Presser Undergoes Operation to Remove Brain Tumor

Teamsters Union President Jackie Presser has undergone a successful operation to remove a malignant tumor from inside his skull, doctors said Wednesday.

Presser, 61, underwent the operation Tuesday at Barrows Neurological Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center and “is recovering well and without complications,” hospital spokeswoman Deborah Gelbart said.

She said no further information on Presser’s condition would be released at the request of his family.

Presser was reportedly diagnosed as having brain cancer two weeks ago, and he was transferred from the Cleveland Clinic to Barrows last week.

Presser, who has been the president of the nation’s largest union since 1983, relinquished his duties for four months on May 4 because of health problems.

He underwent surgery for a malignant tumor on his lung in January, 1987, in Cleveland.

The hospital said that the malignancy removed Tuesday apparently had spread from the cancer that led to the earlier operation, a process called metastasis.

Dr. Robert Spetzler performed the operation “for the successful removal of an intracranial metastatic tumor” and “decisions concerning further therapy would be delayed until next week, pending review of all post-operative studies,” Gelbart said.

Presser, elected to a five-year term in 1986 as head of the 1.6-million-member union, is scheduled to stand trial on July 12 in U.S. District Court in Cleveland.

He is charged with embezzlement and racketeering on allegations that he took $700,000 from his hometown union office, Local 507 in Cleveland, and paid it to “ghost” employees who performed no work. Presser has pleaded not guilty to the charges.