Teamsters' Hoffa visits with local union
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
About a hundred Teamsters and several prominent Democrat politicians turned out for a welcoming picnic yesterday afternoon, held in honor of International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James P. Hoffa.
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"Pretty big deal," Teamsters Local 996 President Mel Kahele said as he drifted through the crowd, greeting members and guests — including U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka and U.S. Reps. Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie —while keeping an eye out for Hoffa to arrive at the union headquarters in Kalihi.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James P. Hoffa meets local union members at a picnic in Kalihi.
Hoffa, son of notorious union leader Jimmy Hoffa, was in town this week for the Teamster's Western Region Meeting. The gathering of union officials from 13 Western states is scheduled to begin tomorrow at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Waikiki and continue through Friday.
The Teamsters have about 1.4 million members nationwide, and the Local 996 has nearly 6,000 Hawai'i members.
Jimmy Hoffa, whose long leadership brought the Teamsters to international prominence and associated the union with organized crime and corruption, disappeared mysteriously in 1975 after being paroled from prison by President Nixon. Allegations of corruption continued to dog the Teamsters, and in 1989 the union was deemed to be so corrupt that is was placed under federal oversight.
Hoffa's son, who says the days of Teamster corruption are over, arrived at the headquarters about a half an hour after the picnic had started, emerged from the passenger side of the car with his hand outstretched and moved through the crowd, greeting members and guests, returning hugs and posing for photographs.
"No kisses," he joked.
The union leader referred to Local 996 as "strong and militant," and promised his support and assistance.
He reassured the membership that the Teamsters would have the strength necessary to stand up to employers as the economy recovers from Sep. 11.
"My father made this union the strongest and most powerful in all the world," he said. "And guess what? With your help I'm going to do the same thing."
Tom Keegel, the international's financial secretary who arrived with Hoffa, put the matter a little more bluntly. "We're going to let employers know they're not going to kick Teamsters around," Keegel said. "We'll kick their (butts)."
Hoffa Jr. was first elected international president in 1998. He was re-elected late last year, winning his second term by a 2 to1 margin.
He has been both criticized and complimented for his willingness to support the Bush Administration, including his support of Bush's controversial energy policies and the president's recently announced plans to warehouse nuclear waste at a remote mountain site in Nevada.
"Yucca Mountain will mean lots of jobs for Teamsters," Hoffa said yesterday. "You need friends on both side of the aisle."
