Teamsters Union's Hoffa supports Republican govs??? Bizarre!!!!

Email this topic to a friend Printer-friendly version of this topic Bookmark this topic (Registered users only)		Previous Topic | Next Topic
Lobby / Latest Latest Breaking News (Protected)
Original message

amelia (61 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:02 AM (ET) Teamsters Union's Hoffa supports Republican govs??? Bizarre!!!! http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020614-90235042.htm What is going on here? Hoffa has "declared" the Teamsters are backing the Republican candidate for governor in Ohio, New York, Texas, and maybe Jeb Bush? Has he lost his mind? Why would any union back any Republican candidate? They are on the path to suicide, with plans like this. If Hoffa is so stupid as to think that Bush and the Republicans will be supportive of a union, then the Teamsters need to throw him out of office. Hoffa needs to remember who is sleeping with Bush in his king size corporate bed. I do believe that Bush's friends are the adversaries of the unions. If the people in the Teamsters and other unions listen to Hoffa, then they will be the biggest fools on the earth. This is so ridiculous that it's almost bizarre. Is Hoffa a closet Republican who managed to get himself elected the head of the Teamsters, just so he could mold them into a "union" that won't be any trouble to the corporations they work for? I come from a long line of GM union workers and I know that there is no way that any real union would ever support a Republican. It would be like sabotaging your own job, wages, health insurance, retirement etc. Republicans are the ones who own the companies that the unions are always having to fight to get decent pay and benefits. This is just amazing!   Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Table of Contents

Subject     Author     Message Date     ID    Pa was Pardoned by Nixon. Oblomov Jun-20-02 1    and Pa was sent to jail by Bobby Kennedy kainah 06/20/2002 29        RFK was the only AG to ever go after the Mob... Oblomov 06/21/2002 34  Maybe this is why? w4rma Jun-20-02 2    guess there is NO loyalty with the teamsters leadership to other union... salin 06/20/2002 13  I didn't know amelia Jun-20-02 3    Crossed paths with some good Democrats, too... Oblomov 06/20/2002 4  Hoffa never worked as a teamster IndianaGreen Jun-20-02 5  So Hoffa Supports The Anti-Union Bastards! farmboxer Jun-20-02 6  So what happened to the former Teamster's prez? PghTiny Jun-20-02 7    Yeah, that's the deal joanski01 06/20/2002 9    Ron Carey, as I remember. playahata1 06/20/2002 27  Teamsters=GOP LiberalFighter Jun-20-02 8    regime + mafia = dusty64 06/20/2002 11  Not that unusual Born Free Jun-20-02 10    Isn't that what unions Freddie Stubbs 06/20/2002 15        "Isn't that what unions" Born Free 06/21/2002 32  The Teamsters were a major force in busting another union-- Jackpine Radical Jun-20-02 12    always have been bastards???? 4sanity 06/20/2002 16        agreed, 4sanity mac56 06/20/2002 22        I'm not referring to individual, perhaps dissident members. Jackpine Radical 06/20/2002 26  Why? Freddie Stubbs Jun-20-02 14    Exactly MrB 06/20/2002 20        Vote your Conscience! NeonDog 06/22/2002 39            It may not be couragous Freddie Stubbs 06/24/2002 40  BOYCOTT UPS NeonDog Jun-20-02 17    Did they actually apologize for backing Reagan or Freddie Stubbs 06/20/2002 18    Yeah, and Help Federal Express... MrB 06/20/2002 28  Ron Carey....and Untrustworthy UAW Leaders SpikeTrees Jun-20-02 19    Why don't the autoworkers elect leaders Freddie Stubbs 06/20/2002 24    Who are "they" Freddie Stubbs 06/20/2002 25    the UAW, unlike the teamsters, has "open" books in the union halls AJA 06/22/2002 35    duh! it was so the UAW could unionize the mexican auto workers. AJA 06/22/2002 36  When is the next Teamster election? denverbill Jun-20-02 21  This is nothing new dolstein Jun-20-02 23  Two Peas in a pod, both puttin' the "nasty" back in "dynasty" PurityOfEssence Jun-20-02 30  Dumb for sure Tippthis Jun-20-02 31  Teamsters and the GOP JMcLemore Jun-21-02 33  I didn't realize that the Teamsters had endorsed amelia Jun-22-02 37  Hoffa should be impeached! TimesArrow Jun-22-02 38

