Hoffa
Most Teamster conventions take place in Vegas and this time around, with so much hard cold reality to escape, an all expenses paid five day stay on the Strip was probably more needed than usual. And it was going to take some serious Vegas time for IBT delegates to forget the state of their union with the Central Pension Fund teetering on collapse, concessions at every table, unionized employers going under and membership in freefall.
Pope
And then there was the nomination of Sandy Pope in her quixotic bid to unseat twelve-year IBT president Jim Hoffa. “If you got out of line at these conventions in the past, they just knocked you on your ass,” observed John Lattanzio, a Pope delegate and thirty year Teamster from Spokane. “At least no one is getting beat up this year.” But that’s not to say the week didn’t provide other interesting displays of union democracy, Teamster-style. Take for example the refusal to recognize any delegate in Popewear and the repeated cutting off of the mike when anyone spoke off script. Then there was the presentation at the podium by an International VP of an obscene Photoshop portrait of Sandy Pope, only to be topped by the orchestrated walkout of 4,900 Hoffa delegates during her nomination. And make no mistake, that pesky Pope problem was not going to dampen the spirit of Hoffa-Fest 2011. There were still the Hoffa $100-a-plate fund raisers, Hoffa monster truck rallies, Hoffa soundtrack CDs, genuine “Team J” cheerleaders, a host of celebrity appearances with Jimmy P, the Hoffa Harley Squad and of course, 5,000 “Hoffa-Hall Team” bright red vests for delegates to wear everywhere. (Or else.) Before it was all over several million dues dollars were spent improving the Las Vegas economy long enough to pass a list of fluff resolutions. For example, Resolution 37 (passed unanimously in case you are keeping score) called for all Teamsters to “unite with all those who share our Vision of an America where working people have…the right to free speech and assembly…and make every effort in the course of the next six months of campaigning for International Union office to refrain from public pronouncements that can be used by the enemies of workers to undermine the strength of our union and our common fight to Stop the War on Workers.”
http://labornotes.org/2011/06/real-and-make-believe-collide-teamster-convention http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/early030711.html http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/11572/viva_las_vegas_teamsters_gather_in_sin_city/
