The IBT has taken control of Teamsters local 173 in Bradenton, FL while it completes an investigation of the local’s president. Robert Tuttle is accused in an initial report of improperly obtaining at least four loans of more than $1,000 by using the union’s credit card for cash advances at casinos. The memo also states Tuttle often used the union credit card for excessive fuel and business travel, plane change fees for his girlfriend, groceries, prescriptions, and other personal expenses. Tuttle continued his bad behavior even after an internal auditor warned him in 2010. According to the Teamsters, Tuttle also violated the local’s bylaws by bringing guns to union meetings and threatening board members who disagreed with his methods with economic retaliation and physical violence. The local will lose all local control until the investigation is complete, which could take up to two years, a union spokesman said. “The day-to-day business of the union will continue,” an IBT official said. “The situation is really not as bad as it seems.
