Walter Shea

In another blow to the Teamsters Union's Establishment, reform-minded union members have ousted international President William J. McCarthy as head of a Boston Teamster local that he ran for 35 years. McCarthy, 72, and several other executives of Local 25 were beaten overwhelmingly last weekend by a slate of candidates that supported Ron Carey, the New York Teamster running for international president on a radical reform platform.

Ron Carey, a feisty New York union reformer who spent the last two years crisscrossing the nation in a quixotic campaign to become president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was on the verge of a stunning upset victory Wednesday night. With 40% of the ballots counted in the first rank-and-file presidential election in the Teamsters' 88-year history, Carey had received 82,151 votes, compared to 53,943 for the favorite, R. V.

To a degree scarcely imaginable a few months ago, democracy in all its messiness has come to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, long a bastion of centralized power. Three national Teamster executives, each a solid part of the union's establishment, are running against each other for the presidency of America's largest trade union as an unprecedented, government-supervised campaign kicks into high gear. Backbiting is breaking out all over.

In another blow to the Teamsters Union's Establishment, reform-minded union members have ousted international President William J. McCarthy as head of a Boston Teamster local that he ran for 35 years. McCarthy, 72, and several other executives of Local 25 were beaten overwhelmingly last weekend by a slate of candidates that supported Ron Carey, the New York Teamster running for international president on a radical reform platform.

Ron Carey, a feisty New York union reformer who spent the last two years crisscrossing the nation in a quixotic campaign to become president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was on the verge of a stunning upset victory Wednesday night. With 40% of the ballots counted in the first rank-and-file presidential election in the Teamsters' 88-year history, Carey had received 82,151 votes, compared to 53,943 for the favorite, R. V.

The most surprising development from last week's historic democratic Teamsters convention is the growing acknowledgement that a venomous split between two presidential candidates from the union's executive board is giving reform candidate Ron Carey a realistic chance of winning December's rank-and-file election. Union kingmakers would have squashed such a split at past conventions.

Norbert Miller, a salty, middle-aged Teamsters Union executive from Modesto who everyone calls "Nobby," was politicking. Since 7 a.m. he had been handing out leaflets outside a big United Parcel Service office in Anaheim that employs a thousand Teamsters, most of whom did not know Miller from Adam. Miller needed them, though. Desperately.

Teamsters Union President William McCarthy "furthered an act of racketeering" when he awarded $3.8 million in union printing business to a firm owned by his son-in-law, a federal judge in New York ruled in an opinion released Thursday. U.S. District Judge David Edelstein, who signed the 1989 consent decree that put the Teamsters under federal supervision, upheld the findings of a report made in February by the union's court-appointed administrator, Frederick Lacey.

About 20,000 Teamsters Union members who haul new cars to auto dealer showrooms across the nation went on strike today, and industry officials said the walkout's effect will be felt in a matter of days. Bargaining broke down Thursday, and the drivers, maintenance and warehouse workers walked out at midnight in the first national strike ever by the Teamster car haulers, who first negotiated a national contract in 1967.

Norbert Miller, a salty, middle-aged Teamsters Union executive from Modesto who everyone calls "Nobby," was politicking. Since 7 a.m. he had been handing out leaflets outside a big United Parcel Service office in Anaheim that employs a thousand Teamsters, most of whom did not know Miller from Adam. Miller needed them, though. Desperately.

The most surprising development from last week's historic democratic Teamsters convention is the growing acknowledgement that a venomous split between two presidential candidates from the union's executive board is giving reform candidate Ron Carey a realistic chance of winning December's rank-and-file election. Union kingmakers would have squashed such a split at past conventions.

To a degree scarcely imaginable a few months ago, democracy in all its messiness has come to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, long a bastion of centralized power. Three national Teamster executives, each a solid part of the union's establishment, are running against each other for the presidency of America's largest trade union as an unprecedented, government-supervised campaign kicks into high gear. Backbiting is breaking out all over.

A renegotiated contract covering 20,000 Teamsters around the country who drive auto transport trucks was approved by a 2-1 margin in voting tabulated Friday. The original car haulers contract, rejected in July by slightly more than 72% of those voting, was among four of five big Teamster contracts this year that failed to win the approval of rank-and-file majorities.

With less than three weeks remaining before the Teamsters Union convenes its national convention under unprecedented government reform rules, the largest Teamsters local in Southern California is still squabbling about who should represent its membership.