Lobby | Latest | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

Messages in this topic

Oblomov (263 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:04 AM (ET) 1. Pa was Pardoned by Nixon. Nixon and Pa were pals with the Mob. Same thing today, but with a new generation.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

kainah (2934 posts) Jun-20-02, 07:48 PM (ET) Reply to post #1 29. and Pa was sent to jail by Bobby Kennedy Historically, the Teamsters have often been in bed with the rethugs. Corruption loves corruption. Don't be surprised by this. I'm basically a media creation. I've never done anything. -- George W. Bush, 1989 When watchdogs become lapdogs, there's no one to bark for the people who are being exploited. -- Bill Moyers We need not stride resolutely towards catastrophe, merely because those are the marching orders. -- Noam Chomsky The Mourning Bow Campaign   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Oblomov (263 posts) Jun-21-02, 11:40 PM (ET) Reply to post #29 34. RFK was the only AG to ever go after the Mob... ... Add to the Mob’s animus the hatred of J Edgar Hoover — compromised by the Mafia and their parent company, the CIA — and it's a miracle Bobby got any work accomplished at all. And with all the full-time blackmailers working for the bureaucratic heirs of the old cross-dresser, it’s no wonder those with the power to investigate and boot out corruption today, don't. Victor Navasky, publisher and editoral director at The Nation, wrote the definitive history of the US Department of Justice under RFK's stewardship called “Kennedy Justice.” The work demonstrates how much we think we know about right and wrong today really is Wrong. There is no comparison between the purpose, focus, and effectiveness of the DoJ under RFK versus what’s been done since. Navasky also documents the various ways criminals, including Mr. Hoffa Sr., were prosecuted. It’s lesson are a guideline for us today on how the present bunch of high criminals and traitors should be prosecuted, whether they reside in the White House, Congress, of the Supreme Court. We've devolved quite a ways since the time the Justice Department was used to prosecute criminals rather than protecting wealth and privilege. Somehow the names John Mitchell, William French Smith and Edwin Meese aren’t going to exactly light up the Justice Hall of Fame anytime soon. Then I remember Attorney General and Flying Bass Fisherman John Ashcroft is on the case and I realize it may not matter what the legal legacy once the book-burnings begin and Kennedy Justice is out-of-print forever. So, on June 21, 2002, the reasons must be pretty obvious about why the United States should reserve the post of Attorney General to the highest qualified individual around. And that is why We the People must stand up and demand the Truth and Justice regarding Selection 2000 and the September 11 Massacre. And while there will never be another like him, the only Attorney General who could do the job would be someone like Robert F. Kennedy.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

w4rma (3544 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:12 AM (ET) 2. Maybe this is why? Though the union claims the White House policy will create jobs and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, detractors suspect the organization's motives are less innocent. Indeed, according to Ken Paff, national organizer for Teamsters for a Democratic Union (a reform group), Teamsters president James Hoffa sees cooperating with Bush as an opportunity to terminate federal oversight of the union, mandated in 1989 after deep corruption was revealed. http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2002/03/hunter-na-2.html -Rick http://www.rickswarehouse.com/   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

salin (5717 posts) Jun-20-02, 09:45 AM (ET) Reply to post #2 13. guess there is NO loyalty with the teamsters leadership to other unions given the timing of this announcement - just after the announcement that the GOPers not only want to create a 'new' federal agency composed of current government workers - but that those workers will have to leave current union membership and will not be allowed to join any union. But, IIRC, the teamsters have always marched to their own drummer - and not to uncommonly to a republican one. "We expect there to be transparency. People who have something to hide make us nervous...." GWB in Alaska - discussing Iraq.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

