RISE, for Respect, Integrity, Strength, Ethics] tells us nothing about how its noble professions will be carried out except that government enforcement must be ended and the power of enforcement must be turned back to the union which, in practice, means the current officialdom. But that's the whole problem! This administration was lifted into power by the very same kind of elements who tolerated organized crime and resisted efforts of the government to come in and eradicate it. With or without Stier, RISE dances around that reality.