Benny Hill
I'm Back (kinda)
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Ron Carey, a former UPS driver and Teamster president who set the standard for American union leaders for courage and honesty and transformed the leadership of both the Teamsters Union and the AFL-CIO died yesterday at age 72 at New York City Queens Hospital.
Carey toppled mob rule in the Teamsters, became the International Union's first democratically elected General President and used his influence to change the leadership and direction of the AFL-CIO. In 1997, he led a 15-day strike against United Parcel Service--winning the labor movement's biggest victory in a generation.
Carey resigned from office in November 1997 to fight allegations that he was involved in an improper scheme to use union funds to finance his reelection campaign. Carey was vindicated of this charge by a jury in federal court in 2001 which found that Carey had no knowledge of, or role in, the scheme.
"Ron Carey knew that it was time to change the way unions operated, to create strategies that could beat corporate greed by empowering rank-and-file workers and involving their families in the labor movement," said Tim Sylvester, a UPS Teamster and member of New York Local 804. "Ron was a threat to corporate America and to old guard Teamster officials who feared him because he threatened their personal bottom line and made them look impotent in comparison."
Carey toppled mob rule in the Teamsters, became the International Union's first democratically elected General President and used his influence to change the leadership and direction of the AFL-CIO. In 1997, he led a 15-day strike against United Parcel Service--winning the labor movement's biggest victory in a generation.
Carey resigned from office in November 1997 to fight allegations that he was involved in an improper scheme to use union funds to finance his reelection campaign. Carey was vindicated of this charge by a jury in federal court in 2001 which found that Carey had no knowledge of, or role in, the scheme.
"Ron Carey knew that it was time to change the way unions operated, to create strategies that could beat corporate greed by empowering rank-and-file workers and involving their families in the labor movement," said Tim Sylvester, a UPS Teamster and member of New York Local 804. "Ron was a threat to corporate America and to old guard Teamster officials who feared him because he threatened their personal bottom line and made them look impotent in comparison."