Scope and Content Note
The records of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters span the years 1989-1992 and consist of photocopies of correspondence, memoranda, reports, court orders, court and hearing decisions, transcripts of hearings, charts, graphs, lists, rosters, rules, computer lists, printed opinions, questionnaires, ballots and recommendations documenting the union's 1991 convention and the election of national officers.
Court actions initiated by the Justice Department against the union date to the 1960s to rid the union of corruption and relations with organized crime figures. In March 1989, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, faced with a racketeering suit by the government seeking the ouster of many top union officials, agreed to a settlement. The agreement, or the Consent Order, stipulated that the 1991 election of officers at the national level would occur by direct, democratic, and secret ballot participated in by eligible voters from all of the more than 600 locals. Furthermore, a convention held six months prior to the final vote would serve as a vehicle for the nomination of candidates seeking national office. Three officers appointed by the court to supervise the election of delegates to the convention and international officers included an independent administrator acting as judge, an investigations officer, and an election officer. The leading candidates for the election of president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters included R.V. Durham, Walter J. Shea, and Ronald Carey. The incumbent president, William McCarthy, declined to run. After the 1991 election, won by Ronald Carey, the three overseers were replaced by an independent review board. In 1992, Judge David N. Edelstein, the government's chief review officer, assigned the independent administrator, Judge Frederick B. Lacey, to be the government's representative on the review board and the investigations officer, Charles M. Carberry, to be the new board's chief investigations officer. He also extended the term of the election officer through the 1996 International Brotherhood of Teamsters election.
These records, generated by the Office of the Election Officer, Michael H. Holland, are arranged in a Report series and a file titled Protest Decisions . The report , The Cookbook: How the Election Officer Supervised the 1991 Teamster Election, includes an extensive appendix documenting the 1991 election process. Among the activities described are the manner and method of voting, election of local delegates, delegate voting, procedures for protest, plans for balloting, nomination of candidates, eligibility for office, conduct of participants, campaigning, and campaign contributions.
The Protest Decisions series contains memoranda and rulings from the election officer and hearing decisions from the independent administrator, Frederick B. Lacey. Decisions concerning questions regarding eligibility to run for delegate and alternate delegate to the convention appear under "E" class files. Each case within the file bears a set of numbers beginning with the designation "E," followed by a series of numbers and letters beginning with the case number, the local union number, and the area location.
All other decisions regarding pre-election problems, termed "P" files, follow the same numerical and alphabetical designation as the "E" files. The "P" files contain rule violations and dispute settlements regarding voting threats and intimidations, fund-raising problems, campaign illegalities, and other issues. Files termed "Post-election Protest Decisions" focus on procedural violations regarding delegate elections, and "Special and Miscellaneous Decisions" concern convention disputes and two special cases assigned to the independent administrator concerning the use of mass mailings.