Teamsters Reportedly to Vote on Lawsuit : Possible Settlement of U.S. Racketeering Case Being Negotiated
Teamsters Union President William J. McCarthy has summoned members of the union’s executive board to a special meeting this weekend to vote on proposed settlement of the government’s anti-racketeering lawsuit against the union, sources close to the case said Friday.
McCarthy, in a Teletype message to union officers across the country, said that those who serve with him on the 18-member board may want to bring their attorneys, presumably to provide advice on whether to accept the government’s offer, according to sources who requested anonymity.
They said that Teamsters general counsel James T. Grady was meeting in New York to discuss the terms with outgoing U.S. Atty. Rudolph W. Giuliani, who is leaving office next Tuesday, and with Assistant U.S. Atty. Randy M. Mastro.
Election Changes Sought
Details of the proposal could not be determined. However, sources said that federal prosecutors are pressing to remove about a half dozen Teamster board members and to establish a process that would give members a direct vote in Teamster elections. Currently, the leadership is chosen through a delegate system that critics have charged prevents fair elections.
Also, one source said, the government is insisting that “a board of monitors” be established to oversee Teamster elections, perhaps even at the local level.
In negotiations on a settlement, union leaders have been attempting to limit the number of union officers who would be forced to resign and to allow the union to remain under the control of McCarthy, who became president after the death of Jackie Presser last July.
In its unprecedented civil action, filed last June against the nation’s largest union, the government sought extraordinary sanctions against the Teamsters and its leaders. Charging that the union was heavily influenced by organized crime, the lawsuit asked that a federal court oust the Teamsters top management, place the union under court trusteeship and bar certain alleged Mafia figures from any contact with union officers.
Negotiations on a possible settlement have been intensifying in recent weeks as the Feb. 27 date for trial of the case in New York approaches.
Sources familiar with the talks said the government’s proposal is “a tough one” that may not be approved at the meeting.
The Teamsters executive board, in a demonstration of unity, has secretly adopted a strongly worded resolution condemning any effort by individual board members to negotiate with the government without approval by the board majority, those close to the case said.
The resolution has strengthened the hand of Grady and McCarthy in the talks by preventing board factions from compromising their position.
However, the union leadership is eager to resolve the case before the trial begins. It is concerned about the mounting legal costs as well as the risk that the court might choose to take control of the union and place it under a trustee.
Both Teamsters and Justice Department officials have refused to comment publicly on the case. The government, although it does not want to risk losing the lawsuit in a trial, wants to make sure that all leaders with strong Mafia ties are removed, sources said.
Teamster board members targeted for resignation by the government are those whose names have emerged in organized crime investigations over the years, whether or not they were ever charged with crimes themselves, sources said. They are suspected of being influenced by the Mafia or of being unwilling to take action to eliminate Mafia influence over the Teamsters.
Although no written list of those board members has been prepared by the government, sources familiar with the talks said that the principal “international vice presidents” mentioned in this group include Joseph Trerotola of New York; Joseph W. Morgan of Hallandale, Fla.; Harold Friedman of Cleveland; Ted R. Cozza of Pittsburgh, and Donald Peters and Daniel Ligurotis, both of Chicago. Two sources have said that another vice president, Robert H. Holmes of Detroit, also might be targeted for ouster.
In responding to a Times report earlier this week on the negotiations, Trerotola denied that a settlement hinges partly on his resignation.
“That wasn’t discussed one bit at the (Teamster) board meeting. No one mentioned this guy or that guy has to go,” Trerotola told Newsday in an interview. “ . . . I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Holmes also denied that he might be forced out. “I’ve never been asked to resign, but maybe sometime in the future I might,” Holmes told the Detroit Free Press. He also denied having any Mafia ties.
Holmes recently aligned himself with a faction on the board loyal to Secretary-Treasurer Weldon L. Mathis of Atlanta, who is considered by most law enforcement officials to be free of any organized crime influence.
Against ‘Unity’ Resolution
Sources said that Holmes, Mathis and two other vice presidents--Don L. West of Birmingham, Ala., and Edward Lawson of Vancouver, Canada--voted against the so-called “unity” resolution on grounds that union officers should not be barred from talking with the government.
The resolution said in part that “no present member of the executive board should enter into any individual settlement agreement with the government which will adversely prejudice and affect the right of remaining members . . . or which could adversely affect the legal position of the international union in the pending litigation.”
Staff writer Henry Weinstein in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