amelia (61 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:26 AM (ET) 3. I didn't know I didn't know that Hoffa Sr. and Nixon were friends and I didn't know that Nixon pardoned him. This just makes me more suspicious about Hoffa jr. and what agenda he really has. Why should he care about the oversite committee so much? If they are doing everything legally then he shouldn't have to worry. I don't think that removing the oversite committee is more important than getting the wages and benefits for the Teamster members. There is no way that any Republican will do any thing to help a union.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Oblomov (263 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:35 AM (ET) Reply to post #3 4. Crossed paths with some good Democrats, too... Oh, yes. They went back quite a ways, these two did. Both crossed paths with some who did their best for All the People, as well. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhoffa.htm … Excerpt … Hoffa was popular with his members and in 1960 was re-elected as president of the Teamsters Union. A long-term supporter of the Republican Party, Hoffa was a generous supplier of funds to Richard Nixon in his presidential struggle with John F. Kennedy. During the campaign, Robert Kennedy sent Hoffa a copy of his book, The Enemy Within. Kennedy wrote inside: "To Jimmy. I'm sending you this book so you won't have to use union funds to buy one. Bobby." After Kennedy's election victory in 1960 he appointed Robert Kennedy as his attorney general. Once in office, Kennedy resumed his investigations into Hoffa's activities. Hoffa was eventually charged with taking money from the union's $300 Pension Fund. J. Edgar Hoover, a long-term opponent of the Kennedys, passed FBI files on the attorney general to Roy Cohn, who in turn gave them to Hoffa. However, Hoffa, who disapproved of the Kennedy's adulterous behaviour, declined to use this material against his prosecutors. A former official of the union, E. G. Partin, was in prison facing charges of kidnapping, murder, robbery and rape, agreed to do a deal with the authorities and provide evidence against Hoffa. At the first trial at Nashville in October, 1962, the hung jury voted 7-5 for acquittal. The judge, believing that Hoffa's team were guilty of jury tampering, called a mistrial. At the second trial at Chattanooga in January, 1964, Hoffa was found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison. In December, 1971, President Richard Nixon ordered Hoffa's release. Later, FBI records revealed that Nixon had received illegal campaign donations from the Teamsters Union in exchange for a presidential pardon. After his release Hoffa travelled the country campaigning for prison reform. He also attempted to return as leader of the Teamsters Union. On 30th July, 1975, James Hoffa disappeared when travelling to a meeting with the Detroit gangster, Anthony Giacalone. In 1982 Hoffa was legally declared "presumed dead".   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

IndianaGreen (9541 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:45 AM (ET) 5. Hoffa never worked as a teamster He was a highly paid Mafia lawyer before he decided to run for the Teamsters presidency. Hoffa is as crooked as his daddy was.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

farmboxer (7027 posts) Jun-20-02, 03:59 AM (ET) 6. So Hoffa Supports The Anti-Union Bastards! Bush and his rich Republican pals do not even hide the fact that they are against unions!   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

PghTiny (6 posts) Jun-20-02, 04:26 AM (ET) 7. So what happened to the former Teamster's prez? His name was John (or Ron) Carey. The Teamster's had just won some major concessions after the 1997 UPS strike. Soon after, somebody pinned some corruption charges on him and called for a new election in which Hoffa won. The timing was aufully suspicious to me.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

joanski01 (191 posts) Jun-20-02, 04:45 AM (ET) Reply to post #7 9. Yeah, that's the deal Hoffa is hoping to get boy king to lift the oversight committee restrictions. Hoffa says they can police themselves and that there is no corruption. Bullshit! All this crap about creating jobs is just cover. Hoffa wants the corruption!   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

playahata1 (1534 posts) Jun-20-02, 03:34 PM (ET) Reply to post #7 27. Ron Carey, as I remember. n/t   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

