the IBT treasury was in steep decline and that Carey refused to take the necessary steps to fix it. We will get beneath the surface of the facts I've mentioned, and gain a much deeper understanding of life inside the IBT -- from the time Ron Carey was first elected, in 1991, until the illegal activities that led to the 1996 election being overturned and Mr. Carey being barred from running again for office. From the testimony of four veteran Teamsters officials this morning, we will see how promises to the union's rank-and-file were broken and their trust violated by Ron Carey and his top lieutenants. These witnesses held senior positions in the union hierarchy, with important fiduciary and other responsibilities. Yet when they suspected wrongdoing and asked questions and sought documents in the spring of 1993, they were stonewalled, kicked out of meetings where they had previously been included, retaliated against for trying to do their duty. Today, they will be heard as they describe their futile attempts to get information and the retaliation they endured for trying to protect the rank and file. I admire their perseverence, and I look forward to hearing their testimony. We will also hear this morning from Mr. Fred Smolen, an experienced forensic auditor hired by this Subcommittee, who will lay out for us the shocking decline in this union's financial health. Mr. Smolen will show us a pattern of financial improprieties, fraud and dishonesty, of ineffective government oversight, of irregularities in accounting and illegal acts by Ron Carey's IBT. I want to stress that, in the end, our investigation is not only about financial wrongdoing, or Ron Carey, personally. The true issue is democracy, and whether the federal government has kept the faith with the Teamsters rank and file and moved the IBT closer to being a free, fair and democratic union, whose leaders are accountable to the membership. The news is not encouraging, based on the testimony we will be hearing this morning. I expect this Subcommittee to devote further hearings to the role played by the Independent Review Board, the Labor Department, the Justice Department and the federal Election Officers in overseeing the Teamsters in recent years. Today's testimony will help this Subcommittee understand what tools may be needed by union members to better hold their leaders accountable, to assure themselves that their assets are being managed wisely, and that the interests of the rank and file rank first on the union's agenda. ##### APPENDIX B - WRITTEN STATEMENT OF SAM THEODUS, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS Testimony of Sam Theodus (Before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee investigating the finances of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters) - My name is C. Sam Theodus. I have been a member of Truck Drivers Union Local 407, Cleveland, Ohio, for a period in excess of 45 years. То My history in the Teamsters has brought me here today. summarize, after many years of efforts on behalf of reform in the Union, I ran against Jackie Presser for the Office of International President during the 1986 Convention. Later, I joined the Ron Carey Slate, at his request, as a candidate for International Vice President at-large in the 1991 election for International officers. Our promises of reform, including fiscal responsibility, were then swept away by the Carey Administration through high-handed tactics and abuses of power. This forced my separation from the Carey regime. For many reasons, a number of which are set forth below, our pledge to the membership during the 1991 campaign was thereafter violated in every way, reducing the once most powerful Union on earth to an organization on the verge of bankruptcy and totally divided in its efforts. My Background I have been married to Lillian for 45 years. We have 9 children, 15 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. I joined the Marines at the age of 17 and saw combat duty during the Korean Conflict. I guess I was always meant to be a Teamster since I served as a truck driver in Korea delivering ammunition to the front lines of war zones. |