Presser Takes Leave of Absence as Chief of Teamsters, Citing Illness, Sources Say

Teamsters President Jackie Presser told the union’s executive board on Wednesday that he is taking a four-month leave of absence because of health problems, knowledgeable sources said.

Presser told the executive board via an internal union computer hookup that Weldon L. Mathis, the union’s secretary-treasurer and second ranking official, will step into the president’s job for the next four months, as the union’s constitution provides.

Presser, 61, had surgery for lung cancer last year and has been undergoing radiation treatments. In the computer message, Presser said his doctors at the Cleveland clinic had advised him in the last few days to undertake more radiation therapy. He said the doctors had advised him to avoid all forms of stress during the treatment and for a period of time afterward.

Some sources in the union believe that Wednesday’s action is the first step toward Presser’s relinquishing of his authority permanently.

The possibility of a temporary leave had been discussed recently at the highest levels of the 1.7-million member union, according to sources.

Request for Trial Delay

Presser’s attorneys are expected to cite health reasons when they ask a federal judge for a third postponement in Presser’s racketeering trial, now scheduled for July 12.

John R. Climaco, general counsel of the Teamsters and Presser’s defense attorney, filed new statements with the court Wednesday suggesting that Presser’s health is worsening.

Under the Teamsters’ constitution, Mathis could assume Presser’s powers for up to six months if Presser becomes “physically incapacitated” and takes “a voluntary leave of absence.” If such a leave lasts more than six months, the Teamsters’ executive board could determine that Presser’s absence is permanent and would then select a successor to serve until the next general election in 1991, officials said.

Mathis, 62, has been an active Teamster since 1950 when he became a business agent for Local 728 in Atlanta. He has risen in the union ranks since, first becoming secretary-treasurer of the local in 1953 and then local president in 1966.

Career Got a Boost

His career in the Teamsters got a significant boost in 1967 when union President Frank Fitzsimmons named him executive assistant. Mathis became an international vice president of the union in 1972 and was appointed secretary-treasurer of the union in 1985. He was then elected to that position at the union’s convention in 1986 in Las Vegas. Mathis still holds the position of president of Local 728. Three of his sons are also Teamsters officials in Atlanta.

Presser’s annual $600,000 salary will continue during his leave of absence, according to the union constitution.

Medical reports on file in federal court indicate that Presser is suffering from pituitary and thyroid problems resulting from radiation treatments that concluded last October. Doctors have said, however, there has been no recurrence of cancer since he had part of a lung removed in January, 1987.

While recuperating in Arizona for most of the last seven months, Presser has been in a weakened condition and has experienced periods of mental confusion, according to his doctors.

Climaco has previously denied rumors that Presser would step down, saying he was continuing to run the union by working two hours a day at his Phoenix hideaway.

Findings on Health

But Climaco, in a new statement filed with the court, took issue with the findings of a government-appointed doctor who examined Presser in February and determined that he could work up to four hours a day to help prepare himself for trial.

Calling such an assessment “preposterous,” Climaco said Presser “is not currently capable of assisting in his defense.”

Since February, Presser has been hospitalized twice, other sources reported.

U.S. District Judge George W. White on Wednesday scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday to determine whether Presser’s trial should be delayed again. Government attorneys have demanded “an updated medical report.”

Presser became Teamsters president in 1983 when the union’s executive board chose him to succeed Roy L. Williams, who stepped down after being convicted of attempting to bribe former Sen. Howard W. Cannon (D-Nev.) in a vain effort to kill federal legislation deregulating the trucking industry.

Elected Overwhelmingly

Two years ago--within a week after his own federal indictment--Presser was elected overwhelmingly to a full five-year term by delegates to the union’s national convention in Las Vegas.

Presser and two Teamsters associates, Harold L. Friedman and Anthony Hughes, are accused of misspending $700,000 in union funds to keep non-working “ghost employees” on the payroll of Cleveland Local 507.

Presser has claimed FBI agents authorized him to do so as a confidential informant for the FBI on organized crime matters.

In a related development on Wednesday, Teamsters officials said they were pleased with the results of a federal jury trial in New York involving the Genovese crime family because the defendants were acquitted of tampering with national Teamsters elections, although they were convicted of other charges.

Salerno, 8 Others Guilty

Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, reputed boss of the Genovese family, and eight others were convicted of a racketeering scheme that rigged multimillion-dollar bids in the construction industry. In all, Salerno was convicted on 28 counts and acquitted on five counts, including wire fraud for allegedly engineering the 1983 selection of Presser and that of his predecessor, Roy L. Williams, as president of the Teamsters.

On Wednesday afternoon, Climaco sent a message to the union’s executive board, saying he hoped the Salerno verdict would deal a “fatal blow” to the Justice Department’s plans to attempt to take over the Teamsters Union through the use of a suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

A knowledgeable government source said the Salerno verdict “certainly represents a blow” to the planned suit. However, he wouldn’t say definitively that the Salerno verdict would dissuade the Justice Department from filing the case.

Robert L. Jackson reported from Cleveland and Henry Weinstein from Los Angeles. Staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow in Washington also contributed to this story.