By David Levin

Sean O’Brien, Fred Zuckerman and the Teamsters United Slate were re-elected at the 31st International Union Convention, June 15-18 in Las Vegas.

The IBT also announced that the Teamsters and the Justice Department had filed a joint motion to wind down federal oversight of the union

Under the Teamster election rules, candidates for International Union office need to have five percent of the secret-ballot nomination votes from delegates to get on the ballot and trigger a one-member, one vote election.

O’Brien received 97% of the vote. Only OZ Teamsters United candidates successfully made it to the ballot. For the first time since Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) won the Right to Vote in 1989, there will be no contested one-member, one-vote election in the IBT.

This result was expected. The opposition Fearless Slate ran a protest candidacy but no serious campaign. The Teamster election rules are written to facilitate membership outreach and to reward candidates who demonstrate membership support.

For example, election rules guarantee members the right to campaign in the parking lot of any Teamster employer, not just their own.

Candidates who collect signatures from 2.5% of the membership become accredited and get a copy of the entire IBT membership list and the right to print campaign literature in the union’s magazine and on its website.

The entire process, including the delegate elections in all locals, is overseen by an independent Election Supervisor.

Delegates also voted on resolutions and amendments to the Teamsters Constitution, but these were passed without controversy or debate.

At the previous Teamsters Convention in 2021, O’Brien-Zuckerman Teamsters United Slate threw their weight behind a series of reform proposals supported by TDU, including:

Majority rule on contracts. Prior to this reform, it took a contract rejection by two-thirds of the voting members to turn down a contract unless a majority of the members voted.

Strike benefits payable starting on the first day. Previously striking or locked out Teamsters had to wait until the 8th day of a work stoppage.

Rank and file members on all contract negotiating committees.

The bulk of the Convention focused on the union’s renewed militancy: strikes, contract campaigns, coordinated bargaining, and new organizing.

The Teamsters have waged over 350 strikes since the last IBT election, many more than the previous decade under Hoffa and the most in the labor movement.

The union pays strike benefits of $1,000 a week–the highest in the labor movement–and has used picket line extensions to organize the unorganized and win first contracts. In all, the IBT has organized 100,000 Teamsters since new leadership took office.

The focus on militancy was part of an overall shift in tone at the Convention. Gone were the “TDU sucks” buttons that used to be worn by thousands of delegates, alternates and guests.

At this Convention, TDU members spoke from the podium and the Convention floor on UPS, Amazon, organizing, DHL, strikes and other key campaigns and challenges.

Opposition backers from the Fearless Slate faced scattered booing during nominations, but it was nothing like the orchestrated booing and harassment against TDU members and reformers from past Conventions.

Teamsters General President instructed campaign’s whips that delegates should listen respectfully and not boo or interrupt opposition candidates. This was respected by the vast majority of the delegates.

There was, however, significant booing from a part of the guest section. One TDU leader who has been to multiple Conventions described the booing as 15% volume compared to the last in-person Convention in 2016.

The union is opening up to member participation and building unity in action across differences and that is something to build on.

A major announcement made at the Convention was that the Teamsters and U.S. Justice Department filed a Joint Motion in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to approve a timeline for modifying and winding down federal oversight of the IBT.

The Court has had oversight over the Teamsters since the Justice Department settled a lawsuit in 1989 with the Teamsters agreeing to a system of one-member, one-vote elections for International Union officers and an independent system for corruption in the Teamsters Union.

Under the motion, the position of the Independent Investigations Officer (IIO) will be eliminated. The IIO is charged with investigating internal union wrongdoing and recommending charges to IBT leadership.

If approved by the court, then going forward, the IBT will perform the functions of the Independent Investigations Officer and be responsible for internal discipline and audits; the order requires the IBT to maintain and fund an Office of Compliance Standards and Investigations (OCSI).

A second officer, the Independent Review Officer (IRO) is responsible for reviewing the disposition of charges. They have the power to overturn findings and order stiffer penalties.

The retired Judge Barbara S. Jones will continue to serve as the Independent Review Officer for three years with the option to extend for three additional years. She will oversee the IBT’s investigations and audit departments to ensure complaints, investigations and audits are properly conducted.

The IBT will permanently maintain an outside Independent Director to oversee the disciplinary and audit systems even after Judge Jones’ term as independent review officer ends.

The system of one-member, one-vote elections will remain permanently enshrined in the union constitution and in the revised final order from the court. The five percent nominating threshold will remain in place at least through the 2031 IBT election.

But if approved by the court, the motion will allow the nominating threshold to be raised to a maximum of eight percent for the 2036 election or future contests. This would require a vote of the Convention Delegates and the approval of the independent Election Supervisor.

The 8% cap is a new and permanent ceiling on any future nomination threshold. Until now, the nomination threshold could have been raised without limit.

The 5% threshold has repeatedly proven to be the right number for nominating candidates for International Union office. It has worked well for 35 years.

If a higher standard had been in place in previous Teamster elections then candidates who got as high as 49% to 57% of the vote of the members would have been blocked from getting on the ballot.

David Levin is the Staff Director of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. This was the seventh Teamsters Convention he has attended.