LiberalFighter (47 posts) Jun-20-02, 04:40 AM (ET) 8. Teamsters=GOP Teamsters have only endorsed Democrats I believe when Carey was their president. Otherwise their leadership endorses GOP!!!! Their organization had been controlled by the Mafia for many years. They had corruptness within their leadership even when the Mafia was not controlling them. Within the Teamsters graft and bribery was prominent. The lifestyle of the leadership was well beyond what the working members lived. I would venture to say that Hoffa having learned the same tactics of his father along with being an attorney is hedging his bets. He knows that the GOP are crooked and it is the best way to cover his ass by teaming up with them. You are right that no real union would ever support a Republican. But I would clarify that by saying a real Republican. Because there are some Republicans that are reasonable and do the right thing. Case in point is Senator Jeffords. On the local level there are likely to be a few more Republicans endorsed by labor unions. It has happened on at least two occasions in our area for the UAW in the last 15 years. One State Representative was endorsed as a means of improving Workers Comp in our state. Another was endorsed and later changed from GOP to Democrat. Another example of flexibility is when the UAW teams up with GM/Ford/Chrsyler a few years ago requiring Insurance companies to provide genuine parts when the insured requested it instead of foreign made replacement parts for damaged vehicles. Just this year GM and the UAW teamed up to write Congress about CAFE. But GM still tries to screw us when it comes to Unemployment Comp or outsourcing jobs. Most of the time I figure that those idiots are smoking pot with the idiot ideas that they come with in their fried egg brains.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

dusty64 (1756 posts) Jun-20-02, 07:02 AM (ET) Reply to post #8 11. regime + mafia = LAST EDITED ON Jun-20-02 AT 07:03 AM (ET) total corruption. That is why Whorffa and chimp make such a stunningly ugly couple. Wonder how laura feels having to kick him out of their bed every night?   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Born Free (108 posts) Jun-20-02, 05:32 AM (ET) 10. Not that unusual LAST EDITED ON Jun-20-02 AT 05:33 AM (ET) Teamsters are made up of many people, many are men that sit and listen to radio all day. I was a Teamster for a while, right wing talk is very normal from the drivers, dock workers are not so much so. There are many exceptions, but in the end you can never depend on the Teamsters, they will always follow the money, whichever side puts the most money in their pockets.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Freddie Stubbs (337 posts) Jun-20-02, 11:17 AM (ET) Reply to post #10 15. Isn't that what unions they will always follow the money, whichever side puts the most money in their pockets. are supposed to do?   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Born Free (108 posts) Jun-21-02, 05:18 AM (ET) Reply to post #15 32. "Isn't that what unions" *********************************************************************** they will always follow the money, whichever side puts the most money in their pockets. are supposed to do? *********************************************************************** Most unions consider many factors, many will look at the total picture. Although a union may disagree on a particular issue such as NAFTA, they will still support a candidate because the majority of the members believe the candidate will be better for working Americans. Most union members are willing to accept a little less personally if they know it will benifit everyone in the long run.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Jackpine Radical (1413 posts) Jun-20-02, 08:34 AM (ET) 12. The Teamsters were a major force in busting another union-- Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers. These (relatively) well-paid truck drivers were instrumental in holding back the organization of sub-minimum wage immigrant laborers. The Teamsters are now, and always have been, bastards. BTW, I'm too foggy this AM to recall if anybody mentioned that the Teamsters also backed Bush on the rape of ANWR. Messing with reactionary minds since 1949   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

4sanity (137 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:05 PM (ET) Reply to post #12 16. always have been bastards???? Your blanket smear of my union has me a little pissed. If you would have qualified your statement by referring to our current "leadership", instead of the entire union, I might agree with some of your points. Hoffa JR. was elected to be sure, but to imply that all of us are bastards because of that fact is just not fair. Are you going to use that same analogy to condemn all Americans because George JR was "elected" your Prez? I have been a Teamster for over 35 yrs and have openly disagreed with my unions official positions many times. As a retiree and no longer a dues paying member, I don't get to vote anymore. But rest assured that if I and my fellow retirees had voted in the last national election, Mr. Hoffa would still be practicing law. He wouldn't have made a decent cum-stain on his dads' leg, and he does not speak for me. And if you don't apologize to me, I'm going to send Rocko and Lennie to spank your ass, Teamster style.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

