San Diego Union Leader Quits Post

Thomas J. Vandeveld Jr., who led the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 for more than 15 years, has resigned as president of the local.

Vandeveld, 59, who had come under fire for securing jobs with the union for his sons, resigned quietly as president of the 15,000-member union June 26. His current three-year term was not scheduled to end until Dec. 31. Local 135 represents retail clerks in San Diego and Imperial counties, and is the largest union in both counties.

Former Secretary-Treasurer Norman Bell replaced Vandeveld as acting president and is scheduled to begin serving as president of the local July 31. Bell said that Vandeveld resigned after it became clear that he was going to face opposition from Bell in upcoming elections. With Vandeveld’s resignation, Bell had no opposition in the election and was declared the winner, serving a 3 1/2-year term.

Vandeveld usually ran unopposed during his tenure as Local 135 president and was one of the most influential labor leaders in Southern California. He was one of a handful of union officials who negotiated contracts on behalf of Southland supermarket clerks with the powerful Food Employers Council, which represents supermarket chains.

According to Bell, his opposition to Vandeveld was prompted by “philosophical differences.” He lauded Vandeveld for “stepping down in the best interests of the union” but refused to elaborate or explain his differences with Vandeveld.

Vandeveld did not return messages left at his home Monday evening.

Other sources from within the union and local labor officials told The Times that Vandeveld’s resignation was prompted by pressure from other Local 135 officials, who were unhappy with the way he was running the union. Those complaints included displeasure over Vandeveld’s practice of giving union jobs to family members.

A source with close ties to the union said some officials were also angered by allegations that Vandeveld pressured optometrists to contribute to his son Darrel Vandeveld’s unsuccessful 1990 Assembly campaign. The charges were reviewed by the district attorney but no charges were ever brought against Darrel Vandeveld, said district attorney spokesman Steve Casey.

The allegations were raised by Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista), who was challenged by Darrel Vandeveld in the primary election for the 80th Assembly District. Peace and at least one optometrist had charged that optometrists were asked to make $500 donations to Darrel Vandeveld’s campaign if they wanted their names placed on a list of the union’s preferred health providers.

The Local 135 source and several local labor officials who did not want to be identified said nepotism was one of the complaints that led to Vandeveld’s resignation. Vandeveld is a past president of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO and is a member of the San Diego Stadium Board.

Another son, Thomas J. Vandeveld III, had worked as a Local 135 organizer and more recently as the union’s in-house counsel. He resigned at the same time as his father.

Reached at his Paradise Hills home, Thomas J. Vandeveld III declined to comment Monday, except to say that he and his father were retained by the union as “consultants.”

A third son, Curtis Vandeveld, was also employed by the local at one time as an organizer. However, Curtis Vandeveld resigned from the union last year and moved to Guam, where he practices law, said Local 135 spokesman Jim McVicar.