James P Hoffa

James P. Hoffa, son of the legendary Teamster who disappeared mysteriously 20 years ago, announced Wednesday that he will run for president of the union his father once ran. Before announcing his candidacy during a taping of the "Larry King Live" show in Los Angeles, the 54-year-old Detroit lawyer said he wants to restore "the greatest union in the world that has been sinking because of a lack of leadership." "I was very fortunate to be his son," he said of his late father, James R. Hoffa.

President Bush has "sucker punched" American workers and threatened national security by opening the nation's southern border to Mexican truckers, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said at a conference in Houston. He said the Bush administration's pilot program, which took effect Thursday, showed a lack of concern for domestic security.

Your Nov. 19 issue carried two hit pieces on the candidacy of Jim Hoffa for president of the Teamsters Union: Alexander Cockburn's commentary "Reform Is Bigger Than One Man" and "Fallout From Teamster Scandal Runs Deep" in Business. Both miss the central point in this controversy. Teamsters President Ron Carey diverted $735,000 of the members' dues money to his campaign. Judge Kenneth Conboy should be applauded for having the courage to render a decision that President Bill Clinton and other wealthy liberals did not want.

It took about three hours for a 75,000-pound excavating machine to gobble up a barn as part of the FBI's search for the remains of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. The barn's destruction was the most dramatic moment in the week since dozens of FBI agents descended on a horse farm 30 miles from Detroit. The farm once was owned by a Hoffa associate and is not far from where the former labor leader vanished in 1975.

Taking on one of the most recognizable names in labor can be lonely work. But Tom Leedham is at it again, running his second underdog campaign against Teamsters President James P. Hoffa in a contest to be decided within two weeks. Outspent 7 to 1, backed by only one staffer and a few volunteers and ignored by most media, Leedham nevertheless insists the odds are with him. "I think we're going to win this, I really do," he said during a three-day swing through Los Angeles last week.

Strolling around the vegetable crates and stalls at the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market, Teamsters presidential hopeful James P. Hoffa pumped the hands of union workers and repeated his latest election theme like a mantra. The campaign organization of current Teamsters President Ron Carey, Hoffa charged over and over, "stole $1.5 million of your money. We've got to clean that up."

A federal judge asked the court-appointed board that monitors the Teamsters how it is handling charges against James P. Hoffa, reviving the possibility of a new Hoffa inquiry. U.S. District Judge David Edelstein wrote to the members of the Independent Review Board after Hoffa's opponents complained that Hoffa hadn't been fully investigated for alleged improprieties during his 1996 bid for the union presidency.

Teamsters President-elect James P. Hoffa promised to guide the union back to the glory days it enjoyed under his father three decades ago but without the mob ties that were the undoing of Jimmy Hoffa. The 57-year-old Detroit labor lawyer also said the future Teamsters will be more aggressive in negotiating contracts. "We're going to see a new militancy of the Teamsters in our negotiations," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The 1.

A federal judge has asked the court-appointed board that monitors the Teamsters how it is handling allegations against James P. Hoffa, reviving the possibility of a new inquiry. U.S. District Judge David Edelstein wrote to members of the board after Hoffa's opponents complained that Hoffa hadn't been fully investigated.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said Sunday that he has repeatedly urged Sen. John F. Kerry to pick Dick Gephardt as his running mate, calling the Missouri congressman a strong addition to the Democratic presidential ticket. "He needs somebody that's high profile, somebody that can go out and carry a state, somebody that has a constituency, somebody that can deliver," Hoffa told reporters at the union's annual unity conference at a Las Vegas hotel.

Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa declared his reelection bid a success, saying it reflected a mandate from his 1.4 million members to end 12 years of government oversight over the union. Hoffa, 60, whose father, James R. Hoffa, led the International Brotherhood of Teamsters during a scandalous tenure four decades ago, led challenger Tom Leedham, a local union officer from Oregon, 65% to 35%, according to an unofficial tally of 227,233 ballots out of 348,080 cast.

James P. Hoffa appeared headed for easy reelection Thursday as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, fending off a challenge from the leader of a Teamsters local in Oregon. With nearly half the ballots returned by members counted, Hoffa led challenger Tom Leedham by a margin of more than 2 to 1. The ratio was consistent throughout the federally supervised count, which began Tuesday morning and is expected to wrap up by midday today. The union has about 1.

Taking on one of the most recognizable names in labor can be lonely work. But Tom Leedham is at it again, running his second underdog campaign against Teamsters President James P. Hoffa in a contest to be decided within two weeks. Outspent 7 to 1, backed by only one staffer and a few volunteers and ignored by most media, Leedham nevertheless insists the odds are with him. "I think we're going to win this, I really do," he said during a three-day swing through Los Angeles last week.

After meeting with Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said Thursday that neither Al Gore nor George W. Bush has taken strong enough stands on trade and other issues important to labor. For that reason, the union president said Nader and Reform Party candidate Patrick J. Buchanan should be allowed to participate in presidential debates. "Who really wants to see a debate between Al Gore and Bush?

Underscoring his brawny union's disenchantment with Vice President Al Gore, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa will join Ralph Nader on Thursday to make a "special statement . . . concerning the 2000 presidential election." A Teamsters spokesman said on Tuesday that Hoffa did not plan at that time to endorse Nader, who is running a quixotic presidential campaign on the Green Party ticket. "It will be a nonendorsement announcement," said Bret Caldwell, who would not elaborate.

Sworn in before thousands of cheering workers, James P. Hoffa pledged to press the Teamsters to spread more political donations to Republicans and end government oversight of the union his father once ran. "We will not be an ATM machine for the Democratic Party," Hoffa told Associated Press after the inaugural ceremony at the reflecting pool between Teamsters headquarters and the Capitol. "We intend to approach issues from both sides of the aisle."

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said Thursday that the powerful labor union may not endorse a presidential candidate this year and is still weighing its options. "Maybe we won't make an endorsement at all; that's a possibility. And there's a possibility we'll endorse somebody, but we're just not in a position to make that announcement now," Hoffa said, answering questions after a speech at the National Press Club.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa unveiled a plan to rid his 1.4-million-member union of any organized crime elements in an attempt to end more than a decade of federal supervision. The strategy calls for the union to complete by next year a report on any organized crime influence and move toward rooting out corruption. It also calls for creation of a conduct code, an ethics board and an internal system to punish abuses. Hoffa announced the plan at a meeting of union council leaders in Chicago.