mac56 (34 posts) Jun-20-02, 02:47 PM (ET) Reply to post #16 22. agreed, 4sanity Hoffa Jr. does not speak for all Teamsters. Former TDU here (Ron Carey backer). The Teamsters have been wary of Democrats since Bobby Kennedy. “Democrats, I think to myself, are liberals who believe the people are basically good, but that they need government help to organize their lives. Republicans, I think to myself, are conservatives who think people are no damned good; that we have selfish, acquisitive natures, and if we set out to get all we can for ourselves, things will be better for everyone.” – Andy Rooney, 1982 "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." -John Kenneth Galbraith   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Jackpine Radical (1413 posts) Jun-20-02, 03:33 PM (ET) Reply to post #16 26. I'm not referring to individual, perhaps dissident members. Nevertheless, under the leadership of both Hoffas, the Teamsters as an organization did a lot of unsavory things, ranging from busting the Chavez people to supporting the Vietnam war and opposing various environmental efforts. And yeah. There are a lot of Dittoheads careening around in those 18 wheelers. Messing with reactionary minds since 1949   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Freddie Stubbs (337 posts) Jun-20-02, 11:16 AM (ET) 14. Why? Because these are races where the Republicans are heavily favored. Hoffa has two choices. He can back the Democratic candidate who is likely to lose, thus having a Republican governor who is hostile to him. Or he can back the Republican, and have someone who, although they may disagree with him on many issues, will probably be willing to work with hima little.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

MrB (147 posts) Jun-20-02, 02:36 PM (ET) Reply to post #14 20. Exactly The states in which the Teamsters are backing GOP governors are looking to be sure wins for the GOP (New York, Ohio, Texas). Currently, the GOP governors are leading by 20 points or more in these states. The Teamsters are simply backing candidates who are sure to win. Same with Florida: if Reno wins the primary, Democrats have no chance there either. However, if Bill McBride wins the Florida primary, I would be surprised to see the union back Jeb. This is hardly atypical. Many liberal Democrats from safe districts recieve financial and/or other support from GOP-leaning business groups even if they do not support the Big Business agenda. It's about interest groups gaining access to public officials, pure and simple. When elections are close, interest groups are more likely to support candidates who are ideologically similar to the groups' viewpoints. This is why the Teamsters and Hoffa backed Al Gore in 2000, because issues (i.e. labor rights), rather than access, were at stake.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

NeonDog (49 posts) Jun-22-02, 10:29 AM (ET) Reply to post #20 39. Vote your Conscience! How about if we Vote what our conscience dictates? The voting booth is not the place to sell out..Hoffa could endorse a candidate on the principals his "Union" members live by. To endorse the obvious winner shows "zero" courage!   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Freddie Stubbs (337 posts) Jun-24-02, 09:41 AM (ET) Reply to post #39 40. It may not be couragous but it is smart. Unions do not exist to serve as arm of the Democratic party. Their purpose is to get good wages and job security for its members.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

NeonDog (49 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:06 PM (ET) 17. BOYCOTT UPS These are the same Teamsters that backed Reagan and busted heads in California to keep United Farm Workers from Organizing. Last year they apologized for these tactics at a Kansas protest rally against the IMF, but looks liike they are back to their old "RebuliCON" ways with Bush... BOYCOTT UPS!!!!!   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Freddie Stubbs (337 posts) Jun-20-02, 01:57 PM (ET) Reply to post #17 18. Did they actually apologize for backing Reagan or just for opposing the United Farm Workers?   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

