Rank-and-file union members are squaring off against the leadership of Rhode Island's Teamsters in the campaign for the national presidency of the powerful union.

A handful of activists leafleted the United Parcel Service warehouse in Warwick earlier this month on behalf of the insurgent campaign of Oregon Teamster leader Tom Leedham, but the leadership of the 5600-member Teamster, Local 251, is unanimously supporting incumbent president James Hoffa, the son of former Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa.

The campaign is the latest battle in the struggle for control of the union. In 1998, Leedham lost to Hoffa, 39 percent to 55 percent. He became the reformers' candidate only after the federal government nullified incumbent president Ron Carey's 1996 victory over Hoffa. Investigators found Carey had ordered the union to donate thousands of dollars to liberal groups and that the groups then donated the money to his reelection campaign. As punishment for illegal use of union funds, he was declared ineligible to hold union office.

The Carey scandal "took a lot of energy out of a lot of activists," concedes Matt Taibi, a UPS steward. But Taibi and others say they back Leedham because they want a union that's more democratic and more confrontational with employers.

Leedham supporters, including the reform group Teamsters for a Democratic Union, criticize Hoffa's high salary ($226,000), his failure to increase $55-a-week strike benefits, and his friendly relations with the Bush administration. Under Hoffa, the Teamsters support drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, Taibi notes.

Leedham (www.leedham.org) also blasts Hoffa for his ties to two Teamster leaders who attempted to steer Las Vegas convention set-up work to a non-union company headed by one of their brothers. The company, according to a court-appointed independent Review Board (IRB), planned to pay workers $8 in hourly wages and benefits instead of the $20 figure set in the union contract. Hoffa fired local union officials when they opposed the deal, according to the IRB.

Hoffa (www.hoffa 2001.com) has countered by recalling the Carey scandal and requesting Leedham's disqualification for using a supporter's free Northwest Airlines pass to make campaign trips. An election appeals master ordered Leedham to reimburse the airline $1016.

Stu Mundy, secretary-treasurer of Local 251, says he supports Hoffa, however, because he unified the union. And Mundy notes that although Leedham's running mate is from Hartford, his campaign is especially weak in New England, where 25 of the region's 27 locals have endorsed Hoffa. In addition, Leedham's slate failed to field any candidates for the East's five executive board posts. In 1998, Hoffa won 76 percent of the vote in Local 251, Mundy says.

Ballots will be mailed to union members October 9 and counted in November.

Issue Date: August 31 - September 6, 2001