The 'New Teamsters' one year after Carey victory

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Rank-and-file reform movement holds 17th convention 6 SOCIALISTACTION DECEMBER 1992 ST. LOUIS-On Oct. 23-25, over 500 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) activists and reform officials gathered here for the Teamsters for a Democratic Union's (TDU) 17th annual convention.

TDU is a rank-and-file reform movement that was formed in the 1970s to fight for union democracy and against corruption. They were instrumental in the election victory of new Teamsters president Ron Carey.

The conference was, in part, a celebration of the surprise victory of Ron Carey's reform slate in the December 1991 Teamster election. It also afforded activists the opportunity to exchange information and to review what had been accomplished in the first nine months of the New Teamsters.

In addition to the general sessions, jurisdictional meetings and workshops on such topics as contract campaigns, the free trade agreements, and union bylaw reform were held.

Most of the new General Executive Board, many new international representatives, and a growing number of local officers were present. Ron Carey briefly attended, spoke, and thanked the body for their support.

So the alliance between reform officials and the rank-and-file movement continues. Some, like International Vice President Diana Kilmury, urged TDU to keep mobilizing, to push the officials so as to offset the pressure from the companies, government, and the old guard bureaucracy.

Old bureaucracy still entrenched Carey seems to be moving cautiously. Some activists expressed impatience and questioned whether Carey wants to empower the ranks. On the other hand, Carey's running mate, International Vice President Mario Perrucci, thanked TDU by name and warned the Old Guard to "get on board, or get out of our way."

The old bureaucracy remains deeply entrenched in the locals, area conferences, and joint councils. Under the IT's constitution this is where most of the power and finances lie.

According to Rick Smith, a TDU leader: "Although (Carey) won the popular vote, the vast majority of the international's power structure remained opposed to change. ... (The] solution was to get rid of the worst of the Old Guard, keep those who may get on the program, and begin placing reformers in positions of power. ... Whether [this] strategy will work or not is up to question. ... TDU should not ... be timid about offering constructive criticism and offering alternatives to the new administration."

Pete Cammarata, another long-time TDU leader said that: "Carey's overall goal is not about building an independent rank-and-file organization. He espouses honest trade unionism, a form of service unionism. ... He generally believes that the power in the union flows from the officers. ... This is different from TDU's goals, which stress that power comes from organization and education of the rank and file and officers."

But very few of the local "old guard" bureaucrats are "honest, hard working officials" as Carey has allegedly claimed. They will not be reformed into genuine workers' leaders who could help ECE. 1 Caren's te cal balance sheet of tactics—such as corporate campaigns and in-plant "strategies"—that try to substitute for effective strike action.

Discussion should focus on approaches that mobilize the membership, build solidarity beyond the workplace, and spread the action as needed in order to successfully stop production and defy the injunctions and fines imposed by the bosses' courts.

Government intervention

The New Teamsters has created an ethical practices committee to fight corruption internally. However, the government is trying to extend and expand its interference in union affairs beyond that established by the consent decree signed by the Old Guard leadership.

Specifically, a three-member independent review board is to assume responsibility for overseeing the union, with the federal administratorship ending soon.

The board, however, is stacked two to one against the union by government appointees! William Webster, ex-head of the CIA and FBI, is the supposedly "neutral" member! Webster is also on the Board of Directors of Anhaeuser Busch—one of the largest Teamster employers-and on the board of the notoriously anti-labor Pinkerton security agency.

Carey has been protesting that "some in government are intent on draining our treasury and weakening our power." This problem is not going to disappear under an anti-labor Clinton administration, which will likely do what it can to prevent the development of a democratic, militant Teamsters union.

Despite Clinton's anti-labor record in Arkansas, the union support given him legitimizes his administration and disarms working people before the coming bipartisan attacks on our living stan-