MrB (147 posts) Jun-20-02, 03:40 PM (ET) Reply to post #17 28. Yeah, and Help Federal Express... ...one of the most virulently anti-union companies in the world (rivaled only by Wal-Mart). FedEx has used huge corporate contributions to key officeholders to preserve its protection under a loophole in federal law which allows the company to be covered under the archaic Railway Labor Act rather than traditional labor law (under which UPS is covered) when it comes to organizing a union. Here's some background: http://members.aol.com/BobKutchko/UnionTips/page8.html I was a UPS Teamster for 2 1/2 years, and I resent the implication by some on this thread that Teamsters are a bunch of GOP-loving thugs. Sure, some Teamsters leaders are corrupt. But so are many corporate CEOs (Ken Lay, anyone). For years, the far-right has used the corruption of a few labor leaders to smear the labor movement as a whole (and in turn weaken the Left), while simultaneously excusing corporate corruption (which has hurt many, many more people) as "people using poor judgement." My Union didn't break legs and bash skulls. Instead, it helped workers by filing grievances against management when workers were not treated fairly, called the company on lax safety standards, and registered voters (many of which in my hub were African-Americans who had never voted before). Before you condemn the Teamsters as "thugs" and "scum" because they are backing GOP governors who are sure bets for reelection, think of what the Rush Limbaughs of the world must have been calling them in the Fall of 2000 when they endorsed Al Gore over Shrub.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

SpikeTrees (50 posts) Jun-20-02, 02:29 PM (ET) 19. Ron Carey....and Untrustworthy UAW Leaders Ron Carey was a very well-spoken progressive leader of the teamsters. I saw him speak on TV in the 90s. So they trumped up weak charges and got him ousted to be replaced by Hoffa, Jr. Michael Moore theorizes that the UAW leadership are more allied with the automakers' management than they are allied with their workers. They do not represent their rank and file very well, they give back wages in negotiations so that the automakers can fund building more factories in Mexico. That's what they'll be saying when the Black Marias come.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Freddie Stubbs (337 posts) Jun-20-02, 03:19 PM (ET) Reply to post #19 24. Why don't the autoworkers elect leaders who represent their interests?   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Freddie Stubbs (337 posts) Jun-20-02, 03:23 PM (ET) Reply to post #19 25. Who are "they" that trumpted up the charges? The Clinton Justice Department? Just because you agree with someone's ideology doesn't make it right to turn a blind eye when they are doing wrong.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

AJA (896 posts) Jun-22-02, 00:39 AM (ET) Reply to post #19 35. the UAW, unlike the teamsters, has "open" books in the union halls that means any UAW member can see where the money goes. the teamsters are notorious for paying local chapter union leaders more than the top national UAW officals. remember this, that in the past, the UAW walked out of the AFL-CIO BECAUSE of the corruption of the teamsters. walter reuther detested jimmy hoffa as a criminal in a suit. there is no comparison between the UAW and the teamsters, the former was THE union for the worker and social change in the 20th century, the teamsters, the example for boldfaced corruption in american unions.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

AJA (896 posts) Jun-22-02, 00:43 AM (ET) Reply to post #19 36. duh! it was so the UAW could unionize the mexican auto workers. and use the power of labor in two nations in one industry. sounds like marxism to me.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

denverbill (878 posts) Jun-20-02, 02:43 PM (ET) 21. When is the next Teamster election? Bush and co are trying to eliminate unions everywhere. Hoffa and his ilk are cutting some sort of slimy payoff with Bushco for support. Why the hell else would Hoffa vote Repuke? Bushco is for allowing Mexican truckers to take over Teamster jobs. What moron kinda Teamster would support THAT? Do they really think a couple of piddling jobs in Alaska will actually help them? Gimme a break. Rank and file are gonna lose their asses, and they are voting themselves out of their jobs. "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power." Benito Mussolini Fascism - a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. MEMBER WANNABE OF THE GRASSY KNOLL SOCIETY   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

dolstein (1862 posts) Jun-20-02, 02:56 PM (ET) 23. This is nothing new Geez, I thought everybody knew that the Teamsters were the most heavily Republican union out there (although several law enforcement unions reflexively endorse Republican candidiates too). The Teamsters' endorsement of Al Gore in 2000 (yes, it's true) was one of the few times they've endorsed a Democratic presidential candidiate. The reason why the Teamsters are backing Republican governors and working with the Bush administration is simple: they want to end federal government oversight of the Teamsters union. To them, this is far more important than any trade agreement or any piece of labor legislation. It is priority number one. And the Bush administration is in a position to make it happen. And they are sufficiently amoral to do it, provided they can exact a high enough price in return.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

