A Victory in Las Vegas: Teamster Reformers Win Ballot Status for Sandy Pope - Monthly Review
Behind every good man, one finds a good woman, or so we're told. In this year's contest for the Teamster presidency, that traditional gender-based relationship has been reversed -- at least in Sandy Pope's campaign. In Las Vegas last Thursday night, it was a small band of good men (plus a handful of their union sisters) who rallied successfully behind a very unusual woman, one of only sixteen women who currently serve as Teamster local leaders. As a result of their efforts, Pope -- the candidate backed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) -- made it into the next stage of a three-way race that culminates in a referendum vote this fall.
Nominated along with Pope, president of Local 805 in New York City, was fellow opposition candidate Fred Gegare, a Teamster regional leader from Wisconsin, who also garnered about 9% of the 1,600 Teamster convention delegates. (Five percent was the minimum required for nomination.) Current IBT president James P. Hoffa and his slate, which includes UPS contract negotiator hall for Secretary-Treasurer, received 82% of the vote at a meeting completely dominated and controlled by the incumbent leadership. Hoffa-Hall supporters worked throughout the week to prevent any other candidates from qualifying for the ballot.
Behind every good man, one finds a good woman, or so we're told. In this year's contest for the Teamster presidency, that traditional gender-based relationship has been reversed -- at least in Sandy Pope's campaign. In Las Vegas last Thursday night, it was a small band of good men (plus a handful of their union sisters) who rallied successfully behind a very unusual woman, one of only sixteen women who currently serve as Teamster local leaders. As a result of their efforts, Pope -- the candidate backed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) -- made it into the next stage of a three-way race that culminates in a referendum vote this fall.
Nominated along with Pope, president of Local 805 in New York City, was fellow opposition candidate Fred Gegare, a Teamster regional leader from Wisconsin, who also garnered about 9% of the 1,600 Teamster convention delegates. (Five percent was the minimum required for nomination.) Current IBT president James P. Hoffa and his slate, which includes UPS contract negotiator hall for Secretary-Treasurer, received 82% of the vote at a meeting completely dominated and controlled by the incumbent leadership. Hoffa-Hall supporters worked throughout the week to prevent any other candidates from qualifying for the ballot.