PurityOfEssence (298 posts) Jun-20-02, 11:14 PM (ET) 30. Two Peas in a pod, both puttin' the "nasty" back in "dynasty" Shades of the end of the Roman Empire. Shut up, you just get the same job Dad had...   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Tippthis (381 posts) Jun-20-02, 11:19 PM (ET) 31. Dumb for sure He is doing this because certain union workers were promised work in Alaska building the drilling sights. They are backing repugs to get a few weeks of work. It is short sighted and stupid.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

JMcLemore (12 posts) Jun-21-02, 07:48 PM (ET) 33. Teamsters and the GOP "What is going on here? Hoffa has "declared" the Teamsters are backing the Republican candidate for governor in Ohio, New York, Texas, and maybe Jeb Bush?" The cost of endorsing Republican candidates in these states is relatively low. First, unions in Texas and Florida, unions are already pretty weak. Second, the Republicans in the aforementioned states are probably going to win, anyway. Third, many Teamsters vote Republican. Finally, the Teamsters want to be released from federal oversight. "Has he lost his mind? Why would any union back any Republican candidate?" The Teamsters endorsed Nixon, Reagan (twice), and Bush Sr. Personally, I don't see why they keep supporting Democrats, who have done nothing to repeal state right-to-work laws, which allow nonunion workers to benefit from collective bargaining agreements without paying union dues. I guess the Democrats have given up. "Is Hoffa a closet Republican who managed to get himself elected the head of the Teamsters, just so he could mold them into a 'union' that won't be any trouble to the corporations they work for?" From what I hear, he's a social conservative. Then again, so are a lot of union members.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

amelia (61 posts) Jun-22-02, 01:53 AM (ET) 37. I didn't realize that the Teamsters had endorsed ...so many Republicans in the past. I didn't know all the background on the Hoffa family also. I know that there are a few (very few) Republicans that actually support unions, but on the whole, the Democrats have been friends to the unions. I really consider being pro-union a basic issue of the Democratic Party. It just amazes me that any union would support a Republican who does not have the best interests of the workers in mind. I believe that if Hoffa endorses bush in 2004, he will be sending his union members down a road that will lead them to extinction. If you make a deal with the devil, the price of payment is always your soul. There is no way that bush will put the needs of the union members before his corporate friends and family. If the Teamster's members let Hoffa do this, then they will be letting themselves be led to the chopping block like lambs. They should all remember that Hoffa will have to give something to bush for his deal, and it will probably be something that will only hurt the union members.   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

TimesArrow (26 posts) Jun-22-02, 09:02 AM (ET) 38. Hoffa should be impeached! It's impossible for a Union leader to support the GOP. He's got to be taking kick-backs from the GOP!!!! Investigate!   Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Top

Lock | Archive | Remove | Unlink

Lobby | Latest | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

Select another forum Lobby Latest Threads Announcements (Conference)   |--Announcements (Protected) Top of the Page (Conference)   |--Latest Breaking News (Protected)   |--Editorials and Other Articles (Protected)   |--General Discussion Forum (Protected)   |--The DU Lounge (Protected) Hot Topics (Conference)   |--9/11, Military Affairs, and Terrorism (Protected)   |--Politics and Campaigns (Protected)   |--The Media (Protected)   |--Bush, Conservatives, and Conservatism (Protected)   |--Activism/Events (Protected) Issues (Conference)   |--Civil Rights/Equality/Privacy (Protected)   |--Economic Issues (Protected)   |--Environment/Energy (Protected)   |--Foreign Affairs/National Security (Protected)   |--Health/Education/Social Policy (Protected)   |--Justice/Public Safety (Protected) Member Feedback (Conference)   |--Comments and Suggestions (Protected)   |--Mark Crispin Miller Online Discussion (Protected)